Growing Pains #3

Hey. Hi. Hello. Howdy.

This week went by quickly, but not painlessly. It was strangely full of technical difficulties related to launching a new podcast (keep reading for more details). Still, my tech-inspired aggravation was partially ameliorated by finally getting some good weather in Austin.

I want to take a moment to thank all of my subscribers for supporting me and taking the time to read what I have to say. Writing is one of the few things I do that doesn’t perpetuate imposter syndrome in me, and it feels excellent to be back at it. I want to take a special moment to thank my paid subscribers, who not only take the time to read my work but believe in it enough to support it financially. You are all special to me, and your support is something I will never forget nor take for granted.

On that note, let’s get started.

The 5-4-3-2-1: 

5 things I read, listened to, watched, or otherwise consumed that made my brain less smooth:

* This moving poem about violence perpetrated against the AAPI community, written and performed by Yanran Xiong, a talented and soulful creative director and artist based in New York City.

* The book The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, a fiction thriller exploring generational trauma, Southern racism, and identity politics. It is a page-turner and a tear-jerker.

* This piece by Zara Abrams for the American Psychiatric Association, titled “Countering Stereotypes About Asian Americans.” It explores why Asian Americans are often left out of the conversation when we speak about racism in America and how we can unlearn dangerous stereotypes around the AAPI community, including the model minority myth.

* The March 19th reading in The Daily Stoic, which in part read, “The cause of my irritation is not in this person but in me.” As someone who has spent a lot of her time irritated in the past, it encouraged me to refocus on the source of my aggravation—which is often myself.

* This video, titled “Can’t Let Go of Past Mistakes?” included in the “Dear Gabby” series by Gabby Bernstein. It helped me stop beating myself up for mistakes I’ve made and start loving myself for the miracles of which I’m meant to be apart.

4 lessons I learned:

* Healing is essentially a release from fear. (Courtesy of A Course in Miracles).

* Sometimes when people don’t show you love, it’s not because they don’t love you, but because they don’t love themselves.

* Gossip is poisonous to peace.

* You go further when you stay in your own lane.

3 questions I asked my therapist, Mom, or best friend:

* Can I outgrow someone but still love them?

* How the f**k do I do my taxes?

* Is there a chance that daylight savings will actually be permanent?

2 things from the world-wide-web that made me laugh-out-loud:

1 photo I took, saved, or was sent to me that feels imperative to share:

And finally, this week, On: Podcasting

Instead of writing my weekly “On: _______” section this week, I’ll be sharing the first episode of the Growing Pains podcast. In this episode, I introduce myself, explain the platform and answer questions submitted by the Growing Pains community.

Some episodes of the Growing Pains podcast will be available to those with a free subscription, but to ensure that you have access to all of my content, I suggest you become a paid subscriber below.

In the coming months, I will be having several interesting guests, inviting my friends and family on for intimate conversations, and using this new medium to delve deeper into some of the topics discussed in the Growing Pains newsletter.

To find the first episode of Growing Pains the podcast, you can access it at the link above, my RSS feed, my website, or Spotify (coming soon to Apple podcasts!)

Graphics for the podcast cover art (and everything else Growing Pains related) are by Tori Nergaard. The music is by Bennett.

Until next week.

If you like my work and want to support it, please consider subscribing for $6/mo. With a paid subscription, you also will get access to Hey Katie, my advice-column, every Thursday. 

20% of all subscriptions this month will be donated to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Anti-Racism fund, a response network that currently includes 37 community organizations across the country.

Get full access to Growing Pains at katiewilkes.substack.com/subscribe