photo shows a headshot of Caitie, a white woman with short light brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue collared shirt with white dots

Caitie Leibman (she/her)

writer

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  • January 20, 2026

    To the Core

    When do you come up for air?

  • January 19, 2026

    What should I learn: A Poem

    Sometimes a piece emerges.

  • January 18, 2026

    Fall Seven, Up Eight

    On keeping at it.

  • January 17, 2026

    Inflows, Outflows

    Day 17.

  • January 16, 2026

    Conservation of Energy  

    Conservation of Energy  

    Just add moisture.

  • January 15, 2026

    Sprained My Brainkle

    Sprained My Brainkle

    The call’s coming from inside the house.

  • January 14, 2026

    Prickly

    Prickly

    Day 14.

  • January 13, 2026

    Sharpen Your Pencils

    Sharpen Your Pencils

    Day 13.

  • January 12, 2026

    Water in the Well

    Water in the Well

    Day 12 Hemingway called it leaving water in the well. You don’t go and go and go until you’ve drained yourself: you stop when you’ve still got a little left. How do you leave water in the well? My students thought some of the ideas we talked about were bananas. Leave off a sentence halfway…

  • January 11, 2026

    It’s Not So Bad

    It’s Not So Bad

    I just do what the phone says.

  • January 10, 2026

    Birthday Homework

    Birthday Homework

    It’s Day 10.

  • January 9, 2026

    Refractory Rhymes

    Refractory Rhymes

    And tough colors.

  • January 8, 2026

    Just Get to the Van

    Just Get to the Van

    The point of no return.

  • January 7, 2026

    Dealer’s Choice

    Dealer’s Choice

    Pick a prompt.

  • January 6, 2026

    A List of Lists

    A List of Lists

    Counting and recounting.

  • January 5, 2026

    Handy

    Handy

    I’ve been having a craving for hooks and handles.

  • January 4, 2026

    To My 12-Year-Old Self

    To My 12-Year-Old Self

    Good job with the deodorant and the sunscreen.

  • January 3, 2026

    Shapes, a List: Day 3

    Shapes, a List: Day 3

    A punctuation mark and a bullet wound can take the same shape.

  • January 2, 2026

    Word of the Year: 2026

    Word of the Year: 2026

    I want to be grounded and to fly.

  • January 1, 2026

    Myself, Only More So

    It’s not “new year, new me”: it’s new year, more me.

  • December 1, 2025

    Slips: A Note on 4 Years Sober

    Slips: A Note on 4 Years Sober

    It’s all beginnings and endings and sparkle and shadows around here.

  • August 11, 2025

    Back to the Beginning

    Back to the Beginning

    What do you do with the short straw?

  • August 4, 2025

    Nebraska Triptych

    Nebraska Triptych

    Painted walls, a humid summer, and then a fridge floats by.

  • May 26, 2025

    Time Travel

    Time Travel

    In the sour mess, we are in touch with it.

  • May 19, 2025

    Vitamins

    Vitamins

    Dirty nailbeds and playing outside.

  • May 12, 2025

    Curating

    Curating

    The diaries wanted to be encased in Jell-O. They wanted to be sliced up and turned into paper chains, so they could wrap themselves around a banister for an entire holiday season. They never wanted to stay flat. They wanted to do something else, be something else, before I threw them away in my 20s. …

  • April 14, 2025

    An Ode to “Angel” and Taking Laughter Seriously

    An Ode to “Angel” and Taking Laughter Seriously

    The sunshine is welcome if it decides to visit.

  • April 7, 2025

    WFH

    WFH

    I don’t know what our home must look like from other people’s basement windows.

  • March 17, 2025

    Dust

    Dust

    The clock sprung forward and out of my hands.

  • February 24, 2025

    Doors

    Doors

    Space, not time, pulls a trick on me.

  • February 3, 2025

    Something Social

    Something Social

    Don’t let the bullies separate you.

  • January 27, 2025

    The Sum of the Parts

    The Sum of the Parts

    Because I want to get my hands moving this Sunday morning.

  • January 13, 2025

    Iconoclasm

    Iconoclasm

    There’s something of style and the soul caught up here.

