When everything shifts (and today's the last day)
a gentle invitation
Dear friend,
Last year, C woke up doubled over with pain that made him gasp between words. The kind of pain that steals your breath and makes the world shrink to a single, urgent point.
"We should call 911," I said, watching his face go pale.
"No," he insisted. "It's unnecessary. It'll pass."
I called anyway.
It turned out he needed emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder. What struck me later, sitting in those sterile hospital chairs, wasn't just the relief that he was okay—it was how quickly everything I thought I knew about our life had reorganized itself around this new reality.
For years, I've been the one with the medical chart that reads like a novella. Eleven diagnoses, countless appointments, and the careful choreography of managing a body that doesn't always cooperate with my ambitions. Chris has been The Healthy One—until suddenly, he wasn't.
Watching him navigate his own sudden limitations made me see something I'd been trying to articulate about what it means to create within constraints rather than despite them. The traditional writing world talks about discipline as if it's a straight line: write every day, same time, same place. But what happens when your body rewrites the rules overnight? What if your capacity shifts like weather?
This is why I created The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy—not as accommodation, but as recognition that some of the most profound stories emerge from the spaces where life doesn't follow the prescribed path.
Today happens to be the final day to register for our June cohort, and I'm thinking about all the stories that want to be told by people whose lives have taken unexpected shapes. The memoir that gets written in fifteen-minute increments between caregiving responsibilities. The essays drafted during treatment breaks. The personal narrative that emerges not despite chronic illness, but through the particular wisdom it provides.
What we've built together:
Our Academy is designed around the reality of writing while parenting, while managing health conditions, while caring for others, while living in bodies that require attention and accommodation.
We have a flexible curriculum that meets you where you are, guest lectures with writers like Stephanie Foo and Suleika Jaouad who understand this territory, and a community where accommodations aren't special requests—they're just how we work.
A gentle invitation:
If you've been curious about the Academy, if it's been on your mind, today is when this particular door closes. Not because of artificial pressure, but because intimate learning requires boundaries, and our next cohort won't open until September.
If money is tight right now, please don't stretch beyond what feels safe. Your story isn't going anywhere, and there will be other opportunities. I'd rather you take care of your immediate needs and join us when the timing aligns with your resources.
If you're genuinely ready and able, if this feels like your moment, you can learn more and register here.
The deeper truth:
C is doing much better now, but the experience changed how we both understand resilience. It's not about pushing through—it's about adapting, finding new shapes, honoring what each day actually offers rather than forcing it to match yesterday's plan.
If you've been waiting for the "right" time to begin your writing practice, the time when life settles into neat patterns, I want to offer you a different possibility: that maybe the unexpected shape of your life isn't a detour from your story—maybe it is your story.
Whether you join us in June or not, whether you write with us or find another path entirely, your story matters. The unexpected has always been where the most necessary stories live.
With care,
P.S. If you have questions about the Academy, accessibility needs, or payment options, please feel free to reply. I read every email, and I'm here to help you figure out what feels right for you—whether that's joining us now or waiting for a better time.
P.P.S. Yes, we did have scholarships—nineteen of them, in fact—the recipients of which have now all been selected and notified. If you’d like to make sure you’re notified of the next opportunity to apply for a scholarship, please make sure that you’re subscribed to the Academy Bulletin right here.