Reading time: 4.44

1,126 words

Hey Reader,

There’s a hole behind our house. A big, big hole.

A really big huge massive hole.

I stood with my sheep on the edge and gazed into it, wondering when we’d find buried treasure. Because that always happens in books and on TV: you dig a huge hole in the back of your house, and there’s treasure. Or a skeleton. One of the two.

But no, in our hole there’s just bits of stone, the odd bit of modern pottery, and a LOT of clay and dust.

Dust is my new personality.

We’re pushing the steep bank back in our garden to make room for the new extension in which we will build Kitchtopia.

After 10 years of living here and saving up, and three years after we first engaged architects (do not even TALK to me about these architects I want to launch them into the Sun), it’s finally happening.

Our builder lives opposite us, which is super handy, and I’ve never seen anyone work so hard in such heat over the past two days. He and his son have cleared at least 500 tonnes of earth and moved it to the back of our woodland where there was some scrap ground.

(Which, incidentally, has saved us about £20k because I’ve learned that the cost of earthworks isn’t really the digging, it’s removing the spoil. Everything has to go somewhere.)

We thought this would take weeks. They’ll be done with this stage by Monday, when the demolition starts.

😱

It is somewhat miraculous what we can achieve with short dedicated bursts of effort.

Like, this past month I’ve written a 24-email nurture and sales sequence from scratch. I’ve built a sales page and an “oops your timer has run out” page. I’ve written a course. I’ve put all the tech together (with help from Claude who has saved me weeks and headaches). And I’ve finally organised all my systems and processes and files (again, with help from Claude who has saved me literal MONTHS with that lot).

I decided this is what I’d do this summer: July and August are for sorting my admin out and — most importantly — creating this system for the course that I’ve been working on since January.

I got sick of my own nonsense and just got it done.

I know I’m supposed to be all touchy-feely about how hustle is bad and ease is good and oh no my brain won’t do that waaaaa (often my brain tries to convince me it won’t do anything so I get it) but honestly, sometimes you really do need to get your head down, cut the nonsense, and Do The Thing.

For me, the most important thing was: this is the ONE THING I’m going to focus on for two months.

And it reminded me just what I am capable of. Incredible things, you know. My brain is amazing. So is yours. It’s capable of so much more than you give it credit for.

So that book that’s been burning a hole in your skull?

Let’s get it started shall we?

There’s still time to get the foundation laid in August, ready to really crack on in September.

Book a Book Breakthrough: Unlocked session with me and you will be AMAZED at what you and your big beautiful brain can do with the right support.

But now! Stay hydrated and dive into the Friday Goodie Bag. Here’s what I’ve found:

Millpond’s monthly letter

One of my favourite pieces of post is the letter I get from Millpond every month. It’s always on a theme — August is “anxiety” — and it’s a true delight. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, it comes with original art postcards, a reading list, journalling prompts, and quotes. I don’t use it as much as I should, and that changes right now.

Monet’s panic about water

​This article by Alexandra Franzen is a delight because it’s a reminder that we never really know what other people are dealing with. Monet’s water lilies is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and it’s easy to believe he just sat down and joyfully created masterpieces. But he almost abandoned his water lilies because water is tricksy to paint. Good job he didn’t give up when the going got tough, ey?

Song of Walt Whitman

I don’t often share poetry here and I’ve decided to do it a bit more often because poetry is magic. There’s poetry in everything we read and hear and listen to, whether we realise it or not. And writing poetry is a fabulous creative exercise because it’s very freeing. Anyway, if you haven’t read Song of Myself by Walt Whitman, you really should. Read it, then celebrate yourself for how wonderful you are.

This cartoon is which is honestly too real for my liking

​The real world IS scarier.

Investigate the war on curiosity with MAD Warfare

MAD Warfare is one of my favourite pods hosted by one of my favourite people, Jocelyn Brady — and her brilliant co-host Sean Anthony Guillory. In this episode, they dig into why curiosity, humour, and investigation might be the best (and only) weapon we have in this misinformation hellscape.

What I’m reading

Currently reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which is a beautiful tiny novel about a team of astronauts on the International Space Station. Each tiny chapter — each “orbit” — is filled with their musings and ponderings on life, the universe, and humanity. It’s gorgeous.

What I’m writing

So many things, but let’s choose one: I’m writing a short story to go within my cosy fantasy novel. I need to choose a wish. What wish would you make, if you could ask a genie for anything? I don’t mean the biggest things. I mean the slightly more mundane stuff that might make life easier (or not; genies are tricksy).

Word of the week

gnomic, adj.

I like this word because I like words that begin “gn” and I like the word “gnome” — it makes me laugh.

“Gnomic” means a style of writing, or sometimes speech, characterised by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness.

A gnome isn’t a little ceramic fisherman who stares at you creepily from your neighbour’s garden. A gnome is an aphorism — a short phrase that expresses a true or wise idea.

Quote of the week

Have a wonderful weekend. Stay cool. Stay kind. Stay curious.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

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