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Hello, beautiful people!

It's been a minute since I've popped into your inbox!

I've been working diligently on the cancer project. It's progressing, not as quickly as I'd like, but it's getting there.

Also in this time, I've been running. Despite it being 110 (43C) or hotter for July, I ran. For safety in those temperatures, I limited my outings to sunrise or sunset.

For a long time, I have been firmly of the opinion that you should exercise regularly, at whatever time of day works best for you, your body, your schedule—and how nice if your body and schedule match!

I had clients who were concerned because they’d heard that exercising in the morning is better than other times of day but they really couldn’t or wouldn’t make that happen.

“Make it happen when you’re going to be able to be consistent.”

Me? I prefer to run in the evening. Even in the Phoenix summer, when it’s cooler at sunrise than at sunset, I prefer evening.

This season, I’ve been running in the morning. Waking up stupid early without an alarm for no good reason, I decided to take the opportunity.

There are logistic benefits to running that early. No one is looking for me. I can drive to my favorite trail, run, stretch, come home, jump in the pool for a few minutes, then wake up Rocket Kid for school and get the day moving. Sunset was smack dab in the middle of the evening. Dinner ends up at 8:30 or 9:00 if I run in the evening, which is OK for just me, but it’s not OK for my family.

After several months now of running at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning, I’m here to say that getting up and out of the house at that time of day has gotten harder, not easier, and my body still does not love rolling out of bed and onto a trail, despite doing it four or five times per week.

This whole experience has reinforced my belief that you should exercise when it works best for you, and if that’s not the morning, then it’s not the morning.

And I'm grateful that the weather is cooling off and I don't need to be as fastidious about the time.
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How Not to Say Dumb Sh*t to Someone Dealing with Cancer

This is the project!

I'm creating a card deck with two illustrations on each—one with an interaction that is common but hurtful, and one with a more connective alternative.

I also have an accompanying talk that I'm planning to pitch to TED.

Many other ideas for adjacent products and services are in my brain, but I'm sticking to the original two for now. Time and energy are limited!

I started an Instagram account where I'll be posting relevant content. As of writing, there's nothing there yet, but I'm planning to have a couple of reels up by the end of the week.

I'm hoping to build audience there and elsewhere to be able to do a Kickstarter for the cards. If you have experience with Kickstarter and are willing to share, hit reply to set up a time to talk or with some typed words of wisdom.

And of course I have a separate mailing list now for the project (as people who come into contact with me through it aren't necessarily interested in the content here). If you'd like to be on that list, just click here. (Since I already have your email, you don't need to do anything else.)

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A photo

It's not been all work and no play...

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How to support

Spreading the word about my work and/or social media is always helpful and is free.

You can leave a tip here.

You can send a gift from here.

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Yours in cooler weather,

Heat

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