Some Life Updates
Where we're moving, Eyeballs, Books, Having Grace and more
I just wanted to dip in here and offer a few housekeeping thoughts, especially for you faithful paying subscribers who have been receiving, um, next to nothing in your inboxes.
The months after releasing a book for me are always a bit like what I imagine it feels like after running a marathon. It’s a stretch for me to show up and yap about my work for months on end (especially when it went so sadly south this time) and afterwards all I want to do is go into my version of a dark room and pull a blanket over my head. If you follow me over on Instagram, you know we’re fixing to move in a few weeks so dark rooms and down comforters are not on the menu. Instead it’s a full on sprint to the finish line until we move on August 22(ish).
I usually take the summer off of our monthly Zoom chats (for paid subscribers), which are some of my favorite convos of the month, so if you’re a paying reader, look forward to those starting back up in September (hopefully we can get Nate to join and talk about gender/sexuality this fall).
In lieu of the monthly Zoom, I’m doing a book club this month on Glittering Images. We have almost 100 people signed up which just feels crazy. I did not expect that kind of response at all. I thought maybe ten or eleven of you would join. So thank you for that. Seriously.
I have lists upon lists made for getting through yet another cross-country move, but it’s slow going this time and my energy is on the floor. I started a medicine for Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism early in the spring and I’d really hoped four months in I would be seeing some kind of improvement, but, as I told Nate a few days ago, “I feel like there’s a giant brick wall in front of me and I don’t even have the energy to look for a ladder.” So, you know, if you’re a praying person, I’d welcome the prayers.
People tend to have a lot more grace for us than we have for ourselves, and I’m deeply thankful for the grace you extend to me in times like this. I’m especially grateful for my paid subscribers, those who don’t cancel the moment I need to step back for a few months. Writing is my job. Substack subscriptions are part of the way I contribute to our family’s yearly budget. But writing, for me, is not just writing all the time, constantly producing. It is also weeks or months of not writing. I need weeks or months off producing so I can have weeks or months of good production. But it’s all the same job. I always come back, my energy will lift again, I will have all kinds of thoughts again. But I’m deeply thankful for you who continue to invest in me holistically and not just consumeristically (not a word…), supporting my work and me overall. Don’t think I don’t see you there, continuing to chuck seven bucks a month at me even when I’m only showing up about .25 cents worth of time.
There are lots more updates below the paywall, including where we’re moving, how my eyes are doing, how you can pray for us in the next weeks, and more!