autumnal news
(and my first official post on Substack!)
To enact any real change in life, I believe that a significant and symbolic transition must be made. A move away from the safe and familiar and into the new and unexpected. Lately, I’ve been pondering the best way to do this. I’ve been questioning who I am as a writer and what impact I truly want to make.
Through this very blog, I’ve been a Necessary Rebrand, Simple + Good, The Wild Delicate. I’ve thought that changing my name might change who I am and what motivation I experience and what response I receive. But truth of the matter is, I’ve been putting way too much thought into what other people might think of me. It may not be apparent from what you see here, but I’ve spent years on and off agonizing over what to post, what kind of pictures to share, what fonts, what themes, to the point that y’all don’t really get much of any content from me at all.
It’s safer to stay quiet and not be judged. Or at least it feels that way sometimes.
I don’t know how to compete with the other well-established bloggers and influencers out there, because I don’t really want to. I hate competition, and I hate that my art and my expression has to feel like a competition.
So rather than trying to fit in and do more and say more and be more….instead, I’m going to listen to my second iteration and simplify. Get back to the words. No frills. No filters. No reels or stories or whatever comes next that one is expected to do in order to stay relevant in this ever-changing online world.
Today is the autumnal equinox. It’s a day of significant and symbolic transition. Yesterday, it was 98 degrees outside and I was so hot I felt sick. Today, leaves are falling over our gravel driveway, the sun is just barely peeking out of the clouds, and the high is somewhere around 78. Our little piece of Tennessee is welcoming change in all its glory, and I’m here to take it. I love every shift in season, but it’s this one that feels the most like home.
So starting today, I’m going to be posting via a new platform called Substack, which is where we are right now. As you’ll see, it’s a simple and easy platform built for writers - not web designers - and all you’ll ever have to do to read my posts is subscribe. They’ll come straight to your inbox. There’s no need for you to create an account or click through to another page. There is a “website” associated with it where you can visit and catch up or comment, but it’s going to look and feel a lot different.
Because I am a writer. I work with words. And what I want most is for you to read them. I want you to read them and sense the similarities in our lives. I want you to feel. I hope you might learn something from them, or change your mind because of them, or look at the world a little differently after reading them.
I’m not trying to be an influencer. I don’t want to have to post my face in every picture so that the algorithms will reward me with views. I’m not playing a game. I just want to share my heart. And I hope that this will be the first step in making that a little easier to do.
But enough about me. What is this autumnal equinox calling into YOUR life? What change is begging to be made? What tiny daily shift can you create to get a little closer? Personally, I’m doing a lot of journaling right now. I’m lighting candles and drinking coffee slowly and trying to get back to me. What are you doing to get back to you?