This Week, July 20, 2025

Five Things of Interest

1) Tracking My Way to Inner Peace: Lessons from the Subconscious

Here's a peek behind the curtain that exposes all my neuroses. (You can stop reading right now if you take no secret, guilty pleasure in reading about the wandering ways of others.)

My summer project is to call a truce between my inner Rebel and Critic. Or at least to get them to play nice. It's been an enchanting and surprising way to get to know myself and head off all kinds of unpleasant warring within.

Here's the dynamic: Critic makes a lot of demands. I'm not alone in having that megaphone scold in my head who magnifies every stumble and faux pas, turning small defeats into Major Issues.

Mostly, Rebel stays quiet through the Critic's drama. Quiet until she's ready to start an insurrection. When these two fight, I disappoint many people, including myself.

It will come as no surprise to those of you with a Critic of your own that my Critic wants data. She loves data. It's the air she breathes. And to keep Critic happy, I've been keeping track of how I spend each day. I track how much time I spend on exercise, creativity, and community. Until last week, tracking was one of Critic's weird little side projects.

Rebel was digging her heels in. She simply refused and canceled all kinds of social obligations with little or no explanation. Critic had loads of opinions about how flaky Rebel is, but Rebel didn't care; she was going NOWHERE.

Rebel marched out the spreadsheet—a rare detour from her usual mayhem-to-math aversion. Social time had tripled since April, while creativity hours had plummeted .

Life was out of balance, and she knew it, even if I didn’t yet.

I've felt very odd about all this tracking. I pictured a whole division of efficiency police living rent-free in my head to no good purpose except to provide ammunition to Critic. But after last week's negotiated peace talks between Rebel and Critic, I now see that my subconscious was trying to find a language that I valued and understood to communicate with me.

I have a lot of little, weird habits, that I can’t explain and can’t seem to stop. This flash of communication between conscious and subconscious makes me wonder how many of these are attempts of a wisdom greater than I trying to say, "Hey friend, here's a better way to live, think, be"?

Have you ever had an epiphany like this? What are your techniques to get the broader wisdom of the world to speak to you so that you pay attention?

2) Dig Deeper, Write Better:

Research Tools Every Writer Should Know

If you missed this week’s powerhouse session from AmandaJean Nolte at the Waterloo Public Library’s Author Seedbed series, you missed a masterclass in research for writers. From mining obscure sources to mastering advanced searches and unlocking new story angles, AmandaJean brought energy, insight, and a whole lot of practical magic to the room.

But good news: You can still get the goods. AmandaJean’s generously shared her full presentation, including her clickable resource guide, PowerPoint slides, and a worksheet to help sharpen your research lens, whether you’re diving into historical fiction, memoir, or building a story world from scratch.
➡️ Access it all here

You don’t have to be a student to tap into the power of the University of Northern Iowa’s Rod Library. If you’re in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, you can get a library card and unlock access to top-tier research tools and get personal help from the incredible resource librarians—for FREE. (Yes, the exclamation points are earned.)

Ready to take your research deeper? AmandaJean’s available for one-on-one consults. Reach out to her directly via emai. She’s keen, kind, and ready to help.

Up next in the Author Seedbed series:
Touchstones: The Personal Influences that Shape a Writer
with Rachel Morgan, poet & UNI professor
📅 Tuesday, August 19 | 2–3:30 PM | Waterloo Public Library
Rachel will explore the books, experiences, and ideas that shaped her writing—and help you reflect on your own creative touchstones through guided writing prompts.

3) A Band, a Breeze, and a Bit of Hope

Prince Charming and I caught the combined Waterloo–Cedar Falls Municipal Band concert this week. We try to make it to at least one band concert each summer, and this one felt special.

For one, it was the first evening in weeks where the temperature was mild and the humidity blessedly low. Even more remarkable, it was the first-ever joint concert between the two cities.

There’s a lot in the world that needs fixing, but evenings like this are a concrete reminder that we do come together. That music, community, and a shared night under the sky still bring joy and hope.

4) Imagination Heals

"Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time. This is not just a nice story or a fable, it is true. ”—Thomas Merton

It takes a profound imagination to live as though there is something bigger than our worst impulses.

Wherever you see harm being done, that harm is not all there is to see.

If you're stuck in suffering, who is answering your call? And if you're the one answering, it's your imagination that tells you—even the smallest actions matter

My friend, Alice At Dawn, recently wrote a beautiful essay about how poetry lights up her imagination. Her words reminded me of poet Mary Oliver’s advice: lie down in the grass and look at trees.

Whenever, however, we light our imaginations, we allow the divine to show through.

How do you chase the dark scaries away?

What lights up your imagination when the world feels heavy?

5) A Summer Porch Tour

In a perfect world, I’d have an edited version of my summer porch tour ready for you. But, like you, I don’t live in a perfect world.

My ancient computer died Friday. And amid the usual panic that hits when the tech we rely on fails us, I was determined to still get this newsletter out on time.

So today, I give you the porch tour in two parts.

The idea behind the tour was simple: to remind myself—and you—that our lives are full of quiet, everyday chances to feel grateful. Many people help make our lives good, sweet, and worth remembering. And for those no longer with us, their presence lingers in the things they’ve left behind, and the memories that still speak.

Part 1

Part 2

From my (slightly chaotic) porch to yours, thank you for being here. Let’s keep noticing the good stuff together.

xo Felicia

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