Yoga + cats = CJ, or, my epic 35th birthday party

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley


There are two ways I could tell this story: by pontificating about stress relief and low blood pressure, or by telling you the truth.

OK, there’s some truth to both approaches. But let’s be real:

Birthdays merit celebration, and that’s a mission I take seriously. My expectations are especially high for milestone birthdays. I spent my 30th at a lake house with close friends and my parents, and my 18th at Walt Disney World. (By contrast, I still mourn my 21st, when I was lonely at a summer camp, and my 25th, which is the only birthday on which I worked.) And so the self-imposed pressure was on for 35. I wanted to celebrate with something I would remember.

I posted a challenge on Facebook, crowdsourcing party ideas as any social-media savvy person would. The ideas were all over the place: pajama-and-black-tie party. A 35-mile hike. (If I wasn’t born in July, I could get into that.) A death-match tournament in a bouncy boxing ring, with fighters costumed as superheroes.

But when my friend June chimed in, the answer was obvious:

June “won” herself an invitation to my birthday party.

I’d heard of cat yoga in other cities, usually at shelters. But as much as I love my city, Birmingham isn’t typically on the forefront of these trends. I thought it unlikely that I would find a place that would agree. I soon learned I had underestimated the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.

GBHS staff was thrilled by the idea; it turns out, they’d considered cat yoga already. I brought them a focus group (16 of my closest friends) and they provided eight cats.

It was everything I dreamed of.

I grinned as I walked through the room, guiding my friends through a toned-down version of my regular core strength vinyasa classes. Arm balances were out. Cat-snuggle breaks were in. The atmosphere was jubilant, and I was among some of my favorite people, my favorite animal and my favorite physical activity. (At one point, I announced, “You know you’re in a room full of people you feel safe with when you start prancing.” And prance I did.)

There’s no eloquent take-away here. But I have a hard time letting go of not-so-great memories and unmet expectations. These near-perfect moments, however, are something to cling to. I don’t believe perfect exists, but when life comes close, it’s a reminder of how much joy exists.

The prancing begins around the 36-minute mark, if you’re interested.

Join me every Friday at 4 p.m. for core strength vinyasa at The Yoga Circle in Birmingham. Find my complete yoga calendar at carlajeanwhitley.com/calendar.

We all have stories, and I believe yours matters

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

“Morris liked to share the books with others. Sometimes it was a favorite that everyone loved, and other times he found a lonely little volume whose tale was seldom told. ‘Everyone’s story matters,’ said Morris. And all the books agreed.”

I read “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” to my Avondale Elementary students during my final visit of the year. Once a week since October, I’ve visited them to encourage a love of reading. After the week’s book, I would distribute prizes–books!–earned by reading and completing a report on a book from their Better Basics-provided classroom library.

Two days after that classroom visit, I was to speak to a group of creatives about story at Birmingham Creative Roundtable. A light bulb went off: I should begin my talk with William Joyce’s book.

I’m passionate about story. That may be an obvious statement from a writer, but let me elaborate. I believe storytelling goes beyond the written word, beyond an oral tale. It shows up in nearly every aspect of life. Whether they were in photography, web design, branding, coffee or some other area, I told these creatives, storytelling is part of their work.

You can watch that talk in the video above, and work through your own story with guidance from this handout.

The event also motivated me to retell my own story. I focus more of my energy on telling those of others, and the about page of this site had become woefully out of date. I chose a career in writing as a child, and my motivations have been shaped by experience. (You can read more about that here.) Life as a storyteller is a step-by-step journey, and I hope my walk doesn’t end until I reach my grave.

Feminism and the things I’ve done for the first time, or, six months in review

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

My friend Amy turned to me, a double IPA in one hand and a tiara at the ready. We were two women at a bar on a Monday night, something she marveled at when I sat down. When she was 18, she explained, people didn’t believe she’d be anything other than a wife. She was smart, sure, and capable. But “wife” was the job title she seemed best suited for–merely because she’s a woman.

