(Nearly) a Milestone

On reaching (almost) two thousand subscribers

I took the above photo in the same week I started writing this newsletter, in December of 2020.

Back then it was called Gathering. The newsletter was a refuge for me; a leap of faith. I was working full-time as a nanny in Seattle, feeling quite lost. Not like a writer at all. Living in the same city where I’d grown up, been homeless. The same city where my mom had died by suicide. Everywhere I turned there was some memory confronting me, all of the things I’d tried to move away from.

During the past three and a half years I’ve changed the name of this newsletter several times, gone on several breaks, contemplated shutting the newsletter down. At one point I convinced myself that this could be a viable income for me. It’s not, but it is supplemental. I have 33 paying subscribers. Many Substackers with much larger readerships wouldn’t blink at 33 paying subscribers, but I am grateful for every single one of you, paying or not. It’s okay that I don’t make my living with this newsletter. …