  • January 6, 2025

    Relative Weakness

    Relative Weakness

    Maybe there’s something bigger that becomes possible next.

  • December 30, 2024

    Between the Notes

    Between the Notes

    After many minutes I couldn’t grab onto the sound inside the music.

  • November 11, 2024

    None of This Is News

    None of This Is News

    The week I got an ADHD diagnosis, I closed the garage door on my car.

  • November 5, 2024

    Arrows, Poets, and Things that Point

    Arrows, Poets, and Things that Point

    The choices we make are only one choice.

  • October 18, 2024

    Big, Dumb Goals

    Big, Dumb Goals

    Just casually questioning my life and my choices in 700 words or less.

  • September 23, 2024

    No Obvious Cause

    No Obvious Cause

    On walking the aisles of the past.

  • September 9, 2024

    Yours and Mine

    Yours and Mine

    Squint, and you can make me meet in the middle.

  • September 2, 2024

    What I Talk about When I Talk about Garage Sales

    What I Talk about When I Talk about Garage Sales

    It all has a cost, a weight.

  • August 26, 2024

    Now What?

    Now What?

    The good news is, there’s always something else to work on. That bad news is, there’s always something else to work on.

  • August 19, 2024

    How It Ends

    How It Ends

    We might not leave on our own terms.

  • August 12, 2024

    August

    August

    Milestones, anniversaries, and all time is relative.

  • August 5, 2024

    Skin-Deep

    Skin-Deep

    Be careful what you wish for.

  • July 29, 2024

    And Other Animal Tricks

    And Other Animal Tricks

    What do the jellies know?

  • July 22, 2024

    Anxiety Dreams

    Anxiety Dreams

    The projects that scare me and the ones that apparently don’t.

  • July 15, 2024

    It’s Not My Money

    It’s Not My Money

    An inheritance, a windfall, and going farther than you could imagine.

  • July 8, 2024

    Revisiting My Word of the Year (and Some Important Three-Letter Words)

    Revisiting My Word of the Year (and Some Important Three-Letter Words)

    On things for their own sake.

  • June 17, 2024

    It’s Bullshit My Mom Died

    It’s Bullshit My Mom Died

    A grabby headline for some real feelings.

  • June 3, 2024

    Why, yes, I have lost weight.

    Why, yes, I have lost weight.

    Just checking in.

  • March 18, 2024

    I’m Allowed to Change My Mind: Four Months into Training

    I’m Allowed to Change My Mind: Four Months into Training

    I’m adding new pieces into my training.

  • February 5, 2024

    Three Months In

    Three Months In

    No promises to break—just new things to try.

  • January 22, 2024

    A Break from What?

    A Break from What?

    On wonky weeks and sneaky snow days.

  • January 10, 2024

    Celebrating Me

    Celebrating Me

    Bring on 35.

  • January 1, 2024

    We’re 2 Months In!

    We’re 2 Months In!

    What’s it mean to be a “real runner”?

  • December 29, 2023

    2023 Wrap-Up Recs

    2023 Wrap-Up Recs

    The best books, tech, and tools from my year.

  • December 25, 2023

    Word of the Year

    Word of the Year

    Where are you headed in 2024?

  • December 18, 2023

    A Half-Marathon Update that’s Not about the Half-Marathon

    A Half-Marathon Update that’s Not about the Half-Marathon

    On my body’s journey, my brain and baggage are along for the ride!

  • December 11, 2023

    I Am Two Years Sober

    I Am Two Years Sober

    Content warning: depression, alcohol use.

  • December 4, 2023

    My Stretchy November Project

    My Stretchy November Project

    Sharing my first monthly update since I decided to do a half-marathon.

  • November 27, 2023

    Want to Join the Club?

    Want to Join the Club?

    So many have been talking to me about their craving for structure and accountability.

  • November 20, 2023

    How I Did the Thing: Work Edition

    How I Did the Thing: Work Edition

    A messy look back at a messy process.

  • November 13, 2023

    It’s a Half-Marathon, Charlie Brown!

    It’s a Half-Marathon, Charlie Brown!

    This missive includes an invitation.

