My Week-Long, Creative Orgasm
i.e. How to Create a Sex Journal 💌 ✍️
Dear Wonderful Readers,
I have not been able to sleep. I’m in a state of creative euphoria, like an orgasm that’s lasted all week. It feels almost manic.
I am extremely careful what I ask the universe for. Last time, after a naive ask, I was burned with the most traumatic experience of my life. So, understandably, I’ve been hesitant. But as I began creating the sex journal, a little voice inside me started to worry that someone might steal my idea. Then, something began to call me from beyond, and I made a new promise to the universe. In my diary, kept next to my bed, I wrote,
“I PROMISE to work as hard as I can to do my best and serve my goal of creating a great sex journal. I promise to take on the full rollercoaster and capacity of what this could mean. I will do this under the promise that no one will steal this idea. Thank you, and I promise to dedicate everything I have in me to making this the best journal it can be. THANK YOU for this opportunity to create something so magical.”
What’s happened since is a truly remarkable whirlwind. Doors are opening left and right. One 82-year-old professor I called to request rights to a poem told me he hadn’t picked up his phone in years. “It’s your lucky day,” he said. I cried the morning I sat down to dedicate myself to the project. Reading lots of poetry, I’ve been spending more time with the dead poets than the living recently. I’ve hit the walls created by the gate-keeping publishing houses. (Tip for all you writers: read “Remember” by Joy Harjo, and then never give away the rights to your own work.)
Now I’ve set foot on a new plain of euphoria: type setting. I've always loved magazines and graphic design. I've always loved bookshops, but I’m starting to understand why, admittedly, I wasn’t always as interested in what was written in the books. It’s because I’m obsessed with the beauty of typography and how the words sit on the page.
As we help the world be shamelessly sexy, we must remember that our pleasure matters in all forms. Writing about my sex life and embracing the pleasurable sensations of my own body have enabled me to pursue this euphoric creation of the sex journal with my whole being. Pleasure is good. More is more. As we release ourselves from the burdens of what other people think and the fear of being too much, we free ourselves to create only the most incredible things we are capable of. As I've said before, why are we so afraid of women enjoying themselves? What is so dangerous about that?
I’m so grateful, as always, for your support, and especially to everyone who signed up to be beta readers! More updates coming soon. Aside from birthing my first novel, creating this sex journal for you all has been the greatest honor of my life. Paid subscribers will get more juicy details about the font and timelines AND a sneak peek of a poem that will be published in the journal.
I wish you joy, blessings, and, most importantly, euphoric pleasure without bounds 🌄.
Love,
Tash
💌 ✍️
P.S. Here’s your listening accompaniment for creativity. I love Jean-Michel Blais. I have him on repeat constantly. A great song to start with is “amour” but honestly, the entire “aubades” album is absolutely fucking mind-blowing.
Paid Subscriber Juicy Details 💦 👀
Hello Beloved Paid Subscriber! 😍
Thank you again for supporting my work. It means so much to me. Here are some extra special updates…
Fonts: Sadly, I decided I didn’t want to spend almost an entire month’s rent to acquire the LL Medium font family. I’ve pivoted to some free font choices and am currently using Inter for the headings and Freight Text for the body of the text.
Typesetting: I’ve got the basics down and am learning a whole new software, Affinity Publisher, but here are some early mockups of how the chapters are turning out (and an extra poem reveal if you can catch it in the screenshot!)
Poem Sneak Peek: “Love” by Edith Södergran. This poem will anchor the “Complexity” chapter in the sex journal. I’m obsessed with it!
I was INSANELY lucky to acquire the right to reprint this translation. I reached out to Nina, the daughter of Stina Katchadourian, the now 88-year-old translator of the poem. It turns out they were on holiday together in their summer cottage in Finland, and Stina said yes!
Södergran herself was an incredible modernist poet, one of the best Swedish language poets ever, and way ahead of her time. Unfortunately, she died of tuberculosis at the age of 31. It’s an absolute dream to honor her work in the sex journal, and I hope you love her poem and Stina’s translation as much as I do!
I’m wishing you a wonderful rest of your day, wherever you are. I’ll be sending more beta reader updates soon!
Love,
Tash
💌 ✍️