In Search Of Less Frazzle + More Dazzle

When Facts + Feelings + Fictions Collide

My workweek is somehow already halfway over, yet it feels like it’s barely begun.

Everything—the latest headlines, the hot takes, the reactions and overreactions (mine included)—has left me frustrated and frozen, staring at my to-do list as if it’s written in another language. Honestly, I’d be pulling my hair out if I weren’t already bald.

I keep telling myself to calm down. To focus. To breathe. To work through the static.

But this week feels like a perfect storm of facts, feelings, and fictions. The facts are heavy. The feelings, heavier. And the fictions—well, those are the stories we tell ourselves when the first two don’t make any damn sense.

It’s a lot.

I’ve been working on some montages—my usual creative reset button—but they’re not coming together as easily as they used to. Every frame feels stiff. Every idea, a little out of reach.

Maybe it’s creative burnout. Maybe it’s just the world.

Still, I’m trying to be gentle with myself. To remember that creativity ebbs and flows. That pauses are part of the process, not proof of failure. That sometimes the best way forward is sideways—into a walk, a stretch, a cup of tea, a nap, or even just a quiet moment with no input at all.

I don’t have my “dazzle” back yet. But I’m looking for it. And maybe, in this search, I’ll stumble on something even better: a calmer, clearer path through the noise.

How are you navigating the mix of facts, feelings, and fictions this week?

Keep calm and carry on!
Clint 🌈✌️

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FYC = FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

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ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 17

BIRTHDAYS

• 1730 = Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben = Prussian-American military officer, credited with helping to train the Continental Army 🌈

• 1859 = Billy the Kid = American gunman

• 1883 = William Carlos Williams = American writer

• 1923 = Hank Williams = American singer-songwriter

• 1926 = Curtis Harrington = American filmmaker 🌈

• 1928 = Roddy McDowall = English-American actor 🌈

• 1931 = Anne Bancroft = American actor

• 1938 = Paul Benedict = American actor

• 1943 = Gilbert Proesch = British artist (of Gilbert & George fame) 🌈

• 1948 = John Ritter = American actor and producer

• 1951 = Cassandra Peterson = American actor and tv host 🌈

• 1953 = Rita Rudner = American actor, comedian, and screenwriter

• 1955 = Charles Martinet = American actor

• 1962 = Baz Luhrmann = Australian filmmaker

• 1962 = Dustin Nguyen = Vietnamese-American actor and filmmaker

• 1962 = Paul Feig = American filmmaker

• 1965 = Kyle Chandler = American actor

• 1965 = Yuji Naka = Japanese video game designer (Sonic the Hedgehog)

• 1966 = Doug E. Fresh = American rapper and producer

• 1967 = Malik Yoba = American actor

• 1968 = Cheryl Strayed = American author

• 1969 = Matthew Settle = American actor

• 1971 = Nate Berkus = American interior designer and tv host 🌈

• 1971 = Bobby Lee = American actor and comedian

• 1989 = Danielle Brooks = American actor

• 1991 = Scott Hoying = American singer-songwriter 🌈

• 1992 = Danny Ramirez = American actor

EVENTS

• 1630 = The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded.

• 1787 = The US Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.

• 1849 = American abolitionist Harriet Tubman makes her first attempt to escape from slavery.

• 1964 = Bewitched premieres on ABC.

• 1972 = M*A*S*H premieres on CBS.

• 1976 = The Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA.

• 1978 = The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.

• 1983 = Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.

• 1985 = Four years after AIDS was first identified in the United States, Ronald Reagan publicly acknowledges AIDS for the first time.

• 1991 = The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.

• 2011 = Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park, New York City.

• 2013 = Grand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Australian Citizenship Day 🇦🇺

• Constitution Day And Citizenship Day 🇺🇸

• Constitution Week (September 17-23) 🇺🇸

• National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) 🇺🇸

• National Monte Cristo Day 🇺🇸

• National Professional House Cleaners Day 🇺🇸

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PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY

NATE BERKUS

“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.”
Nate Berkus