Five Lessons From Maria Popova's 20-Year Journey With The Marginalian

13 Jun 2026 #misc

It started as an email to 7 friends. Now it’s part of the Library of Congress.

In 2024, Maria celebrated The Marginalian 18th anniversary, where she writes to figure out life.

I discovered Maria and her blog, thanks to an interview with David Perell. It’s a shame I didn’t know about her work before.

Here are five lessons I learned from that interview:

Have a daily practice

When she was asked about why she reads and keeps a diary,

I’m very regulated by having a daily practice

Have a daily creative routine. Journaling, blogging, doodling… Not just to improve your craft, but to stay emotional and mentally healthy.

It’s not a surprise that writing saved me from burnout. Doing something I loved every day helped me recover.

Walk!

I always say I’ve written almost everything on foot and then what I do at the keyboard is transcription.

Walking beats writer’s block. Makes you take distance from work. Gives time to think.

Since last month, I’ve been taking walks every day. I’ve noticed the difference in my mood and creativity. I take pen and paper with me. Most walks end with a post idea. Maybe it’s breathing fresh air?

Sleep on it

When they were talking about scientists being artists too, she said,

A few months before my 40th birthday, per my need of a daily practice, I decided to start taking my favorite 19th century ornithological books and every night I would pick a drawing of a bird and read the ornithological description of the bird and I would sleep. And then in the morning, I would take certain words would kind of bubble up and I would make these little poems and koans over the artwork.

I also like feeding my brain and then doing something else. I’ve tried doing it before bed, but it makes my brain rush with ideas when I should be sleeping.

Always have something to write on. Maybe a notebook next to your bed or your phone with red filters on.

Like walking, sleeping gives our brain time to think.

AI doesn’t suffer

AI will never write the great American poem, the great French poem, because it hasn’t suffered. I mean AI has not the capacity to suffer…And without suffering, what kind of true art can there be?

If AI can do it in minutes, it’s not special. Share personal stories. Put your taste. Follow your curiosities. Make it unusual. Be human.

Don’t call it content

We have reduced creative work, cultural matter to what we call “content” which presumes a container and in a way it’s an accurate description because the container is advertising

I declare myself guilty of calling it content. I’m also guilty of making things just to stay consistent, feeding the container for a few moments of attention. Content makes us the product and unpaid workers.