3 things for April💛

On busy work, habits CPR & reconnecting with visibility

‘April. It teaches us everything.’

- Ali Smith

Hi friend,

I just re-read the 3 Things for April newsletter I sent last year. A little check-in to see where I was. Where I’ve arrived at since.

There it is: “April is my scary month.”

It’s a story I think I’ve had my whole adult life. That realisation that a quarter of the year has passed and you’re no longer in a dress rehearsal. It’s time to go live.

Sometime around the age of 17, I read The Waste Land with its immortal opening line, “April is the cruelest month.”

I attached myself to this line, as I do, and decided it had to be true. TS Eliot said so.

Funny thing: April doesn’t feel scary this year.

Perhaps because we’re having a particularly glorious magnolias sky spring here in the UK.

Perhaps because I have a couple of work projects finally taking shape.

Perhaps because I decided it doesn’t have to be and I’m ready to ditch an old story?

Here’s some things I’m taking into April instead.

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3 things for April💛

1. Create First

Not the first time this one has made the ‘3 things for list…”

A full start to the year has meant my boundaries around my creative time have become somewhat leaky. People ask me how the writing’s going and I explain, “I’ve been a bit of a PR b**ch.”*

Over-prioritising, over-delivering. Too many yes-es. Hemmed up and tied down down in busy work.

This month is about making that appointment with my creativity whether it’s for poetry or this newsletter or morning pages. White space. To plant a seed of possibility first.

*I asked ChatGPT if there was a better way to say this. There isn’t.

2. Habits CPR

I’ve noticed that somewhere over the course of the winter, I’ve allowed some of my better habits slip away; Morning Pages, Duolingo, 5-minute yoga first thing. There was nothing intentional about this choice.

I guess, one day, I stopped doing one.

Then the other. Without really noticing – and that’s the scary part.

I’m all for habit audits and truthfully, I do believe we all need a habit audit every now and again. It’s easy to let habits that you’ve naturally outgrown become another stick to beat yourself with. But part of that audit also has to be the positive practices you want more of in your days. For me – now - it’s journaling, Greek practice and a morning stretch.

Any habits you’d like to bring back to life?

3. Reconnecting with visibility
I’ve been thinking about the creativity that comes with a visibility practice.

When I look at peers and friends who commit to their community through their online presence, it’s hard not to appreciate the intent they bring to their visibility. The total art form they’ve made of consistency. And how this has supported their projects and created new pathways for them. There’s a sense they’re fully engaged in the world, rather than being busy in the corner of their office.

And while I maintain consistency doesn’t mean constant, I know it’s time to do better. Instagram, main grid, here I come.

Where are you with your visibility practice right now? Still in winter or coming out to play?

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How’s your April looking? I’d love to know - tell me below.

Thank you for being here. As always, I’m grateful for every ❤️ and reply.

With love,
Antonia xo

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Some April recs for you:

1. Poems - April is National Poetry Month ( the US version, Weirdly it’s October in the UK). My friend and mentor, Maya C. Popa, is hosting a month-long celebration over at her incredible newsletter Poetry Today. Like a poetry salon but everyone’s invited.🫶🏼

2. Listen - Louise Redknapp on Happy Place. I don’t always love this podcast, but I’ve always loved Louise. This conversation on tenacity and ambition and good girl behaviour and being good enough is golden.

3. Read: March was a tough month as my mum’s care needs sky-rocketed. We’re also in teen exam season - there’s been a lot of parenting. So many of us are in this over-squeezed sandwich phase of our lives. And Catherine Newman captures it beautifully in Sandwich , this gorgeous, life-affirming book. The paperback’s out in 2 weeks in the UK. (PS thank you to my gorgeous friend Kim for the gift).