Happiness Sprinkles + Book Club ZOOM Link
Floral Art, The Genius of Shel Silverstein, Nature Connectedness, and BIRDS
Hello, Protagonists!
Welcome to May’s edition of Happiness Sprinkles—a soft, joyful roundup of small things worth smiling about and a few wonderful things you in this community have been reading and writing.
In this post, you’ll find:
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight - Celebrate Our Creativity Community Members
📖 Book Club Details + Zoom Link
Reminder! Our “Reading with Wonder” Book Club meeting is this Sunday, May 31st at 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom Link at the bottom of this post
xo, Joanna & Evelyn
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
A few quiet delights we’ve loved this month—and hope you will, too.
Balancing Challenge and Comfort - The floral art and furniture design in this piece by TK Fareed stunned us. Then, we enjoyed hearing about the artist’s challenge with it, too. It made us reflect on our own balance of challenge and comfort in making art. How far do we push ourselves? Sometimes we can only find that line when we try something audacious.
Art for the Birds! - We’ve been loving all the creative bird content on social media this spring. Artists building bird nest supply stores and bird lovers offering amazing charcuterie boards. All the bird content, please.
The Power of Nature - Across a large international sample of 38,000 people, scientists found that those who felt more connected to nature consistently reported higher levels of well-being and mindfulness. This was true not just for feeling satisfied with life but also for deeper aspects of flourishing, such as having a sense of direction and meaning. Maybe we should write outside :)
The Thinker of Tender Thoughts- Although originally published in 1963, we saw this Shel Silverstein piece for the first time this month. Seeing the danger of cruelty, cynicism, and conformity depicted so succinctly moved us. We felt awash with gratitude for this community of thinkers of tender thoughts. Let’s grow our flowers together.
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight
Every month, we love highlighting what you are creating. Here are a few wonderful projects from our community:
💛 Teri Stevens celebrated the book birthday of her middle grade mystery, Makenzie's Ring, on May 1! Keep the readers coming Teri!
🌊 David J ran an amazing inaugural week-long writers’ retreat on a cruise ship called Wave Writers! It went so well, they’re doing it again! Enrollment is open for next year.
🎉 Amy Gabrielle launched her book this month with She Writes Press: "Widow in the City, A Memoir of Heartbreaks and Hookups." Congratulations Amy!
🗡️ Canon Robertson has been busy finishing and publishing a debut fantasy novel. The Olive Branch and The Sword is available for preorder now! Way to go Canon!
Want to be featured in a future post?
Just reply to this email or leave a comment with a 1–2 sentence description of what you’ve been working on. Or, hang out in our community chat, where we share our recent smiles and successes.
📖 “Reading with Wonder” Book Club — This Sunday!
You’re invited (even if you haven’t read the book):
🗓️ Sunday, May 31st at 8pm ET / 5pm PT - ZOOM link below
📚 Book: Writing, Creativity, and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd
The “Reading with Wonder” Book Club is for our community members who want to dive even deeper into how great books work. Come nerd out with us! 🤓
💬 During the book discussion, we’ll chat about:
In Writing, Creativity, and Soul, Sue Monk Kidd blends memoir with practical craft advice and deep philosophical inquiries into the creative process.
The Soul of Writing
Kidd grounds her book in the belief that writing is a spiritual act, drawing from a wellspring between imagination and feeling. How does this framework align with your own experience of writing? Do you actively try to tap into your “soul” when you draft, or does it happen inadvertently? Or do you not experience this?
Drawing from Maya Angelou, Kidd notes that writers need something to say, the ability to say it, and the courage to say it. Which of these pillars comes most naturally to you, and which challenges you?
Process and Craft
Kidd talks about the balance of chaos and order in the writing process, saying that “Creativity begins in chaos...The challenge is to bring form and order to it.” How do you go about this balance in your work?
Regarding plot pacing, Kidd strives for “hurrying slowly.” What did you think about that concept, and how does it relate to your reading and writing experience?
The Realities of the Writing Life
Referencing Virginia Woolf, Kidd discusses the necessity of a “Room of One’s Own” and the tension between making art and managing daily life. How do you actively protect your writing time and physical space against the demands of your day job, family, or other obligations? What are your “self-ordered patterns of time”?
Literary Mentors
Kidd emphasizes that you cannot write fully from the depths of your soul without reading the best writing you can find. What is one book that shifted your understanding of what prose can do?
Throughout the memoir, Kidd pays homage to the literary voices that shaped her. If you were to set your own “Brontë Table” of literary mentors, who would be sitting there?
What was your biggest insight, quote, or concept from the book that might shape your writing practice or creative outlook?
💬 During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we will talk about:
Kidd quotes Marion Woodsman: “In our creating, we are created.”
Joanna will lead a reflection on how our creativity has transformed aspects of ourselves. We will pay attention to how our art has impacted our internal and external experience of the world and share what we learned with one another.
Zoom link is posted below the paywall to keep our gathering cozy and private.
(This also prevents any non-book-loving Zoom crashers!)
If you’d like to join us in the Book Club, you can upgrade to a paid membership here:
or:
Refer friends to receive complimentary months:
1 referral = 1 month free
2 referrals = 3 months free
3 referrals = 1 year free
✨ Note for fellow introverts:
You are welcome to come as you are—cameras on or off, display names changed or unchanged. No pressure, just presence.
📹 This session will be recorded for those who can’t attend live.