Imola, congratulations! I, too, began publishing around the same time (Oct 3, 2023) and had no idea what this Substack experiment would look like in a year's time. But like you, I've found a beautiful home for my writing, friendships, support, a stimulating kinship among so many other like-minded, and like-hearted souls. I have admired your writing shares in WITD and I'm making it a priority to come here and read your work because I see so many similarities between us in our approach to life. And I love that you chose the intimacy of a video to reflect on your one year anniversary. You have inspired me to consider doing the same. And thanks for your list of other newsletters you enjoy, some of which I follow and read and others I don't, but now I want to add them to my TBR list. I subscribe to so very many Stacks because this universe of writers is so talented and so much resonates with me. How I wish I had more hours in the day! But look at what you've done with your precious 4-6 hours. Wishing you the best in year 2!
Amy! Congratulations back to you! And now that I know that you are writing in Substack, I have subscribed! :) doing videos makes me nervous, but I’m slowly getting better at it. I’m so glad we have found each other on the WITD community. So much great writing there! Will explore yours now! Thank you for this generous and kind note!
Imola, thank you for subscribing and you seemed very at ease in that video so consider doing it regularly. One of the videos you recorded, or your recent posts, about packing lite I found inspiring for my recent trip to Europe and how I had to pack lite for my 15 days on the Camino. I aspire to more lite living, as I plan a move to Barcelona in March 2025. I need to lighten all my belongings here in Florida and want to be more minimalist with possessions in the future. Where do you live, BTW?
I'm so grateful to have met you, Imola! What a lovely video. I loved seeing your face and hearing your voice. It's been wonderful getting to know you in this time and finding a fear kindred spirit in you. I want to keep cheering you on in your writing journey. You inspire me with how brave and open you are. Keep doing it and I look forward to this next year of journeying and humanning together.
Love this “humanning together” Tiffany!! I’m in! The world needs it, and more brave words. And speaking of brave… you’re it. Grateful we can inspire and cheer each other on! 💜
Imola, Thank you so for the mention. Your post on Inner life: https://innerlifecollaborative.substack.com/p/post-traumatic-stress-or-post-traumatic still inspires and your comments when you've had time to read me on my site--comments that show your literary edge have given me courage. I'm now scrolling through your work to answer the question you pose and will add a note on a post and subscribe to you, as well. The quid pro quo here for me is that when anyone engages with me on my site at the link you generously shared, I'm right back on theirs to read and comment--not only to hit that "like" button"!
I believe in generosity too, but I don’t comment just as a ‘favour’. The posts I have read by you stirred and inspired something genuine in me. Especially your take on Ferrante. Because I read on the app only, sometimes I miss some posts. I will circle back to check. Sometimes I swear I see posts pop up, make a mental note to read them, but they disappear hours later. I might have to go back to email…
Thank you Mary! I thought I was already subscribed. How strange. Well, now hopefully this glitch is fixed and I’ll find you with greater ease. Looking forward to reading you!
Good morning, my darling. And a happy and healthy new year to you and yours. You give me such lovely shoutouts, which i always appreciate, but you should know that you are an inspiration to me each time I read your words. Your depth of feeling and your pureness, your honesty--these things are always so evident. It feels that I can reach out and touch you through the ether, though--as you say--we have not met in person. I want you to post here whatever you want to post. I want to cheer you on and watch you grow your substack and your career. I can't wait to read your book. I loved seeing your face this morning and hearing your voice. Mazel tov on the completion of your first year here. May many more readers discover you! xoxo
Imola! It was so lovely to see and hear you through the video. I love your words about letting go of perfectionism. I need to make progress with that, and it helps to see the concrete ways in which others do that. Also really appreciate your nods to other writers, some of whom I haven't discovered yet. Looking forward to some new reads (though I honestly can't keep up with all the writers I want to read here). Congratulations on your anniversary here, and your year of showing up.
Oh, yes, letting go of perfectionism is a big one for me! I'm getting better at it though. I'm so happy to hear that it encourages you to "make progress" with yours :) I always love reading you on the WINTD community Rita, so I'd encourage you to share your writing as widely as you possibly can! Spread your wings and fly!
