I’m Kelly and I help folks express themselves

Behold: a bird nerd in her natural habitat (the living room, peepin’ at house finches)

People have described me as:

  • a human confetti cannon

  • an ice cream sundae dressed as Miss Frizz

  • the daughter of Leslie Knope, Bill Nye, and Linda Belcher

  • an exclamation point dressed up like the Kool Aid man who’s Trojan horse-ing a metric ton of empathy and tenderness into the world

  • a sassy possum covered in Cheeto dust belly flopping into a Diet Pepsi pool

And they’re all exactly correct.

 

So it may shock you to know that, in a former life, I was an English Professor.

For fifteen years, I taught English and Writing in middle schools, high schools, community colleges (my favorite), and four-year universities. This means I have two and a half degrees—the PhD is, like, really hard—and a metric ton of experience convincing reluctant 19 year-olds and middle-aged parents with full-time jobs to just hear me out: Writing is rad! Lemme show you how!

As a surprise to no one, I was really good at it.

But I had a sneaking suspicion there was more I should be doing. As in, for me.

Ooooh, intrigue!

〰️

Ooooh, intrigue! 〰️

I’d been doing everything short of setting my hair on fire to get folks to fall in love with writing, but I hadn’t written…anything. I’d always wanted to write poetry + essays, but convinced myself I didn’t have the time or energy; even if I found some, who would want to read what my electrified bag of Skittles brain had to say?

No one was stopping me. But no one was coming to show me how to start.

 

I started taking all the advice I’d given to students, then I started taking writing workshops with folks I admired (Undercurrent with Desireé Dallagiacomo and Writing with Confidence with Haley Jakobson changed my life).

Now you can read my poems and thoughts all over the internet + Instagram!

I’m not saying it hasn’t been difficult and it was all just that simple.

But also? It can be.

 

I created Casual Magic Writing because I believe everyone deserves to use writing as a tool for self-expression.

You don’t need to buy fancy leather-bound journals or expensive pens or an overpriced workshop with a “real” writer to prove it. What most of us need is a little guidance, support, and a soft place to string our words together. And that’s what you’ll find here in our Writing Sessions, 1:1 Coaching, and Copywriting Collabs.

What’s up with the name Casual Magic?

I believe something can be important to us without it being A Big Deal that we have to freak out about.

Everything I love has to be easily accessible to me without any conditions or expectations: I can’t hitch my worth as a human being to my ability to write 1,000 words a day. I write with no expectations of what I’ll say or how it’ll sound because that’s not the point—the point is to do the thing. Casually.

And what ends up happening every single time I allow myself to simply write? Magic.

Values

  • For our shared understanding, the definition of social justice I’ll be utilizing is from the John Lewis Institute for Social Justice:

    “Social justice is a communal effort dedicated to creating and sustaining a fair and equal society in which each person and all groups are valued and affirmed. It encompasses efforts to end systemic violence and racism and all systems that devalue the dignity and humanity of any person. It recognizes that the legacy of past injustices remains all around us, so therefore promotes efforts to empower individual and communal action in support of restorative justice and the full implementation of human and civil rights. Social justice imperatives also push us to create a civic space defined by universal education and reason and dedicated to increasing democratic participation.”

    My personal education in anti-racism and Black Liberation is ongoing and I have been fortunate to learn from and grow from the labor of Monique Melton, Michelle Nicole, Austin Channing-Brown, Rachel Ricketts, Dr. Akilah Cadet, Toi Smith, Dr. Ayesha Khan, Rachel Cargle, Da’Shaun L. Harrison, Ebony Janice, Constanza Eliana, Alishia McCullough, Dr. Barbara Shabazz, Ilya Parker, Ericka Hart, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Ijeoma Oluo, and adrienne marie brown. Naming each individual helps prevent the erasure of their labor and Ebony Janice’s work on citation has singlehandedly changed the way I write and speak about how my work has been influenced.

  • Every thing I know is useless unless I know how to share it. Further, resources and knowledge I’ve acquired due to my unearned privilege will never be gatekept: you will have access to what I’ve learned, as well as who I’ve learned it from.

    When we work together, you’ll be equipped with exercises, resources, practices, and tools to continue growing what we’ve built.

