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Tommy Hensel's "The Adverbial Life" - Issue 1
Published 7 months ago • 5 min read
Issue #1 - 9/8/25
The Adverbial Life
Notes on Thriving Solo
Greetings Reader!
Welcome to the very first issue of The Adverbial Life — a newsletter for anyone curious about thriving solo, embracing independence, and savoring life on your own terms. I’m Tommy Hensel, and I’m writing a book called Eating Adverbs — part memoir, part mischief, part practical guide to flourishing in solo experiences.
This newsletter isn’t just updates. It’s a conversation. A behind-the-scenes look at my writing journey, the ideas shaping the book, and the moments (both messy and magical) that are teaching me what it means to live boldly, mindfully, and independently.
Each issue will follow the rhythm of the book — five sections inspired by the five types of adverbs: TIME, DEGREE, MANNER, PLACE, and FREQUENCY. You’ll find stories, quotes, music, books, and reflections. Sometimes vulnerable. Sometimes playful. Always honest.
I'll also be reaching out for advice and counsel on some of my upcoming edits - including helping to choose both a subtitle and a book cover!
I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s build something together.
TIME
This Week's Moment: A Shift That Changed Everything
“I used to dine alone to reflect. Somewhere along the way, I started dining to produce. This week, I remembered how to simply dine.”
The first spark for Eating Adverbs came years ago, during a solo dinner that felt like a revelation. Dining alone wasn’t just a necessity. It became a ritual, a celebration, a way to listen to myself.
But somewhere along the way, that ritual turned into routine. I started bringing my journal, my phone, my deadlines. I was dining alone, yes, but I wasn’t being alone.
Just a few days ago, while editing a chapter on intentional choices, I had a moment of clarity: “Maybe I should follow my own advice.”
So I did. I went out for dinner and left everything in the car—no phone, no journal, no agenda. Just me, my wallet, and my keys.
And something shifted.
I tasted the food. I noticed the wine pairings. I chatted with the staff. I watched the room unfold around me. I was present. Fully.
It reminded me why this book matters. Why solo experiences, when lived intentionally, can be transformative.
What’s one solo moment you’ve had recently that reminded you to slow down and be present?
Reply and share it with me! I’d love to hear how you’re living your adverbial life.
DEGREE
How Deep I'm In: Writing With Your Whole Heart
“This book isn’t just something I’m creating. It’s something that’s creating me.”
There’s a moment I keep coming back to.
I was deep in edits, wrestling with a chapter that felt too vulnerable, too exposed. I kept asking myself: Is this too much? Too personal? Too raw?
And then I realized: That’s exactly why it belongs.
This book isn’t just a collection of stories. It’s a mirror. And sometimes, mirrors show us things we’d rather not see.
But I kept going. I wrote through the discomfort. I let the words land where they needed to. And when I read that chapter back, I didn’t flinch. I felt proud. Not because it was perfect, but because it was honest.
That’s what Eating Adverbs is teaching me:
To write not just with skill, but with soul.
To show up entirely.
When was the last time you showed up entirely for something—creatively, emotionally, or spiritually?
What did it teach you about your own grit or vulnerability?
I sing along: loudly, shamelessly, sometimes off-key but always joyfully. Especially in the car, where the acoustics are forgiving and the audience is nonexistent.
I don’t dance (grudgingly, occasionally, never publicly), but I do sing: passionately, dramatically, and unapologetically. Solo living means I get to soundtrack my life exactly how I want. No vetoes. No interruptions. Just me, harmonizing with the universe . . . or at least with Brandi Carlile.
Tips for Thriving Solo (Musical Edition):
1. Create a playlist that makes you feel like the main character.
2. Sing out loud - even if it’s just to your toaster.
3. Assign theme songs to your daily rituals: coffee, emails, laundry.
4. Bonus points if you narrate your life like a musical.
5. No audience required. Just joy.
PLACE
Where I've Been - The Rolltop Revolution
"Where intention goes, energy flows."
For most of the time I was writing this book, my computer lived on a table in the living room—a space that had quietly morphed into an all-purpose zone: writing, eating, watching videos, reading, scrolling. It was convenient, habitual, and energetically... muddled. The rest of my apartment became “just space”—unused, uninviting, unconsidered.
