Being nine is hard sometimes

Being nine is hard sometimes

Season 1, Ep 11 is here and this one is pure, return-to-childhood fun. Ever since he cackled along with my first “Sippy Cup Gang” podcast episode [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/podcast-5-sippy-cup-gang-bodily-functions] back in January, Leo has wondered out loud in my general vicinity, “Huh. I wonder what it would be like to be on Mom’s podcast….” “Would you like to go on my podcast, Leo?” I would always ask. “NO! No! No…?” he’d always say. Although the third “no” always came out more like a question. But last week, he decided it was time. So on Saturday, Leo took the time out of his busy summer schedule to give us a mini Ted talk about what it’s like to be a 9-year-old in 2026. I hope you get a chance to listen to his entire interview, because it was absolutely delightful. In case you don’t, below are my favorite bits from our chat together (but these are way better if you can hear them directly from his mouth!) 👇 * Being 9 and the youngest of four with three older sisters is “kind of annoying, honestly.” Except when you can get away with stuff. * Leo plans to study astrophysics at UCLA (specifically nebulae) so he can work at NASA. But not to be an astronaut. Because “twelve years of training would be too much for me.” * He also revealed: “Fun fact about me: I hate science!” (This was news to me!) Despite his apparent loathing of science, he was correct about nebulae; they can be made up of dead stars [https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/nebula/en/]. * The Empire State Building was his favorite part of NYC. He also thinks the height of NYC buildings are way overhyped. * He thinks probably the biggest difference between his childhood and my childhood are that we spent a lot more time playing outside with other kids. This generation definitely has a general lack of free range kids. * He’s most proud of his parents (😭) for forcing him to limit screens and not miss life. Because at this point, screens are kinda boring so he’s learning cooking and engineering (This was also news to me…especially since my awesome screen time limits continue to be a point of conflict). * He would really, really like adults (and his sisters) to stop trying to “say what I think even though I think something different.” He is a full person with his own thoughts. You cannot read his mind. * His one memory from living in Iowa was throwing up carrots. * Leo’s favorite type of sickness is a stomach bug. Definitely not hand, foot & mouth, which “felt like someone set off TNT in your throat.” * He ends the interview with some thoughts on anesthesia. “It was like a snap.” He’s convinced you don’t need to worry about it because he certainly won’t next time. “You breathe in and then you wake up with pain.” Solid words of reassurance to send you off. 🦄 Kristin I hit Leo up for his top recommendations (some from the interview, plus some bonus additions!). Without further ado, here are some of his favorite things: Books * Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson * Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce * The Genius Files series by Dan Gutman * Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis * The Land of Stories Series & A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer * I Survived Series by Lauren Tarshis. “But not before bed. Or you might get nightmares.” * Cookbooks. Just, in general. “If you’re into that kind of thing.” Stuff to do in NYC * American Museum of Natural History - specifically The Goal Zone [https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/goal-zone] * The Empire State Building * Central Park, especially the giant rocks you can climb * Pizza in the Time Out Market in DUMBO * Macha ice cream basically anywhere in Chinatown * Shaved snow and mochi waffles at Grace Street [https://www.bygracestreet.com/]in K-town If you enjoyed this interview, check out my earlier podcast posts here 👇 What do you remember about being 9? Unicorn Hollow Podcast [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/podcast] is a listener-supported series. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out a Map of Unicorn Hollow [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/a-map-of-unicorn-hollow], and then subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe]to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world.” If you have that feeling, I’d be honored if you would be my Patron by sharing my work. My posts & podcasts will stay free, but if you have the means, you can help me build up this space by becoming a paid, monthly subscriber (and get some thank-you perks!). You can also give a one-time donation on Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/unicornhollow]. Writing is my career & every bit of support goes directly to my family. Thanks for being my unicorn! Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Readers will save the world

