Newsletter Reflections

Writing about Meaningful productivity

Monk Manual founder Steve Lawson approached me to work with him on his semi-regular newsletters, sent to an audience of over 60,000 subscribers. The Monk Manual is a planner that brings monastic principles to modern life; it emphasizes groundedness and reflection, helping people be more purposeful in their daily life. In our collaborations, we reflected on principles relevant to this mission while integrating current events and cultural trends into the writing.

While the process changed with each newsletter, we typically developed an idea over the phone; he sent me his notes and ideas; and I took a first pass at writing the reflection. We edited together; then he and I compiled the additional resources to include in the newsletter.

About the reflection in the image below, one reader told us:

For some time, I’ve been struggling with forgiving a close family member. Your message gives me ways of thinking about this situation that will help me with forgiveness and letting go. I appreciate being on the receiving end of your mission to bring monastic principles into daily living.