"The Blessing Is in the Struggle"

Five Big Questions with Jillian Hess

Welcome to the midweek letter, a rotating assortment of interviews, personal writing, recommendations, AMAs, giveaways, and other fun things.

Today I’m excited to share a round of Five Big Questions, the short interview series where awesome people share a bit about who they are and what moves them.

Jillian Hess is an English professor, writer, and creator of one of the most fascinating newsletters on Substack, Noted.

Every week, Jillian offers a deep dive into the notes of incredible humans, from Toni Morrison to Kurt Cobain to James Baldwin to Eminem to Sylvia Plath to Julia Child to Martin Luther King Jr. to Beatrix Potter — yes, I know I’m listing a lot of people but HOW COULD I CHOOSE — and many more. She pairs incredible archival photos with thoughtful commentary and a round-up of takeaways to use in our own recorded lives. If you’re not yet familiar with her work, you’re in for a treat.

(She also featured my notebooks in a recent round-up, which was a thrill.)

Here’s Jillian, in her own words.

What’s one thing you struggle with that people might be surprised to hear?
Writing on the Internet. Let's be honest: if you're not used to "showing your work" online (a la Austin Kleon), hitting "post" can be scary. I come from the world of academia, where writing takes years to come out and when it does, only specialists in your field read it. On Substack, I have no idea who is going to read my writing. Which is great! And also terrifying! When I first started Noted, I would hit post and think "I hope people don't hate this." Clearly, that wasn't very helpful. These days, I hit post and think "I hope this essay lands in the mailbox of someone who could benefit from it." That approach has made a world of difference.

What’s one thing you’re proud of?
Being a community college professor. Teaching is a difficult profession, and it's also such a gift. I get to nurture new writers as they find their voices. I get to have fascinating conversations with students exploring the world around them. I get to support students as they figure out how to become college graduates. At the end of the day, I feel so nourished by my work because I know that I am helping to make our world a little bit better. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
"The blessing is in the struggle." In 2019, I ran the NYC marathon: a feat I never thought I'd be able to accomplish. To support myself, I listened to a lot of podcasts about running. On one of them, someone said, "the blessing is in the struggle" — and it's true. The greatest rewards are often found in the most challenging things. So when I'm in the middle of a difficult (seemingly impossible) task, I remind myself that this is exactly where the blessing lies.

What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever read? 
This question is impossible! But here's one of the most beautiful things I've read — it's from George Eliot's Middlemarch — about how the world is made better through quiet, unhistoric acts:

“But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

What’s one consumable thing you recommend?
I love my Kaweco Sport fountain pen. It's tiny, so I can take it anywhere, and it makes me feel like a badass writer.

Thank you so much, Jillian. You (and your words) are wonderful.

A photo from last summer, at a coffee meetup with Jillian and

Nishant Jain

where we all nerded out over fountain pens (and other things).

And because I cannot help myself, here are a few favorite treasures from Noted’s archives…

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s notes

Early sketches of Kermit from Jim Henson’s notes

Octavia Butler’s “Essentials of Success”

Francis Ford Coppola’s annotated “Godfather notebook”

An image of my current notebooks from this post.

If you’re as enamored with Jillian’s work as I am, there’s much more where this came from on Noted.

As always, thanks so much for reading! See you on Sunday. x

---