Season 1, Ep 10 is here and if you ever needed a legitimate reason to disappear into a book, this is it! A quick reminder that you can listen to this right on Substack or wherever you get your podcasts. The last month has felt filled with stupid things that make me hate adulting (a never-ending-and-expensive battle with sewage, insurance, graduation prep, medical visits, an eternal fount of paperwork, etc. etc. etc.). But one beautiful bonus nestled in among the many dumb adulting things is that I have really loved getting to know my parents as actual people. A few weeks ago, I sat down to chat with my mother, Kathy Wilde, about her lifelong love of reading that started back in the 1950s with bedtime reading and a beansy library in a teeny-tiny South Dakota town. There were so many nuggets of wisdom I took away from my time with Mom, but here are a few of my top takeaways: Reading to and around kids doesn’t just cultivate generations of readers, it produces curious and engaged humans. Mom talked about how we come from a long line of women who pursued education in rural, low-income communities at a time when that was…well, weird. I’m the fourth generation of women who were college educated, voracious readers. This emphasis on reading and education created a lineage of families where books, intellectual curiosity, empathy, and stepping out of our own comfort zone—regardless of where we physically live in the world—are simply part of life. Reading offers a unique form of immersive empathy. Mom’s favorite part of reading is the ability to live inside another person’s world. Unlike other types of media, she loves that with books she can not only observe the characters’ actions, but can hear their thoughts and gain a richer understanding of the “why” behind actions and outcomes. She can live with someone while reading their story, which has allowed her to see and challenge her own prejudices and assumptions and has made her a much more empathetic person. Reading with others makes the whole experience more vivid. Several years ago, one of her dear friends of more than 40 years started a book club that has “opened up a whole new world” for Mom. The members of her book club, who have agreed to read books across a wide range of perspectives and views, pushed Mom to read books she never would have chosen on her own. Through both delightfully uplifting books and really challenging reads, Mom has had deeply meaningful discussions and has loved books that she never would have chosen on her own. Over and over, she has watched “scales fall from her eyes” as she has read books by people whose experiences and views differed sharply from her own. “I think life is so much more interesting with variety in it.” Books become a window to new experiences and a deliberate counter to becoming “set in our ways.” One of Mom’s favorite aspects of reading is that even as age makes travel more limiting, she knows she can “still get there with reading.” It has allowed her to continue to be enriched by the beautiful diversity in this world and to challenge that tendency to retreat permanently into the security of familiarity. In a polarized world that rewards one-lane thinking, Mom has made a deliberate choice to push against that by surrounding herself with books that invite her to see the world in a new way. Reading fosters hope, particularly through stories that model kindness and human resilience. When I asked Mom what gives her hope, she said books (!) and used the book, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, as an example. She finds so much hope where she sees her faith expressed, not in formulaic ways, but by characters who engage the world with intentional, genuine kindness. Even the difficult, painful books leave her with hope because they invite her to imagine what could be rather than just looking at the world as is. Some of Mom’s Favorite Books * Eleanor’s Story [https://www.eleanorsstory.com/] by Eleanor Ramrath Garner * No Ordinary Time - Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin * Cold, Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns * Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin Books mentioned in this episode: * Bobbsey Twins Series by Laura Lee Hope * Nancy Drew Mystery Series by Carolyn Keene * Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver * Everything Sad is Untrue [https://www.danielnayeri.com/everythingsadisuntrue] by Daniel Nayeri * Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe * Now I Am Known [https://petermutabazi.com/nowiamknown] https://petermutabazi.com/nowiamknownby Peter Mutabazi * Lakota Woman [https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/lakota-woman] by Mary Crow Dog * Completing the Circle [https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska-paperback/9780803292543/completing-the-circle/] by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve * Spare by Prince Harry * The Correspondent by Virginia Evans * My Antonia by Willa Cather * Theo of Golden [https://bookshop.org/p/books/theo-of-golden-allen-levi/20518682?ean=9781668236512&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa_nonbrand&utm_content={adgroupname}&utm_term=aud-1885352274224:dsa-19959388920&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12440232635&gbraid=0AAAAACfld42eIw464LETjbfXsIEz6Ovud&gclid=CjwKCAjw7vzOBhBxEiwAc7WNr6ExfrRelwOIs1xTg8rfab5kQc4HSB257b-HGWnNLmLdQP4wYAhe5BoC8KYQAvD_BwE] https://bookshop.org/p/books/theo-of-golden-allen-levi/20518682?ean=9781668236512&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa_nonbrand&utm_content={adgroupname}&utm_term=aud-1885352274224:dsa-19959388920&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12440232635&gbraid=0AAAAACfld42eIw464LETjbfXsIEz6Ovud&gclid=CjwKCAjw7vzOBhBxEiwAc7WNr6ExfrRelwOIs1xTg8rfab5kQc4HSB257b-HGWnNLmLdQP4wYAhe5BoC8KYQAvD_BwEby Allen Levi 🦄 Kristin P.S. You can check out my other posts referenced in the interview: My interview with my dad 👇 My interview with my sister 👇 My first post about Mom’s reading 👇 What I’m Reading (or just finished) I’m doing a lot of middle grade reading as I keep (very, very slowly) working on my manuscript. The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly [https://substack.com/profile/1590990-erin-entrada-kelly] Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs The Nevermoor Series by Jessica Townsend A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher The Neverending Story by Michael Ende How about you? How has reading impacted you? What are some of your most unexpectedly favorite books? Unicorn Hollow Podcast [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/podcast] is a listener- and reader-supported series of Unicorn Hollow. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out a Map of Unicorn Hollow [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/a-map-of-unicorn-hollow], and then subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe]to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world.” If you have that feeling, I’d be honored if you would be my Patron by sharing my work. My posts & podcasts will stay free, but if you have the means, you can help me build up this space by becoming a paid, monthly subscriber (and get some thank-you perks!). You can also give a one-time donation on Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/unicornhollow]. Writing is my career, so every bit of support goes directly to feed and clothe my small army of children. Thanks for being my unicorn! Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

It's never too late to smell the roses...or learn to draw them

Season 1, Ep 9 is here. For anyone who has worried that the creative window has passed you by, this one’s for you! A quick reminder that you can watch above or listen to this right on Substack and wherever you get your podcasts. In all my 45 years of life, I never once thought I’d be sitting next to my dad, Kim Wilde, in a slightly-too-close-for-either-of-our-comfort setup and talking about art. Over the decades, I have admired my dad for being many things: a curious questioner willing to challenge his long-held beliefs/stances & admit he was wrong; a compassionate “old person” doctor with barely legible handwriting; a slightly-eccentric-tinkerer; a compulsive-non-fiction-reader; a rock hunter; a fun dad & grandpa with questionable fashion sense. But never, ever an artist. “I’m just not artsy. Or creative in that way,” he would regularly say. “I don’t get art.” And yet here he is, at age 73, spending large chunks of his retirement years learning how to create art. Telling me that it is relaxing. And being good at it! I am genuinely shocked. My parents live 1200 miles from us and I really wanted to learn more about his excursion into learning how to make art. So during our recent time together, I cornered Dad and picked his brain. This ended up being much more than a conversation about a surprising retirement hobby; it became a window into unearthing a hidden part of who my dad has always been and his honest reckoning with what he would do differently. Here are my top takeaways from chatting with Dad: Finding something you love doesn’t always start as a burning passion. One day, Dad woke up, staring his looming retirement in the face and he realized he had no creative pursuits—no hobbies, no outlets, no plan for what came next. After realizing harmonica and woodworking offered more stress than joy, he dipped his toe into drawing and was surprised to find how much he loved it. It was a great reminder that finding something you love doesn’t have to start as a passion. Sometimes it just has to be willingness to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Learning that art is more than raw talent changed everything. I had no clue that Dad has always had a curiosity about “art.” As a kid growing up in small town South Dakota in the 50s & 60s, he had few opportunities to explore it. He believed he just wasn’t the creative type. The turning point in Dad’s art journey was when he was given the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310367/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain-by-betty-edwards/] by Betty Edwards. He discovered that the great masters used process, techniques, and tools to get proportions, color, and shapes right. That realization gave him permission to use his process-oriented, left-side-dominant brain in a discipline that had always seemed mystical to him. Structure and process