This Week, July 13, 2025
7 Things of Interest
1) July Enquirer
New Essay in The Enquirer — July Edition
Sound of Silence: A Meditation on the Still Point in the Creative Life
What happens when the momentum runs out, and the muse goes quiet?
This month’s essay began with an unexpected stillness. After years of steady creative output—writing, painting, posting—I found myself in a season of quiet. Not burnout, exactly. Not depression. Just... silence. And rather than push through it, I listened.
This is a reflection on creative surrender, spiritual pause, and what it means to let the silence speak. If your inner artist has ever fallen silent, or whispered instead of shouted. I hope this piece resonates.
Read the full essay below.
And if it moves you, forward it to someone who might need a quiet reminder that not-doing can be part of the process, too.
2) More Ah-Ha's than Ta-Da's
It's not enough to have an existential crisis about my life once a year. No, I should have at least two a year. And what better time to schedule a crisis than mid-year?
Half a year gone! And what do I have to show for it? My permanent record, the one our teachers warned would follow us forever, possibly right up to Judgement Day? My permanent record says, “Needs Improvement.”
And by improvement, I mean any tangible evidence of living well: good grades, a list of travel and accomplishments to make friends green with envy. I don't really want my friends greenish. Well, maybe, just a tad chartreuse.
This year, they are safe. I'm in a season of growth. Growth makes all kinds of demands. Demands that aren't "showy."
There's nothing to see with growth. All the work is hidden and costly. There are two books mid-edit, a painting style that feels stifling, and the struggle to find a new process. It all costs time, effort, energy, and patience.
This isn't "nothing". It's definitely "something." But it's not a show-and-tell, "Ta-Da!" kind of thing.
Instead, it's a process of cleaning out old ideas and commitments. A holding space to complete the serious projects that take considerable time and effort. There’s a lot of quiet around this kind of effort. A rich silence, shadowed and fertile. And it's deeply humbling. Because in my heart of hearts, I'm a show-off, and there's nothing to show.
Six months in, and the scoreboard looks… human. The scorecard is filled with my humanity and imperfections, a load of dropped balls, and a growing acceptance of the limits of self. Perhaps I’m making a big leap, from chasing magical end results through constant doing, to simply being alive. Growth doesn’t put on a show. I’m not sure permanent records are set up to measure someone living in the good, true, and beautiful unfolding of each sunrise and sunset.
Let the permanent record show that the first half of 2025 is filled to the brim with more Ah-Ha's than Ta-Da's.
What’s your halfway scorecard showing—Ta-Das, Ah-Ha’s, or mostly coffee stains and good intentions?
3) Lifting the Pressure to Produce
"When we release expectation and invite appreciation, all the moments of our lives become openings and opportunities." KRISTI NELSON
Ta-Da! I give you some “produce”.
4) Hello Sunshine
"Perhaps the most radical act of resistance in the face of adversity is to live joyfully." Ari Honarvar
5) Writers: Build Richer Worlds with a Research Ally
Writing historical fiction? Chronicling family or local history? Creating a story world that feels real takes more than imagination, it takes research that breathes life into every detail.
Join Amandajean Freking Nolte, Arts & Humanities Librarian and Assistant Professor at Rod Library, for an inspiring workshop designed to show writers how partnering with a research expert can unlock deeper storytelling.
Tuesday, July 15, 2–3:30 PM, Waterloo Public Library
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
Uncover rich, specific details that add texture and truth
Build context that supports immersive storytelling
Access the hidden gems in archives, databases, and local collections
Collaborate with research professionals to elevate your manuscript
Whether you're writing a novel, memoir, or local history, this workshop will give you tools—and connections—that take your project to the next level.
Free & open to the public
Co-sponsored by Waterloo Public Library & Felicia Babb Cass
6) Montage time with Marion!
Think theme. Think texture. Think wildly creative.
Grab your old magazines, pics, and flair—we’re turning chaos into ART!
It's FREE!
Anybody Can Art: Montage with Marion
Wed, Aug 20 | 6:30–7:30 PM
Reinbeck Public Library
Let’s collage a crowd full of creativity!
Sign up here: https://www.reinbeck.lib.ia.us/events
If you'd like to carpool to Reinbeck, message me.
7) Sunny Days
The rain stopped long enough for one gorgeous summer day to enjoy the daylilies.
Now, if we could do something about the plague of mosquitoes.
Still, I'll take one sunny, low-humidity, summer Saturday.
No matter what happens in the week ahead, swap "should be" for "so good" because this summer, we’re soaking up what is.
xo, Felicia
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