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the utter
the utter
make something only you can make

make something only you can make

you won't know what it is until you do it.

Yrsa Daley-Ward's avatar
Yrsa Daley-Ward
Jun 03, 2025
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the utter
the utter
make something only you can make
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ON TOUR

YRSA ON NPR

(Yes, I’m reminding you to buy it (or pre-order if you’re in a country where it isn’t released yet.)

Today, THE CATCH is out there in the world!

Today, I feel it all. Relief that I didn’t get taken out by a freak bolt of lightning before I was able to see it in store, pride of having finished something complicated, the softness, the fatigue, and the something else of letting a thing go…

into the ether — into bedrooms and on shelves and living room tables. I am in loving awe of the process. Each time, it changes me. I’ve been thinking about what it takes to make something that’s truly yours, not a version of what you think will please or sell. Yours. Your rhythm. Your voice. It is no small feat to finish a thing. Life happens, and everything in the whole damn world competes for our attention. It is no small feat, then, to say, here is a thing I made with the raw material of my life.

If I am to be even more honest about the tangle of feelings that now arise, I will say this: releasing anything, especially something you have held to your chest, is hardly ever a neutral act…it takes courage, energy and self-trust. I know many people are coming up in moments of their lives where they are standing in some version of this; where life is challenging, pressing, pinching,

demanding, pushing for more,

and they must change, pivot, stand in truth, or make a decision.

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