made creation possible and gave creativity space to flourish. Some of his other favorite resources include Learn to Draw from The Great Courses [https://shop.thegreatcourses.com/startup-library-learn-to-draw], Jerry Yarnell , and Bob Ross. Use the time you have to become a multi-dimensional person. When I asked what he’d tell his younger self, he had no hesitation: work less; take art and music and history classes to understand the expansiveness of the world; don’t be a one-dimensional person; stop & smell the roses. He may not have had the time to explore art fully in those really busy middle years, but a little foundation and five minutes a day would have given him the gift of stress release, skill building, and a reminder that life is more than the present chaos. You never know what love might be hiding right under the surface. Nothing needs to be wasted. Even though he didn’t start studying art until his late 60s, Dad spent decades listening carefully, observing faces, noticing subtle details in his role as an internist that others might miss. He told me he can recognize former patients from a distance just by their walk. That kind of deep perceptual attentiveness was honed over decades and has given him the immediate ability to pick out an enormous number of details to add into his art (sometimes too many details to create the artistic look he wants!). It is inspiring for me to know that even when I can’t dedicate the time I want to my craft, my experiences now can inform what I create later. Curiosity is essential to living a full life. Watching my parents move into their 70s, one of the things I’ve noticed and admired most is that they haven’t calcified. My dad told me that life would be boring without curiosity, that his career kept him in a rut and curiosity is what lets him peek above it. He continues to learn about the world, allowing it to inspire him to try new things—his recent visit to Monet’s garden in France helped encourage him to try working with color. Curiosity is a choice he keeps making, and I think it’s one of the most important things I’ve watched him model. Creative freedom comes from knowing that “making mistakes” in art won’t ruin everything. And isn’t this just the best lesson for all of life? 🦄 Kristin Unicorn Hollow Podcast [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/podcast] is a listener- and reader-supported series of Unicorn Hollow where we sit together in that prickly place of learning to see what could be without ignoring what is. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out a Map of Unicorn Hollow [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/a-map-of-unicorn-hollow], and then subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe]to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world.” If you have that feeling, I’d be honored if you would be my Patron by sharing my work. My posts & podcasts will stay free, but if you have the means, you can help me build up this space by becoming a paid, monthly subscriber (and get some thank-you perks!). You can also give a one-time donation on Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/unicornhollow]. This is my career, so every bit of support goes directly to feed and clothe my small army of children. Thanks for being my unicorn! Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

A poem that breaks me & a magical belly laugh

Season 1, Ep 8 is here and wow - what an incredible night with Chris B. Writes [https://substack.com/profile/114735890-chris-b-writes]! I felt like I was soaking in wisdom at a poetry masterclass, breaking down in a therapy session, and laughing in a cozy pub with a good friend. Chris is a master at inviting us into the tension between hard and hope. We talked about 1980s vocab workbooks & high school creative writing, Bon Jovi & My Girl, and 9/11 & lost hopes & caregiver PTSD. We ended the evening knowing how vital it is sit in that really uncomfortable place where we stare right at the pain while clinging onto hope with all our soul. Chris read three poems during our live: A Thousand Versions [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/a-thousand-versions], Shave [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/shave-a-vulnerable-caregivers-poem], and Above Water [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/above-water-an-ekphrastic-poem]. Make sure to go check them out and then hop over and hear Shave set to music [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/turning-poems-into-songs-my-poem?utm_source=publication-search] and have it hit you all over again. I took away so much from my chat with Chris, but below I’ve shared my top takeaways. Make sure to scroll all the way down for poems & people referenced during our chat. Write for an audience of one. If you’re like me, a slightly-intimidated-wanna-be poet, start with total honesty to yourself. Write just for yourself because the only validation that matters is internal. If the poem doesn’t mean anything to you, you have missed the point. Everything in poetry (and art in general!) is so subjective. Chris has had 150 rejections in two years