Amy’s 57th birthday was the next day. We are more alike than different, but decidedly not of the same generation.

When I left home at 18, my mom sat me down to deliver important instruction: You can always come home, she said. No matter what happens in life, you have a place here. That sort of support is the undercurrent of my life. Mom and Dad always believed I could accomplish whatever I dreamed of, including becoming a writer. I would be defined by who I am, not whose last name I carried.

It’s been six months since I parted ways with a man who I thought I would marry. For almost three years, being half of that particular couple was a significant part of my identity. I didn’t define myself solely as his girlfriend, but I was loved and loved well. It shaped me.

In the months since, though, I’ve tried many things for the first time.

It’s not that he held me back. He supported and encouraged me at every turn, celebrating my successes and striving to understand things he didn’t. After the first yoga class I taught, for example, he offered detailed feedback that I employed the next week. I believe he is as much a feminist as I am. But it’s easy to become comfortable in relationship, and sometimes I would opt for our regular routine over something different. If anything, I tried fewer things because I was comfortable.

At 34, I have a well-defined sense of self, but I also recognize that I’ve got plenty of life to live and learn. So when my regular routine vanished, I tried new things–and held onto several things I gained from that relationship. (Yes, I still watch the UFC.) I’m fortunate to be reminded by the women and men in my life that my individuality matters, that I am capable and that being a woman is a wonderful thing.

New things I tried this year (mostly post-breakup):

  1. Visited rural Texas. On purpose.
  2. Tinder
  3. Discussed Tinder with Pat Conroy (yes, really, and no, he isn’t on it. He’s married, silly.)
  4. Played on the company kickball team
  5. Joined a gym
  6. Started hiking kind of often. Ish.
  7. Danced in the dark
  8. Mixing first-person storytelling with reporting
  9. Switched to cruelty-free beauty products
  10. Bought my own symphony tickets
  11. Bought tickets overseas
  12. Traveled across the country on almost no notice
  13. Experimented with weekly podcasting
  14. Began teaching a weekly yoga class
  15. Filmed a yoga video

The sound of solitude

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Beginning at age 4, my nightly tradition became reading a book while listening to music. I may have set a sleep timer on my 1980s clock radio, or perhaps I let the Top 40 sing me straight through till morning. I don’t recall now. But as far back as memory will carry me, music was the background to my life.

That changed several years ago. I found myself switching to public radio or silence for my post-work commute; I’d had enough stimulation throughout the day. When I got home, I left the radio, iPod and iTunes idle.

Quiet took music’s place.

My evenings are instead filled with the sounds of my cats’ meows, a train rolling down the tracks miles away or the clatter of my fingertips across the keyboard. Podcasts provide occasional company and information, particularly when I’m in the middle of a hated task like folding the laundry.

I thought this was the result of years of music writing. I dabbled in the genre starting my freshman year of college, and after years of reviewing I needed a break. It’s fun to be the first among your friends to acquire an album and declare a band the Next Big Thing, but it becomes exhausting. (And I know people who are much better at than I am!) Frequently, I longed to listen to The Beatles instead of whoever was coming through town next. Silence seemed an apt response as I moved away from the music beat.

There may be truth to that. But tonight, as one of my best friends and I decided to take a break from social media, for the first time I realized that may be as much a factor.

I’m addicted to information. I surely check my email a hundred times a day. Typing in “fa” for Facebook or “tw” for Twitter before letting my browser complete the rest is almost a tic. During a recent magazine subscription purge, I narrowed the list to 10 must-have mags (and that was as deep as I felt I could cut). Social media, however, can serve as a bullhorn rather than a means of discussion. And I’m tired.

So I’m taking a break. It’s something I’ve never done before; I’ve been on Facebook since 2004, Twitter since 2008. I believe in their value. (Just last week, Facebook alerted a couple of Pennsylvania friends that I was in New York City when they would be, as well. I’m glad for the impetus to get together.)

