Gathering is Changing

or finding its purpose

Dear Gatherers,

I started this newsletter last November and have, mostly faithfully, sent out a newsletter ever week. Many of you are free subscribers, some of you pay, and I am grateful for all of you.

I have been fiddling with Gathering, trying to calibrate its purpose. I wanted something confessional and inspirational, but I am coming to find that those two things don’t go as well together as a I thought. I am gravitating towards creating something that inspires me as much as it may inspire others. Like a menagerie of beautiful and interesting things coming to your inbox along with all the promotional emails and demands. Hopefully it will be a breath of fresh air.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about how much work it takes for me to put things on the internet. How much of my brain energy, intention, and vulnerability it takes to arrive in your inbox each week with something I hope is somehow fulfilling, enjoyable, or resonating with you.

I’ve made the decision to leave social media entirely, and part of this decision is to funnel more of my energy into this newsletter and sharpen its focus as an inspirational missive, full of small joys and beautiful things. This also means that the “public” newsletters, the free ones, will only be sent out once a month. This is a valuation of my work, my efforts, and an attempt to create a desire in my subscribers to support my work, especially if you have felt supported by my work.

I know there are a lot of ways we can spend our money, and I know it’s been a hard year for many of us. That’s even more of a reason for me to value my work. I want to create access, which means that if you truly can’t afford a subscription and want access to all posts, please respond to this and I will make that happen.

I also want to point out that a monthly subscription to this newsletter costs less than a pricey large latte.

As artists, we absolutely must value our work. I cannot continue to create content for free. I won’t. And I want to pay people for what they create, in money or trade or whatever. I want to believe that what I create is valuable. That it adds something to the world. I hope it does.

With love,

Stacy