Truehearts collective
A Creative Community Exploring the joy of creativity in all forms
This community exists to help you nurture your creative spirit and connect you with other creators. We're here to help you figure out what you need to get unstuck, quiet your inner critic, and get started (or keep going) with your creative projects.
The majority of the advice and discussions in this group will be applicable to any creative endeavor, and guest artists who work in a wide range of mediums will be invited to join us for special Q&A sessions. However, since I'm a novelist, we'll also have plenty of writing-specific content on the schedule.
I hope you'll join us!
How it Started
Cultivating Dandelions
In November 2023, I found myself overwhelmed by world events. In what felt like spiraling despair, this tiny idea sprouted in my mind and grew like a dandelion.
As a person with ADHD, I've learned to quell my impulsivity. I tend to over-compensate. I'm often less impulsive, more metered, and well-researched than people I know who don't have ADHD. But in the past few years, I've wondered if holding back my impulses keeps me from acting on some of my best ideas.
So, on that day in November, lying on the floor with that great bright yellow thought growing in my mind, I took a photo of myself, posted it to Instagram, and invited anyone interested to schedule a Zoom coffee date with me. We could talk about writing, reading, creativity, life, dogs, or anything else that came to mind. I asked participants to donate to World Central Kitchen, and I'd donate too, and together, we'd do something good and have a moment of connection. I didn't think it through. I didn't worry about what could go wrong. I just posted. I planned a limit of ten conversations and wondered if anyone would be interested at all. But I filled those ten spots in the first two hours and decided to keep going. I Zoomed with old friends and made new ones. I talked with writers, readers, artists, musicians, and even a middle school English class. Together, we raised $2,000 for World Central Kitchen. I loved every single conversation. It's one of the best things I've ever done--all because I acted impulsively.
Something that came up again and again in these Zoom coffee chats is how, even when we have the drive to create, it's hard to get started and hard to keep going. It's hard to permit ourselves to turn the art that lives in our hearts and minds into actualized work. We question our impulses. We edit ourselves before we even begin. We give too much weight to the criticisms that echo in our brains.
And yet, those dandelions grow.
What if we let them? What if we nurtured them? What if we did that together?
Welcome to Truehearts Collective.