I’ll be back, I’m sure. The aforementioned friend and I are taking a step back during the Advent season, intentionally drawing boundaries with social media in hopes of creating more space in our lives. Many posit that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Accurate or not, we’ll see where we are at the end of these 22.

“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to know enough about yourself and who you are, and be comfortable enough with that. That way, when you are with another person, you’re not trying to make that person into somebody you need them to be in order to buttress a fragile sense of your own self. You can actually turn to a person and see them as another person, and have a real relationship with them.” —Sherry Turkle in “Relearning How to Talk in the Age of Smartphone Addiction.” Our discussion of this article is what led Heather and I to take this break.

I screamed so loud but no one heard a thing

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

My relationship with Taylor Swift began with yoga, coffee and a break up.
imageI met Brooke at a yoga class in June. She approached me after I taught and bubbled over with enthusiasm and encouragement. Later, I asked a mutual friend why she seemed so familiar.

Right. Because she’s on TV and we had exchanged a half-dozen work-related emails over the years.

Brooke and I met for coffee weeks later, and our friendship quickly moved from yoga to heart issues when she asked how I prepared for teaching.

“Well, my boyfriend of three years broke up with me two days prior to the class you took,” I said. “When I planned that session, I focused on maintaining an open hear even after heartbreak.”

Brooke teared up. Her best friend had recently called off their relationship, she said, and Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” became her anthem in the aftermath.

We shed tears in that suburban coffee shop and declared our friendship cemented. And Brooke insisted I buy Taylor’s “1989” as soon as possible.

By that afternoon, I asked a coworker to take a coffee break with me because the one-two punch of “Wildest Dreams” and “How You Get the Girl” bad me welling up at the office. After we returned from that coffee run, I looked up the 1989 tour. I needed to be there.

My therapist OK’ed a bit of retail therapy in the wake of that break up. She said I was doing well, but it was fine to brighten my day with purchases within reason. I took that to heart, refreshing my makeup routine and subscribing to a flower CSA. On that June afternoon, I didn’t think twice about dropping $118 to see Taylor Swift, alone, in Atlanta.

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It’s been nearly five months, and “1989” is an album that I return to repeatedly. I suspect fame has increased Taylor’s maturity, and there’s much I relate to as a result. The album creates a safe place to process the often-heavy emotions that accompany life and loss. In fact, the dichotomy of Taylor’s upbeat pop and the more nuanced lyrics is exactly why I (think I) prefer her version to Ryan Adams’ beautiful, mournful cover album (and I’m an RA fan girl).

Tonight I’ve donned my red-lip classic look and set out for the Georgia Dome. It’s a pilgrimage second only to seeing Paul McCartney years ago, another show that carried such emotional importance that I didn’t beauty to go it alone. Tonight I’ll sing, dance and cry in a dome filled with thousands of other people who have been moved by this music. Tonight I’m going to party like it’s 1989.

I’m more than I appear

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

One of the challenges that accompanies my depression is that I often tell myself, and believe, lies. Among those is that a man will choose me based only on my appearance.

I don’t know where I got that from. I know it’s not true.

But when things go wrong in romance, I often trot out that lie and use it to flog myself. When my boyfriend broke up with me earlier this year, I did just that.

It’s a silly reaction, and not only because I know it’s untrue. I also tend to like my appearance. I could recite my flaws for you the same as any woman (or man, I suppose), but when I look in the mirror, I’m happy with what I see.

I’ve never been a fashionista or particularly savvy with makeup, but I have long believed that when you feel good, you look good (regardless of what you actually look like). And so when a girl friend invited me to join her for a mall makeover just weeks after the breakup, I quickly said yes.

The resulting makeover gave us fodder for a Jezebel column (the plan all along), but it was also an educational pick-me-up. One of my best friends was particularly thrilled with the results, I think because she recognizes that your outward appearance can reflect how you feel inside.

