One of the joys of building a creative life in my 50s is realizing I don’t have to do it alone this time. While I prefer working by myself, I work better when I meet up with and take breaks with fellow worker bees out in the wild or at the online water cooler.
After brainstorming, swapping stories, or talking shop, I feel recharged and ready to get back to work. Not everyone gets energized like I do, but I find the company helps make my hive buzz brighter and my honey taste sweeter.
Over the past few months, I’ve been meeting more colleagues and coworkers. Many right here on Substack. Only a few are in the same city or time zone, but my motley crew of creatives has slowly but surely become part of my almost-daily practice.
Whether they know it or not, they help keep me accountable and inspired.
Creators like Seth Wekheiser from Social Media Escape Club—with his fresh takes on digital boundaries—remind me that we can create without burning out.
Coaches like Kevin Martin and Ricky Vaughan bring their mix of grounded wisdom and cheerleading energy, nudging me toward clarity when I start spinning my wheels.
Artists like Mansi—the voice behind Little Token, Big Ripples—spark ripples of creativity and possibility every time we chat.
Writers like Dan Pal, Karl Dunn, and Mr. Troy Ford remind me that writing can be a conversation carried across pages, platforms, and time zones.
And that’s just the beginning. More names keep finding their way onto my roster, and each connection makes this creative journey less lonely and more joyful. Together, my fellow creatives and friends spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record, baby.
So yes, creative work is still work. But with colleagues, coworkers, and conspirators by my side, it feels less like toil and trouble and more like rhyme and rhythm.
Keep calm and buzz on!
Clint 🌈✌️
COLLIDE PRESS is a reader-supported publication.
Please consider becoming a Paid Subscriber or Patron.
LABOR DAY SALE = 20% OFF FOREVER
Ends 09-01-25
ON THIS DAY = AUGUST 19
BIRTHDAYS
1840 = Jeanna Bauck = Swedish-German painter 🌈
1870 = Bernard Baruch = American businessman and philanthropist
1871 = Orville Wright = American engineer and pilot
1873 = Fred Stone = American actor and producer
1883 = Coco Chanel = French fashion designer 🌈
1899 = Colleen Moore = American actor
1902 = Ogden Nash = American poet
1913 = Richard Simmons = American actor
1915 = Ring Lardner, Jr. = American journalist and screenwriter
1919 = Malcolm Forbes = American magazine publisher 🌈
1921 = Gene Roddenberry = American screenwriter and producer
1930 = Frank McCourt = American author and educator
1933 = Bettina Cirone = American model and photographer
1933 = Debra Paget = American actor
1934 = Renée Richards = American tennis player and ophthalmologist 🌈
1940 = Johnny Nash = American singer-songwriter
1940 = Jill St. John = American model and actor
1942 = Fred Thompson = American actor, lawyer, and politician
1944 = Jack Canfield = American author
1946 = Bill Clinton = American lawyer. politician, 42nd POTUS
1946 = Dawn Steel = American film producer
1947 = Gerald McRaney = American actor
1952 = Jonathan Frakes = American actor and director
1955 = Peter Gallagher = American actor
1956 = Adam Arkin = American actor, director, and producer
1957 = Martin Donovan = American actor and director
1959 = Ivan Neville = American singer-songwriter
1963 = John Stamos = American actor
1965 = Kevin Dillon = American actor
1965 = Kyra Sedgwick = American actor and producer
1966 = Lee Ann Womack = American singer-songwriter
1969 = Matthew Perry = American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1975 = Tracie Thoms = American actor
1982 = Erika Christensen = American actor
EVENTS
1725 = J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137.
1839 = Louis Daguerre's photographic process, with complete instructions, is published "free to the world" as a gift from the French government.
1848 = California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (though the rush started in January).
1897 = The Bersey Electric Cab entered service as the first electric taxi in London.
1934 = The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
1973 = Enter The Dragon is released in theaters.
1983 = Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton release “Islands in the Stream” as a single.
2004 = Google has its initial public offering on Nasdaq.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don't want to replace anyone, especially Charlie Sheen.”
John Stamos
Thanks Clint and all the creators
🐝🦗🦋🦇🐣🐤🐥🐧🦉🐦🦩🦜🦢🕊🦅🦃🐓🦆🐔🌈🏳🌈❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤
Thanks for the shout out! I think we need to get the queer writers together for another Zoom. I know there are a lot of us here and it's nice to make those human connections.