Hey Imola, lovely share. I appreciate your desire to always improve, to do and be more and to as you say, add more value for your paid subscribers and probably others so I just wanted to say that as a paid subscriber, the value is You. All you are, all you write from the heart but with precision, not just passion, the work, the practice. I salute you and all of it when I read you when I do my small part to support other writers who make a difference in my own life.
Seriously, Joanne, I have tears. I never know if I should openly acknowledge my paid subscribers (some of them I know are very shy), so this gives me an opportunity to acknowledge you openly! So, so generous. You became a paid subscriber to my newsletter a day after a family member had cancelled his subscription. I still don't know whether it was the peace-promoting essay I wrote, or he had just lost interest in my writing. But it sure felt good, and significantly more meaningful to have you as my new paid subscriber - someone whom until then I didn't even know. So, a million thank you-s Joanne! What an honour to know you.
Imola, Imola, Imola - I’m so glad you’re here. And describing the writing you do as a Shabbat ritual is beautiful - writing regularly does require such discipline, but like anything that touches the spirit, it brings joy, purpose, meaning.
I appreciate the shoutout here, and what you say connects with something I’ve been mulling over and may write about: how we become part of reading communities in a place like Substack. I can’t possibly read all the great writing here, but I regularly check those I subscribe to (lots of overlaps with writers you point to), and such a community feels like the best magazine in the world.
And yes to the yoga clinics! I’m looking for a way to continue my practice with some serious physical constraints with my back. I could take a class with a thoughtful teacher, but there are many standard poses I shouldn’t be doing now. I need another approach.
Omg, how right you are (again) Martha! You have just made me realize why I like writing on Shabbat - a spiritual day to connect with the only practice that lifts my spirit!! Thank you for clarifying this for me... :)
And regarding Yoga Clinic - you are the inspiration behind the idea of bringing it here! It was while reading you that I thought, I wish I could show Martha just a few simple things that might help her with that pain. Simple breathing exercises, gentle stretches and a shift in mindset can go a long way in helping people to feel better. So now I am inspired! :)
Imola, congratulations! I, too, began publishing around the same time (Oct 3, 2023) and had no idea what this Substack experiment would look like in a year's time. But like you, I've found a beautiful home for my writing, friendships, support, a stimulating kinship among so many other like-minded, and like-hearted souls. I have admired your writing shares in WITD and I'm making it a priority to come here and read your work because I see so many similarities between us in our approach to life. And I love that you chose the intimacy of a video to reflect on your one year anniversary. You have inspired me to consider doing the same. And thanks for your list of other newsletters you enjoy, some of which I follow and read and others I don't, but now I want to add them to my TBR list. I subscribe to so very many Stacks because this universe of writers is so talented and so much resonates with me. How I wish I had more hours in the day! But look at what you've done with your precious 4-6 hours. Wishing you the best in year 2!
Amy! Congratulations back to you! And now that I know that you are writing in Substack, I have subscribed! :) doing videos makes me nervous, but I’m slowly getting better at it. I’m so glad we have found each other on the WITD community. So much great writing there! Will explore yours now! Thank you for this generous and kind note!
Imola, thank you for subscribing and you seemed very at ease in that video so consider doing it regularly. One of the videos you recorded, or your recent posts, about packing lite I found inspiring for my recent trip to Europe and how I had to pack lite for my 15 days on the Camino. I aspire to more lite living, as I plan a move to Barcelona in March 2025. I need to lighten all my belongings here in Florida and want to be more minimalist with possessions in the future. Where do you live, BTW?
Just love this Imola ❤️❤️
And I love you!! We so need to have another reunion! ♥️
I'm so grateful to have met you, Imola! What a lovely video. I loved seeing your face and hearing your voice. It's been wonderful getting to know you in this time and finding a fear kindred spirit in you. I want to keep cheering you on in your writing journey. You inspire me with how brave and open you are. Keep doing it and I look forward to this next year of journeying and humanning together.
Love this “humanning together” Tiffany!! I’m in! The world needs it, and more brave words. And speaking of brave… you’re it. Grateful we can inspire and cheer each other on! 💜
Imola, Thank you so for the mention. Your post on Inner life: https://innerlifecollaborative.substack.com/p/post-traumatic-stress-or-post-traumatic still inspires and your comments when you've had time to read me on my site--comments that show your literary edge have given me courage. I'm now scrolling through your work to answer the question you pose and will add a note on a post and subscribe to you, as well. The quid pro quo here for me is that when anyone engages with me on my site at the link you generously shared, I'm right back on theirs to read and comment--not only to hit that "like" button"!