Mall Makeovers

Carla Jean’s Beauty Routine: My daily routine combines a bit of Southern expectation with a more relaxed attitude toward appearances. I usually apply BB cream, mascara and lip gloss at a minimum. On days when my reporting job requires me to meet with prominent people, I usually go for a full—but natural-looking—face. I’ve also become comfortable walking around town in sweaty workout clothes and no makeup, in large part because I’m a yoga teacher on the side. Read more “Mall Makeovers: Going Cruelty-Free in Birmingham, Alabama” at Jezebel

2015 concerts

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley
  1. Glen Hansard, Iron City, Feb. 2, 2015
  2. Triumphant Trumpet: Tamberg Trumpet Concerto, Haydn Trumpet Concerto and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, Alabama Symphony Orchestra with conductor Carlos Izcaray, Alys Stephens Center, Feb. 13, 2015
  3. Punch Brothers, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Feb. 27, 2015
  4. La Boheme, Wright Center at Samford University, March 13, 2015
  5. Authentic US presents an evening with Josh Vasa and Sanyasi, Desert Island Supply Co., March 21, 2015
  6. Wye Oak with William Brittelle, Alabama Symphony Orchestra Classical EDGE series, Alys Stephens Center, March 26, 2015
  7. The Music of John Williams from the Movies of Steven Spielberg, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Wright Center, Samford University, May 2, 2015
  8. Garth Brooks with Trisha Yearwood, BJCC Legacy Arena, June 13, 2015
  9. The Watkins Family Hour with Secret Sisters and Buddy Miller, City Winery, Nashville, Aug. 1, 2015
  10. Taylor Swift, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Oct. 24, 2015
  11. Chris Thile, Alys Stephens Center, Nov. 2, 2015
  12. Damien Rice, Iron City, Nov. 15, 2015
  13. Jeffrey Butzer and T.T. Mahoney perform “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Saturn, Dec. 20, 2015

Here I go again on my own

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Whitesnake might not be exactly the best soundtrack for this moment, but I’ve got that refrain running through my head just the same. Today is one year and two days since the publication of my first book–and four days shy the publication of my second.

This moment snuck up on me. How, I’m not sure. I began research for “Birmingham Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Magic City” days after I submitted the manuscript for “Muscle Shoals Sound Studio: How the Swampers Changed American Music.” And to be honest, it’s not a path I would recommend! Perhaps that’s not something I should admit in such a public forum; I think it’s been a worthwhile experience. But it means the past couple of years have been a whirlwind.

Earlier this week I received my first media request for this new book, and realized it was past time to update my media kit and add a “Birmingham Beer” page to my website. Two days later, and I’ve already seen three media appearances.

I’m lucky, I know. Yes, I work hard, but I don’t think hard work alone results in these opportunities. My first book fell into my lap, and the second came along while I was in the midst of writing the first. When people ask what’s next, I get to respond “taking a break!” I never could have dreamed that taking a break from writing books would be a treat.

So here I go again. I say it’s on my own, and in some ways that’s accurate. Writing is a solitary endeavor, and I’m the only person sure to show up at every one of my book signings. But I couldn’t do it without the people who lived the story of Birmingham beer. This community has been eager to share its story with me, and I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing it. This–and so many other things!–also wouldn’t be feasible without my community of friends and family. That was the best part of my first book, and I’m excited to celebrate with these people once again.

5things beer

I spent much of the past year researching and writing the history of Birmingham beer. Time and again, people have said to me, “That must be a pretty short book. Birmingham didn’t have beer until, what, 2008?”

And there’s some logic to their inquiry. Of Alabama’s current breweries, the oldest is Good People, which sold its first beer on July 4, 2008. But—as the owners and staff would be quick to mention themselves—they are standing on the shoulders of so many who went before them. —Read more “Five things you probably didn’t know about Birmingham beer” at AL.com.

The Homewood StarLocal author Carla Jean Whitley will launch her newest book, Birmingham Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Magic City, at Alabama Booksmith on July 27.

