Jazzercise, Weeds, and A Midsummer Night's Dream

7th-13th July 2025

Hey everyone,

You’ll find me this week sitting in as minimal clothes as possible, sneezing. This is a classic Rachael-in-summer look that Vogue is yet to catch on to.

I know I said I might have a week off this week, but the call to relay important messages to my loyal subscribers is too strong. This includes: the hardest part of following your dreams, the need for exercise to be predominately fun-based, and two forms of media I might be too dumb to understand.

Please do pass on these nuggets to the relevant authorities posthaste.

Happy reading!

Now That I Think About It

Knowing what you want to do with your life is only half the battle. Often, we’ve known what we wanted to do since we were very young. The hardest part, in my opinion, is what is required of you in order to get there.

Life is a highway (image: walt disney pictures)

This week, I took part in a travel writing workshop run by journalist and author Peter Carty. It was a one day event via Zoom, which covered how to pitch features, avoid clichés, and create punchy stories that grip your readers from the beginning. We studied articles such as this one about Polish spas, that were funny, well written, and informative. I left the workship enthusiastic about the possibility of my writing developing into something similar, as well as the opportunity to visit new places.

It hit me afterwards that the reason I am able to make the most of opportunities like this is because of changes I’ve made. I knew I had to change when I burnt out during covid, and over the past five years I have left jobs, people, and opportunities behind, while trying to rid myself of perfectionism, impatience, and judgement. It has landed me here, with some interesting paths laid ahead of me.

However, the journey to get there was pretty rough. Few people talk about this part of growth. People will happily tell you about how the other side is worth it, but they don’t want to talk as much about the bad parts they went through to get there. It’s easier to talk about acing your exams than the mental health spiral beforehand.

For a long time, I didn’t know if I had the right to talk about these things, when no one else was. Why was my voice important, especially if I didn’t have any answers? However, I now realise how helpful I find other people’s voices, especially when they are honest about the messy stuff.

As Ethan Hawke said, “[…] all of a sudden you're desperate for making sense out of this life. And has anybody ever felt this bad before? [...] And that's when art's not a luxury. It's actually sustenance.”

It’s through this kind of reflection that I’ve come to realise the reason why I do this newsletter. It’s a form of connection. I don’t want to shy away from my experiences and see them as just happenstance or circumstanial. Everything that happens to me is happening all over the world. This is what the community of Substack offers, a whole heap of people using the written word to bridge that gap of community that is only getting wider.

I try not to offer answers. In fact, I think the confusion, and the wrestling with not knowing what’s coming, is where life really happens. Truth is glimpsed rarely, so join me here where I spend most of my time: in the weeds.

Photo by Jasmin Schreiber on Unsplash

Jazzercise

After my experience of a hip-hop dancing a few weeks ago, I decided to look around for other exercise classes that were predominately fun-centered. I had heard from a colleague at a previous job that Jazzercise was good fun.

My only experience of this was at my old gym, where one time in December at nine o’clock in the morning, a Jazzercise troupe came in with cowboy hats covered in tinsel. They had what, as far as I could tell, was essentially a rave in the workout room. The energy for that hour was so high I felt dizzy just watching them and my workout looked measly in comparisson.

Jazzercise started in 1969 when dance teacher Judi Sheppard Missett realised there was a growing trend towards group fitness over pure dance. If you get one thing out of this newsletter, let it be watching the above video of Judi in her prime. The vibes are truly through the roof. Then in the 80s with the rise of Jane Fonda, Jazzercise was folded into the wider leggings-clad aerobics scene. Nowadays, the website boasts it’s ability to bring full body workouts to people around the world for almost 50 years.

The class I went to was down the road in a community hall. The teacher had a head mic and the music was pumping already by 9am. I was surrounded by women in their sixties and above, who were all regulars and very welcoming. Thirty minutes in, my legs were already aching from bouncing and jiving so much and, by the end of it, I had my ass handed to me by people twice my age who looked like they were just getting started. A lot of fun. It was, however, a little on the expensive side, so I think I’ll start working my way through the YouTube videos. In fact, maybe my mum still has one of the original video tapes I could borrow …

🎨Art Corner🎨

‘ain’t nobody, spoil that movie’ - chaka khan

🎭A Midsummer Night’s Dream - The Three Inch Fools, Drum Castle ☆☆☆☆

One of those Shakespeare plays where I have no idea what’s going on but I enjoyed the vibe nonetheless. Cool to see a theatre production outside in such an amazing venue.

📽️La Chimera (2023, Alice Rohrwacher) ☆☆☆

Two and half hours of Josh O’Connor looking like a lost puppy while wandering around the beautiful Italian coastline? Sign me up. It’s was a very beautiful film with a supernatural undertone. Reminded me of Emily or Personal Shopper. I think that might be one of my favourite genres - movies that are both arty and metaphysical.

📕 This Is How You Lose The Time War (2019, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone) ☆☆

A heavily hyped book, which didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t think the poetry was very good, or not good enough to create any kind of flow. In the beginning it’s almost impossible to decipher what is going on and then it seems to simplify itself later (or maybe I just got used to it). I liked the concept, and the twisty ending, but I believe prose should wow through it’s simplicity and this to me was overdone.

Weekly Stats

• Grumpy at night time cus it’s too hot: 6 (better get a mop its getting sticky in the bitch)

• Dried all my washing outside: yeah!! yeah!!

• Protein waters: 4 (what crazy technology is going on here)

• Random bugs on my clothes: 12

• Help i’m listening to the Hamilton soundtrack again: WORK 💃

Next week on the rickleverse

The Tall Ships are coming to my city, so there will be no newsletter next week. Of course, that means there will be plenty to discuss the week after 🚢.

All the best, ricklers. Thanks for reading 🧡

Love,

Rachael

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