  • November 10, 2023

    I Don’t Live There Anymore

    I Don’t Live There Anymore

    Doesn’t mean I can’t go back.

  • November 1, 2023

    RIP, Matthew Perry

    RIP, Matthew Perry

    May his memory be a blessing.

  • October 1, 2023

    What a Difference a Year Makes

    What a Difference a Year Makes

    Content warning: depression.

  • September 1, 2023

    Just a Few Words Away

    Just a Few Words Away

    Ever write just to scratch an itch?

  • August 1, 2023

    The Limitations of Being Judgy

    The Limitations of Being Judgy

    … and why I love revision.

  • July 1, 2023

    When Hiding Sounds Good

    When Hiding Sounds Good

    There’s a relationship between risk and reward, vulnerability and intimacy.

  • June 1, 2023

    “The Thing I Didn’t Want to Write…”

    “The Thing I Didn’t Want to Write…”

    Am I avoiding a task or an emotion?

  • May 1, 2023

    Why I’m Glad I Write

    Why I’m Glad I Write

    Some reflections for the graduates of 2023.

  • April 1, 2023

    Not Gettin’ Any Younger Here!

    Not Gettin’ Any Younger Here!

    But we’re not exactly getting older, either.

  • March 7, 2023

    Making a U-Turn

    Making a U-Turn

    Happens in traffic, happens in life.

  • February 27, 2023

    New Moon

    New Moon

    Darkness can show us things, too.

  • January 23, 2023

    The Plan Until It Isn’t

    The Plan Until It Isn’t

    Parenting wisdom applies widely.

  • January 16, 2023

    Let’s Play

    Let’s Play

    Take a tumble with words.

  • January 9, 2023

    Begin with the End in Mind?

    Begin with the End in Mind?

    You are the author of life’s Mad Lib.

  • January 2, 2023

    No Guilty Pleasures

    No Guilty Pleasures

    Life’s long enough—but too short for this nonsense.

  • January 1, 2023

    My Favorite Two-Faced God

    My Favorite Two-Faced God

    His domain is delightful and timely.

  • December 19, 2022

    People Are Fascinating

    People Are Fascinating

    You just have to listen.

  • December 12, 2022

    On Roots and Wings

    On Roots and Wings

    What do we inherit, and where are we going?

  • December 5, 2022

    Life in Slow-Mo

    Life in Slow-Mo

    Winter is not a speedy experience.

  • December 1, 2022

    Begin as if You Mean to Go On

    Begin as if You Mean to Go On

    We decide to be ready enough.

  • November 28, 2022

    A Little Light

    A Little Light

    A note on the sun’s journey and ours.

  • November 21, 2022

    What’s in a Gift?

    What’s in a Gift?

    Relationships are stories.

  • November 14, 2022

    Audience of One

    Audience of One

    Forget about everybody else.

  • November 7, 2022

    One Foot in Front of the Other

    One Foot in Front of the Other

    I’m noticing how much my feet have to do with things.

  • November 1, 2022

    Not Too Precious

    Not Too Precious

    We harvest not to keep but to nourish.

  • October 31, 2022

    Water in the Well

    Water in the Well

    Sometimes my writing practice helps me come back to the present moment.

  • October 24, 2022

    Gingko Wisdom

    Gingko Wisdom

    Where’s the gift in this?

  • October 17, 2022

    On Getting Lost

    On Getting Lost

    Getting lost isn’t the same as being lost.

  • October 10, 2022

    Make the Details Count

    “Give things the dignity of their names.”

  • October 3, 2022

    Get Yourself Some Now Today!

    Get Yourself Some Now Today!

    Sometimes my writing practice helps me come back to the present moment.

  • October 1, 2022

    Sober October

    Sober October

    How I got a little more of everything by choosing life “without.”

Land acknowledgement, some language courtesy the City of Lincoln: I reside in a community that rests on the traditional lands of the Pawnee, Ponca, Omaha, Winnebago, Dakota, Oto-Missouria, Lakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Kaw Peoples, as well as the relocated Ho-Chunk, Iowa, and Sac and Fox Peoples, past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. I would not be able to do my work and live as I do without it and without them.

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