The book is a part of The History Press’ American Palate series and explores the history of breweries in the Birmingham area, from 15 years after the city’s founding to some of its newest craft breweries. –Read more “Birmingham Beer history book to launch at Alabama Booksmith” at thehomewoodstar.com.

015-CarlaJeanWhitley-Twitter

Carla Jean is one of the first people I approached about being on Birmingham Shines because I know how much she loves Birmingham.

We decided to time her appearance on the show to coincide with the release of her new book,Birmingham Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Magic City, which will be available for purchase starting July 27, 2015. –Read more “Carla Jean Whitley: On writing, on Birmingham” and listen to the podcast at birminghamshines.com.

See all press here.

SPJ and I are serious

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley
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Swearing-in selfie

Last year I shared why I (finally) joined the Society of Professional Journalists. Last month, I became vice president of my local chapter. This is the text of my “acceptance speech,” which I sent to chapter president Meredith Cummings via text message. Want to get involved? Learn more on the chapter website and like the chapter on Facebook.

I, Carla Jean Whitley, do solemnly swear to uphold the bylaws of the Society of Professional Journalists Alabama chapter and the powers invested in me as Vice President. I will write all emails in AP style, and will fight with autocorrect but eventually give up when it insists on capitalizing things like Vice President. I will fulfill the duties of the office to the best of my ability, even if it means emailing from bed while running my essential oils diffuser and drinking herbal tea to stave off allergies. I will let Meredith know if we need to dial it back because we’re overextending ourselves, and I will discourage her from taking on any additional Twitter accounts. In the names of Pulitzer, Bernstein and Woodward, Strunk and White, amen.

What I’m writing: April 2015

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

You may have noticed that my “what I’m writing” posts have dropped off. I’m not going to catch you up on everything I’ve written since (although I’ll offer a few highlights), but there has been a lot happening since my last such post in November.

Birmingham Beer title pageFirst, I wrote another book. “Birmingham Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Magic City” releases July 27. Although it’s available for pre-order via Amazon and I always appreciate your support, I’d love for you to wait and buy it from your (or my!) local bookstore. Keep more of your money in your local community. I’ll certainly update as the publication date draws near.

But more importantly, I changed jobs. After eight years at Birmingham magazine, I was ready for a new challenge. So I said my farewells, packed up my boxes and moved … across the hall.

Since late February, I’ve been a features reporter for The Birmingham News and AL.com, two of the magazine’s sister publications at Alabama Media Group. That’s probably the biggest reason I won’t link you to everything I’ve published since we last spoke–there’s simply too much of it! I’ve gone from planning, managing and editing a talented team of freelancers to chasing down stories of my own, and I couldn’t be happier.

Bottletree Cafe (art by Greg Smith, #Bham52)This return to reporting has allowed me to follow up on a Reddit post that led me to an Alabaster resident’s weekly depiction of Birmingham and write a thank-you letter to one of Birmingham’s beloved music venues. When we received a press release about an architecture art exhibit, it sparked a trip down memory lane to Birmingham’s Terminal Station. I’ met the youngest musician in the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and learned how the organization is working to attract millennial patrons.

I also expect the future to include many stories in Birmingham magazine, where I most recently wrote the January cover story.

The Promise of the $20,000 HouseOf course, I continue to freelance a bit, which always results in something worth talking about. January’s Paste magazine story allowed me a mental field trip to Seattle, where I’ve enjoyed the city’s many delicious breweries, and Boston, which is high on my to-visit list. BookPage offered me the chance to interview Judith Claire Mitchell, author of the hilariously dark “A Reunion of Ghosts.”

And February brought my most popular article ever, “The Promise of the $20,000 house” for The Atlantic’s CityLab.

Y’all, I’m living the dream. And I suspect there’s still more to come.

Want more? I try to keep my “What I’m Writing” Pinterest board up to date even when I’m not sharing it here.