and only a handful of acceptances. The victory is in the process and release, not the public praise. Write to process what we can’t yet say out loud. Ever since high school, Chris has been able to write about things before he can speak them. His poetry began as the release of teenage angst and evolved into the primary tool he uses to process Brayden’s rare genetic disorder, hospitalizations, PTSD, and the heavy grief of missed milestones. He describes the writing experience as almost out-of-body, gripped by a message that needs to be shared. He’ll sometimes go back to a poem he wrote at 5am and think “Whoa! I wrote that?!” Hold the tension of grief and joy together. Don’t resolve it (because resolution doesn’t exist). One of the aspects of Chris’s work that makes it so powerful is his refusal to choose between the pain of caregiving and the pure joy of Brayden. Choosing Braden ten times out of ten doesn’t erase the ache. His poem, Shave, is the clearest expression of grieving the life Brayden won’t have (teaching him to shave, college, a wedding) while holding onto Brayden’s pure smile and absolutely magical belly laugh. Community inspires creativity. Chris is an absolute master at building community and raising up other voices. He joined Substack in August 2025, one year after Brayden was medically cleared from his harrowing 28-day stay in the hospital. Since then, he’s never been more prolific. He mentioned specific creators on Substack—JC [https://substack.com/profile/98693734-jc], Wildwood Writer [https://substack.com/profile/334592568-wildwood-writer], Veronica Llorca-Smith [https://substack.com/profile/112556721-veronica-llorca-smith], Heather Carpenter [https://substack.com/profile/314336772-heather-carpenter], Kelly Trost [https://substack.com/profile/337396341-kelly-trost]—whose poetry, photography, and prompt challenges have inspired poems he wouldn’t have written alone. In his own community, he runs “Two for Tuesday” (share your work, shout out someone else’s) as an intentional way to lift each other up and discover new creators. Music is inseparable from the poetic process. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill was playing when Chris wrote his very first poem. Chris grew up on vinyl (Billy Joel, The Beatles, Jim Croce, Bon Jovi), was a college radio DJ, includes music therapy for Brayden, and submerges himself in music throughout his day. As a kid, he loved getting out the good ol’ lyric inserts losing himself in the teeny-tiny words. He has been experimenting with setting his poems to music using AI—not to sell, not to outsource, but almost as a way to hear his words reflected back in a form he couldn’t create himself. The way he described it sounded almost like a form of therapy—hearing something familiar in a new way to reach something new inside. Thank you to everyone who joined us live - it was so fun to see so many familiar names. Thanks, especially to mary beth kaplan🪶 [https://substack.com/profile/35835114-mary-beth-kaplan]for wonderful words of encouragement and wisdom during the live! I can’t wait to watch your live in a few weeks! 🦄 Kristin More People & Poems * Make sure to watch for Chris’s work on Tuesday at Tiny Memoir [null]! * Collaboration Post [https://substack.com/home/post/p-181794656] with Heather Carpenter [https://substack.com/profile/314336772-heather-carpenter] * Kelly - Mothers never give up [https://substack.com/profile/363581459-kelly-mothers-never-give-up] writes at Melodies of Courage [https://melodiesofcourage.substack.com/] and is a huge inspiration for Chris * Jeannie Ewing [https://substack.com/profile/91570764-jeannie-ewing] who co-hosted a caregiver journaling workshop with Chris and is a great resource on the nervous system & caregiving * A couple of other poems mentioned in the pod: What I Kept [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/what-i-kept-an-ode-to-empathy] & An Otherwise Quiet Morning [https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/an-otherwise-quiet-morning-a-poem] Unicorn Hollow Podcast [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/podcast] is a listener- and reader-supported series of Unicorn Hollow where we sit together in that prickly place of learning to see what could be without ignoring what is. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out a Map of Unicorn Hollow [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/a-map-of-unicorn-hollow], and then subscribe to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world.” If you have that feeling, I’d be honored if you would be my Patron by sharing my work. My posts & podcasts will stay free, but if you have the means, you can become a paid, monthly subscriber and get some exclusive perks! You can also give a one-time donation on Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/unicornhollow]. This is my career, so every bit of support goes directly to feed and clothe my small army of children. Thanks for being my unicorn! Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Tea time with an opera diva

