Heat

What comes to mind when you read the word heat?

Fire, warmth, sensuality, friction, spice, anger, red.

The most confounding and resonant pieces of feedback I ever received from a writing instructor was “go where the heat is.” What does that even mean, I thought. And then I promptly dove into figuring out where the heck the heat was, because wherever it was, I wanted to be there. And then, I recoiled because there was (is) something intense and frightening about that hot place.

I’m asking you to do the same this month. We are approaching the apex of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the hottest days and warmest nights. There’s a lot going on the world that reminds us of our anger, fire and sensuality.

Women are conditioned to stay out of the heat. Get too angry and you’ll be dubbed hysterical. Embrace your sensuality and you are a slut. What if we leaned in to the taboo? Saddled it and rode it to its culmination? Where would we be if we let ourselves—get hot? What would our self-expression look like? What would our creations become?

If this makes you cringe a little, you are probably not alone. It’s okay. We’ll be in it together.

A note about the Open Studio Sessions:

I send a reminder the day before that asks you to RSVP if you’ll be joining. If fewer than 2 of you are coming, I will likely cancel. As always, join if it feels supportive to your process. And feel free to reach out with questions or concerns anytime!

this month’s open studio session will be tuesday july 26, 7-8 PM.

scroll down for the zoom link.