The short version: Some days you don't know what to do with yourself. Good. That's the assignment. Here's one Sunday in Milwaukee, October 11, 2026: stuck in the morning, talking to strangers on Brady Street in the afternoon, and writing at the bar by dinner.
Act I: the rotFranklin and Lyon. A pack of smokes and a Gatorade from the corner store. The same walk as last week, and for a minute I was in my twenties again. Stuck, and not sure of what.
Act II: the canvassOut on Brady Street, I knocked on the neighborhood. I'm good at holding a conversation when someone comes to me. I'm not good at opening one. So I practiced: "Hi, friends, we're talking about the neighborhood today." It worked. It gave me something to trust.
Act III: the talkA walk south on Prospect, a museum, a notebook and a bar seat at The Vig. The talking turned into writing. Here's the route as a ten-stop walking guide, from the Ogden bluff past the Woman's Club and the orange steel of The Calling to the Milwaukee Art Museum.
That night the writing became a poem, Course by Course.
What I took from itYou don't need a plan to make a good day. You need your feet, a notebook and one small thing you're willing to try. Fierce kindness, not Midwest nice.
Want help with the thing you keep circling?That's what a Creative Burn is for: 15, 30 or 60 minutes by video, aimed at one knot. Book a Creative Burn or request a trip.