The Materials and The Making

So Relatable is experimenting with a new format. Let's see how this goes!

Welcome to So Relatable, a newsletter for creative folks who want to make things that matter. To support my creative work, buy my zines! ✨

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One of my 2026 goals is to revive this newsletter, but results thus far have been mixed. So we’re going to try something new! Because creativity thrives within constraints, I’m attempting a new format for this publication. Here’s what you can expect moving forward¹:

The Materials

We’ll begin each month with a curated list of everything feeding my creativity. This can include books, films, meals, adventures, explorations, events, articles, and fixations. My hope is that this will be more than a media round up or a recommendation machine; it will be an opportunity to share what’s shaping me and uncover hidden patterns.

The Making

Mid-month, I’ll share something I made² from those materials. This is where my carefully structured plan becomes more porous. Some months might be a short essay, like my recent crisis over AI. Others might be a weird short story, a photo essay, the launch of a zine, a personal project like The Artist’s Way, or a guide on how to have more ideas³.

Creativity isn’t a solo endeavor. It requires a conversation and begs you to dig a little deeper. Why this book, at this moment? How does a film fit into a broader narrative? Where can your body take you, and why did it choose that place? How do all these things show up in what you think, try, build, create?

Between these two regular installments—The Materials, and The Making—I hope to create a newsletter worth reading, and worth writing.

Let’s dive in.

The Materials: May 2026

As soon as I started pulling these materials together, I immediately saw a theme. Let’s see if you can find it, too.

FILM: We watched The Bride! and I Love Boosters, two very different films that seemed to be in conversation with each other. The Bride! is about a reanimated corpse who ends up on a Bonnie and Clyde-esque bender with Frankenstein’s monster; I Love Boosters is difficult to sum up in a sentence because it’s packed with so much, but suffice to say a group of professional shoplifters called The Velvet Gang are on a quest to steal high-end clothes and re-sell them to the needy (plus about 87 other plot points). Both films were slightly ridiculous, visually stunning, maximalist romps that still managed to say something profound. Because I’m trying to spend more time with the art I consume, I read reviews after I watched them and learned both directors were taking big swings, committed to their visions even when they knew the critics might disapprove. I didn’t love either movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed them both. I could see the places the directors’ attempts fell short, but also the moments where their risks felt transcendent.

BOOKS. It’s been a great few weeks for reading. On my “recently read” list—Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash, Clutch by Emily Nemens, Brawler by Lauren Groff. Lost Lambs reminded me of the two films, in that the plot toed a line—it felt like reality, but turned up to 11. So much going on, too many plot twists, and yet the heart at its core was tender. Clutch is similarly packed, following the lives of five 40-something millennial women during a particularly tumultuous three-month span, peppered with so many tangents and text messages that it bordered on manic yet felt so real. Brawler, Groff’s new collection, was perfect, obviously. Each story felt like a jewel, and I had to rest before starting the next one. At the end of the book, she included short notes about each story, and they felt like little prose poems tracing the lines of inspiration, the materials that went into each piece. What a gift!

MOVEMENT. Along with two of my strongest friends, I signed up for six weeks of small group training at the YMCA. Together, we’re learning how to lift heavy weights, how to handle a barbell without hurting ourselves, how to move through the weight room with swagger (or maybe that’s just me). I’ve done many extreme sports through the years—run marathons, played roller derby, climbed hundreds of feet outdoors—but the weight room has always been my white whale. I’ve already learned so much, and it feels like a whole new world opening up. The goals of the weight room also speak deeply to me. We’re working on progressive overloads, slowly adding more weight to see what our bodies can handle. More than once I’ve surprised myself, thanks in part to the friend standing over me, ready to catch the barbell in and when my muscles fail.

FRIENDS. The Coven—my friend group, which has gotten witchier over the last few years, much to our collective delight—showed up in big ways. First, inspired by our goal setting club, we held our first barn raising. One hot Sunday morning, we descended on Cassidy’s house to spend a few hours chopping, pruning, cutting, organizing, and weeding. By mid-afternoon, her yard looked amazing and we felt even better. Many hands make light work! The following week, we conjured many extravagant birthday celebrations for Kat’s 40th. The highlight: paddle boating around Greenfield Lake with everyone decked out in overalls (Kat’s signature look), followed by a Victorian-inspired picnic with delicious food, too much cake (also overalls-themed), and just enough lounging in the shade. As regular readers know, I love going big for birthdays. I also love a theme, which gives everyone an excuse to think a little bigger, be a little weirder, and embrace something outside the ordinary. What a privilege and a pleasure to go big on behalf of a dear friend!

WORK. Two job-related things: first, a long conversation with a friend going through a career crisis, which gave me a lot to think about and consider and appreciate. An excellent reminder that jobs are temporary and we are not defined by our careers! Work to fund the life you want, not the other way around. That said, my not-so-new job is still going well. In May, I spent a few days in Austin for my company’s first user conference, which was a great success! It made me realize how far I’ve come in just four months. I can make decisions and be a leader. I can execute ideas with very little oversight. I am trusted and empowered. I have permission to take risks, to swing big, to lift more than I thought I could. I don’t love work, but I do like feeling challenged. I’m glad this job is giving me that opportunity.

MUSIC. And finally: Ani DiFranco came to Greenfield Lake, my favorite local venue, and I obviously got tickets. Ani was one of the artists who influenced me at my most malleable time. It was both exhilarating and slightly disorientating to hear the songs I loved in my youth updated for middle-age, to croon “32 Flavors” along with the audience in the year 2026, our voices drifting over the cypress and the alligators. Getting older is a trip, and I’m here for the journey.

NEXT UP: The Making, in which I’ll share a sneak peek of and the story behind The Coven’s latest collaborative zine. Until then!

👋 About Me: I’m Chrissy Hennessey, an enthusiastic snacker and native New Yorker living in coastal North Carolina, where I stayed after earning my MFA. My writing has appeared in a decent number of journals, I’ve received fellowships to some fancy residencies, and I’ve written three unpublished novels. This newsletter is a passion project I started in 2019 as a way to connect with artists and writers, share my creative journey, and build a community. Thank you for being here!

1. We’ll try this format for a while to see if it works, if people like it, if I enjoy it. No promises that it’ll stick, but right now I’m feeling ambitious and hopeful, which is a great way to embark on any project!

2. “Make” also happens to be my word of the year. Patterns!

3. Speaking of patterns, I just re-read that idea article and my current project draws from some of what I shared nearly two years ago. My brain is slow, but she works!