Season 1, Ep 7 is here & I am super excited to share this tea time conversation with my baby sister, Laura, about all things opera and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who popped on to listen yesterday! Laura chats about her journey from Sibling Sabotage Expert in small town South Dakota to International Opera Soprano. She gives us a glimpse into her love of unglamorous (and often lonely) work of singing, not just the act of performing and how she brings her roles to life. For Laura, opera isn’t simply a performance. It’s a vehicle for human connection and a doorway to experience new perspectives and open up difficult conversations in disarming ways. In a time that can feel so hopeless, she finds genuine hope in the one-on-one human connections her career affords her with people from around the globe. One thing that stuck out for me from our conversation was how much of her wisdom and experience is applicable to artists across disciplines (and, honestly, human beings everywhere). Here are my biggest takeaways: Being open to unexpected paths Nothing about Laura’s journey has been what she expected. Opera constantly requires her to be outside of her natural comfort zone, living with irregular pay and logistics throughout the year (Were will I be living? How many jobs will I have? What if I get sick enough to miss a performance and lose my income?). As someone who strongly prefers predictability, she has had to learn how thrive within uncertainty. Her path has not been deciding which option to choose, but rather being willing to “walk through whatever door opens next.” You must love the process, not just the end product So little of this career is made up of the actual performance part that it would be extremely difficult to have an enjoyable, sustainable career in opera without loving the daily practice and preparation work itself. Laura spends months learning roles in foreign languages (German, Czech, Russian, Italian), memorizing music, and perfecting technique—all before the first rehearsal (or paycheck). Payment and validation might come from only five performances after a year of prep work done largely alone. The necessity of prioritizing Future Self over Present Self The process of creating art, including opera, takes years of what can feel like fruitless and unacknowledged work. Turns out, the Mountaintop of Mastery is a myth—you never really “arrive.” Laura has learned to find joy in the never-ending road of learning (and sometimes long stretches without external payoff) by taking the time to notice and celebrate small, daily victories and improvements. By tracking how she has grown over the years, she recognizes how her freedom to do increasingly challenging vocal work today came from yesterday’s commitment to the unsexy practice. Sehnsucht and the transformative power of art Laura loves the German concept of Sehnsucht—a bittersweet longing sparked by brief moments of transcendent beauty in music, nature, or art. She has seen how opera can open hearts, begin difficult conversations, and challenge us to look beyond what we can see in unique ways. Knowing this, she takes time to lovingly probe into the roles she plays to understand the “why” behind their actions, to offer hope, and to invite her audience to see things differently, too. This world needs our art. Period. 🦄 Kristin Laura’s Favorite Operas Salome by Strauss Tosca and Madama Butterfly and La Boheme, all by Puccini Jenůfa and Katya Kabanova, both by Janacek Susannah by Floyd Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, both by Wagner Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck Rusalka by Dvorak Peter Grimes by Britten Where to find Laura👇 The Media Page of her professional website [https://www.laurawildesoprano.com/media.html] (scroll down for a whole bunch of clips of her lovingly portrayed women) Her YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@laurawildesoprano] (for Salome with the head of John the Baptist) Follow her on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/laurawildesoprano?igsh=c2U3ZzlxeG9xZmp0]to see where’s she at in the world! How about you? What did you take away from this chat? Unicorn Hollow Podcast [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/podcast] is a listener-supported series of Unicorn Hollow where we find magic in the smallest things. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out a Map of Unicorn Hollow [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/p/a-map-of-unicorn-hollow], and then subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe] to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world.” If you have that feeling, I’d be honored if you would be my Patron! My posts & podcasts will stay free, but if you have the means, you can help me build up this space and become a paid, monthly subscriber (and get some thank-you perks!). You can also give a one-time donation on Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/unicornhollow]. This is my career, so every bit of support goes directly to feed and clothe my small army of children. Thanks for being my unicorn! Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe [https://kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]