  • I believe that we all have a moral obligation to cite the sources for our words, thoughts, ideas, and offerings. Not citing sources is an extension of white supremacist ideologies that treat people as resources to be extracted from, erased, and disposed of when they are no longer profitable/immediately useful in making us white folks appear “good” and “educated.” My understanding of citation of praxis is directly informed by the teachings of Ebony Janice. Shoutout to my friend Claire for introducing me to Ebony Janice’s work!

    Everything you read here on my website and in any space I facilitate is my own, in my own words, unless otherwise specified.

    If something about the way I express myself appeals to you, rad! But my approaches to language and my own specific phrases are mine, and they are not intended for you to take and use as your own. If you’d like to borrow something of mine, ask! I’ll say yes or no, and if I say yes, I’ll require a citation that properly gives me credit.

    I am a person who makes a living from creating new ways of “being in the world through language” (Jim Corder), so I am not consenting to be treated as a resource you can exploit and extract from, passing off my ways of being as your own.

  • I am responsible for clearly communicating what I’m learning about how to be a person and a business owner. I am constantly in progress, and sharing that progress openly is beneficial for my personal learning, as well as our collective understanding of how to be in integrity with our values.

  • I welcome feedback about my language, approaches, ideas, and values as an opportunity to be in integrity. If I ever use discriminatory language and you are resourced to share that feedback with me without risk of traumatizing or retraumatizing yourself, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn and make the necessary changes. I also provide opportunities for anonymous feedback for each of my offerings, so please know your experience and opinions are valued and utilized to make improvements (with your consent, of course!).

  • The type and definition of consent that I apply to my work is a non-medical version of informed consent, wherein I provide as much information as possible about an offering (ex: course, writing session, workshop, etc.) so that you can make an informed decision about whether that offering is for you. Further, the process of granting consent is ongoing and recurring. As my friend Jenn Schindel says, “But consent is not simply transactional. Consent is relational.” You are an autonomous being who decides what is best for you and it is my job to honor that. Similarly, I decide what is best for me—and we can both renegotiate the terms of our exchanges and what, exactly, we are consenting to. To this end, I provide comprehensive, detailed descriptions of my offerings so that you are able to make an informed choice about your participation. For writing sessions, this information is sent via email prior to the sessions so that you’re given the opportunity to include any additional agreements that address your individual needs. For 1:1 Coaching, the same applies, and we will have a written contract that spells out the details of our agreement; opportunities to revise that agreement are recurring and ongoing.

Got something to share?

Send me a message to book a free consultation, or just ask me a question straight from your keyboard.

 

Land Acknowledgement

I live and work on the stolen lands of the Arapaho and Cheyenne nations, who have always called this land home. The Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes’ website tells the history of each individual tribe as follows:

“Tsistsistas is the Cheyenne word meaning ‘Human Beings’ or ‘The People.’ The Cheyenne are descended from an ancient, Algonquian-language speaking tribe referred to as Chaa. They were also historically referred to as the Marsh People of the Great Lakes region, as they lived along the head of the Mississippi River in the central part of what is now the state of Minnesota. Hinono’ei, the Arapaho people, lived in the Great Lakes region along the Mississippi River. Around 1680, they began to migrate out of the Great Lakes area after being forcibly moved or pushed out of their established territory by the whites and traditional enemy tribes. Their adaptation to newer lands on the vast Great Plains, and their will to survive and advance their people, included making weapons such as the bow and arrow and the spear. As the horse and the buffalo flourished, the Arapahos became self-sustaining in their new territory. Today, the Cheyenne and Arapaho are federally recognized as one tribe and known as the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. However, while the tribes function as one Nation, each tribe still maintains their culture, traditions, customs, social dances, ceremonies, and languages.”

I understand acknowledgement alone is insufficient to address and repair the historic and ongoing harm caused to Indigenous peoples by colonialism, White supremacy, and centuries of attempted genocide. I believe in and affirm the rights of Indigenous people to inhabit and cultivate their ancestral lands, and to be recognized, respected, and compensated by those of us who live and work here. Therefore, as of May 2021, a portion of my profits each year will be given to organizations providing direct support to Indigenous people.