I believe in generosity too, but I don’t comment just as a ‘favour’. The posts I have read by you stirred and inspired something genuine in me. Especially your take on Ferrante. Because I read on the app only, sometimes I miss some posts. I will circle back to check. Sometimes I swear I see posts pop up, make a mental note to read them, but they disappear hours later. I might have to go back to email…
Take a look here, please: https://marytabor.substack.com/s/who-by-fire-a-novel
I do think you'd be a great reader -- and I will help in response, as I already have.
Thank you Mary! I thought I was already subscribed. How strange. Well, now hopefully this glitch is fixed and I’ll find you with greater ease. Looking forward to reading you!
Good morning, my darling. And a happy and healthy new year to you and yours. You give me such lovely shoutouts, which i always appreciate, but you should know that you are an inspiration to me each time I read your words. Your depth of feeling and your pureness, your honesty--these things are always so evident. It feels that I can reach out and touch you through the ether, though--as you say--we have not met in person. I want you to post here whatever you want to post. I want to cheer you on and watch you grow your substack and your career. I can't wait to read your book. I loved seeing your face this morning and hearing your voice. Mazel tov on the completion of your first year here. May many more readers discover you! xoxo
Oh, my, and now I'm crying... Thank you Mary!! How lucky we are that we can continue to support and inspire each other. Shana Tova dear friend. xoxo
Imola! It was so lovely to see and hear you through the video. I love your words about letting go of perfectionism. I need to make progress with that, and it helps to see the concrete ways in which others do that. Also really appreciate your nods to other writers, some of whom I haven't discovered yet. Looking forward to some new reads (though I honestly can't keep up with all the writers I want to read here). Congratulations on your anniversary here, and your year of showing up.
Oh, yes, letting go of perfectionism is a big one for me! I'm getting better at it though. I'm so happy to hear that it encourages you to "make progress" with yours :) I always love reading you on the WINTD community Rita, so I'd encourage you to share your writing as widely as you possibly can! Spread your wings and fly!
Thank you 💕
Hey Imola, lovely share. I appreciate your desire to always improve, to do and be more and to as you say, add more value for your paid subscribers and probably others so I just wanted to say that as a paid subscriber, the value is You. All you are, all you write from the heart but with precision, not just passion, the work, the practice. I salute you and all of it when I read you when I do my small part to support other writers who make a difference in my own life.
Seriously, Joanne, I have tears. I never know if I should openly acknowledge my paid subscribers (some of them I know are very shy), so this gives me an opportunity to acknowledge you openly! So, so generous. You became a paid subscriber to my newsletter a day after a family member had cancelled his subscription. I still don't know whether it was the peace-promoting essay I wrote, or he had just lost interest in my writing. But it sure felt good, and significantly more meaningful to have you as my new paid subscriber - someone whom until then I didn't even know. So, a million thank you-s Joanne! What an honour to know you.
And you—-
Lovely piece Imola! It's been so great to find your writing here.
And finding yours Sam! Truly.
Imola, Imola, Imola - I’m so glad you’re here. And describing the writing you do as a Shabbat ritual is beautiful - writing regularly does require such discipline, but like anything that touches the spirit, it brings joy, purpose, meaning.
I appreciate the shoutout here, and what you say connects with something I’ve been mulling over and may write about: how we become part of reading communities in a place like Substack. I can’t possibly read all the great writing here, but I regularly check those I subscribe to (lots of overlaps with writers you point to), and such a community feels like the best magazine in the world.
And yes to the yoga clinics! I’m looking for a way to continue my practice with some serious physical constraints with my back. I could take a class with a thoughtful teacher, but there are many standard poses I shouldn’t be doing now. I need another approach.
Omg, how right you are (again) Martha! You have just made me realize why I like writing on Shabbat - a spiritual day to connect with the only practice that lifts my spirit!! Thank you for clarifying this for me... :)
And regarding Yoga Clinic - you are the inspiration behind the idea of bringing it here! It was while reading you that I thought, I wish I could show Martha just a few simple things that might help her with that pain. Simple breathing exercises, gentle stretches and a shift in mindset can go a long way in helping people to feel better. So now I am inspired! :)
And I am all in for that reading community!