And here’s the kicker: I used to be a Feng Shui consultant. I know better. I know how space holds energy, how function and flow matter. But even with that knowledge, I’d slipped into a kind of spatial autopilot.
Then came the epiphany. I moved my computer into my home office, onto my rolltop desk—a piece I love but had let gather dust. I cleaned up the living room. And everything changed.
Messy, but much better for writing than my living room!
Suddenly, I had no easy place to eat dinner in front of a screen. So I started setting the table in my kitchen again, using my china, sterling silver, and crystal. I reclaimed the living room for reading. I reclaimed the desk for writing and work. This gentle compartmentalization—this honoring of space—made me feel lighter, more focused, more alive.
It also revealed the clutter I’d been ignoring. I’m re-reading Beyond Tidy and The Joy of Less, and the paradigm shift is real. My writing is sharper. My editing is faster. My home feels like a partner in the creative process, not a passive backdrop.
How intentionally are you using your space today?
Rearrange one thing. Reclaim one corner. Share your shift with me.
FREQUENCY
What I'm Repeating
What keeps me tuned in . . .
Creativity isn’t always a lightning bolt. It’s often a quiet hum. A rhythm. A return. These are the frequencies I’ve been tuning into lately, and they’ve kept me grounded, inspired, and surprisingly productive.
Song on repeat: Broken Angels by Over the Rhine. Yes, it’s melancholy. But it’s also hauntingly beautiful and evocative in a way that leaves me feeling strangely uplifted. There’s hope tucked inside the sadness, and that duality speaks to me.
Book I keep returning to: Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter. One of my favorite Feng Shui texts. As I’ve reshuffled the activities in my home, I’ve been revisiting all that long-dormant knowledge and wow, it’s revolutionizing my space and my energy. Whether you’re new to Feng Shui or just need a refresher, this book is a gem.
Grounding ritual: Rejoining the “4 A.M. Club.” I’m reviving an old rhythm: wake at 4, morning yoga, meditation, an hour of writing, a proper breakfast (yes, with actual silverware), then off to work but with a bonus half-hour of book time before I leave. It’s early, yes. But it’s sacred. And it’s working.
Share a habit, practice, or recurring inspiration that’s fueling your creativity.
Is it a song, a book, a ritual, or something else entirely?
YOUR TURN!
Share Your Adverb Moments
You’ve heard mine. Now I want to hear yours.
What’s your adverb this week?
Did you live quietly by turning off your phone and listening to your own breath?
Did you live bravely by showing up solo to something that scared you?
Did you live joyfully by dancing in your kitchen with no one watching?
Reply to this email and share your moment—big or small, messy or magical.
I’ll be featuring a few responses in future issues (with your blessing, of course).
This isn’t just my story. It’s ours.
Let’s build a community of solo thrivers, one adverb at a time.
Know someone who’s living their adverbial life? Forward this to them. Let’s grow this solo-thriving circle together.
Hi, Reader! I just published my first post on my new Substack, Eating Adverbs. I had planned to use the Substack to share excerpts from my gratitude archive and build toward the book launch. But something happened in January that changed everything, and what came out instead was a post I wasn't planning to write: about retiring from my career, losing my identity, and realizing I'm living a chapter of my own book that I didn't know I was writing. It's called "The Bewildered Beginner," and it's...
Issue #7 - 03/07/2026 The Adverbial Life Notes on Thriving Solo Greetings Reader! I went quiet for a few months. Not because I ran out of things to say, of course. If you know me at all, you know that’s never the problem. I went quiet because the book needed everything I had. And now, here’s the sentence I’ve been waiting to write: Eating Adverbs publishes this spring. The e-book arrives in May. The physical book follows in June. I’m not going to pretend that feels casual. It doesn’t. I...
Issue #6 - 10/19/2025 The Adverbial Life Notes on Thriving Solo Greetings Reader! Some beginnings arrive with fanfare. Others slip in quietly. It's odd to me sometimes just how unobtrusive a powerful beginning can be. This Eating Adverbs book project for instance, started with a simple ten-minute Zoom call with the publisher. There was nothing planned, nothing formed, no clear idea if I even had the capacity to write a book. We just chatted about my fascination with solo activities. But that...
