Mary Oliver wrote that “joy is not made to be a crumb,” yet it’s often the first thing to go when we’re prioritizing survival as parents, employees, partners, and human beings witnessing the rupture of the world. But joy, delight, and creativity aren't frivolous. They're essential. Today I’m joined by writer and creative coach Heidi Fiedler to talk about daily delights, parenthood, self-publishing, and permission to walk away from our own work.

Episode Highlights

  • The frustrating (and clarifying) constraints of parenthood

  • Heidi’s notecard strategy for finding a book's structure

  • The power of expanding our identities as writers

  • Rethinking the need to maximize every second of every hour

  • Trusting our creative process and being flexible might be the secret to getting anything done

  • Why we can’t future-forecast the breaks we need to take when writing a book

  • How Heidi decided to self-publish (and the disappointments and benefits along the way) 

  • Self-publishing as a sustainable alternative to traditional publishing

  • Reframing play for adults, especially if you don’t love the word

Meet Heidi

Heidi Fiedler is a writer, editor, and creative coach. She writes books for kids and essays for grown ups. She’s the author of the new book Quickening: The Art of Being a Creative Mother, which is available at helloheidifiedler.com. You can find her on Instagram and on Substack @heidifiedler.

More ways to connect

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+ Curl up with one of my books: ⁠WILD WORDS⁠ and⁠ EAT THIS POEM

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