Beyond Deep Appreciation

A note of gratitude for paid subscribers and a sneak peek at the book I'm working on

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

This is a bonus post for paid subscribers to No Trifling Matter. It has been almost two years since I moved my blog to the Substack platform. Initially, I did not want to offer paid subscriptions. I wanted the writing to be available to anyone, regardless of their income and their ability to contribute. And to be honest, I had a hard time believing that anyone would pay for a subscription. After a conversation with a Substack staff member encouraged me to rethink that decision, I decided to allow paid subscribers with the caveat that they would receive nothing “extra” other than my deep appreciation.

There were a few things that I didn’t know when I started this. While I was planning to post weekly, I didn’t know if I’d have the content or the time to keep the discipline up. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I don’t tend to write quick “here’s what’s happening in my life” posts (unless I’m really tapped out). Maybe it’s an introvert thing, but I tend to like to say something more substantive than “whatchu doin’” if I’m going to be dipping in your inbox every week. Through the week, I reflect on the 700-1000 words that I sit down to write every Friday or Saturday. I’m not a visual person but I spend a lot of time trying to find the right royalty-free image to capture the post’s theme. I hadn’t even thought about doing series when I started this, but they’re becoming common for me. It all takes more work than I’d expected. But guess what? I like it more than I expected.

In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which is one of my favorite books about the writing life, Haruki Murakami writes, “Perhaps I’m just too painstaking a type of person, but I can’t grasp much of anything without putting down my thoughts in writing, so I had to actually get my hands working and write these words.” That, to me, is the essence of a writer. Some of us just can’t figure out what we’re thinking until we put it on the page, whether it’s in a private journal, an email to a friend, a blog, or a book. It took me a long time to claim my identity as a writer (not until after my second book), but now I wonder how I ever doubted it. I have to write. I feel off-kilter if I don’t. It’s what led me to start my first newsletter over 20 years ago when I was a psychology professor who had an urge to write things that didn’t fit into journal articles and academic presentations.

After the first year of No Trifling Matter, I realized that it is not just a side hobby. It is central to my vocation as a writer, teacher, and pursuer of justice and wholeness. I needed to make room for it in order to be able to keep it up. That meant that I had to start saying no a lot more. I had to turn down more speaking gigs and other opportunities to protect my time for writing.

That’s what your support enables me to do. “Deep appreciation” doesn’t quite capture it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, Here’s What Happening in My Life

Okay, so I’m rethinking the no-other-benefits thing. A few times per year, I’ll send paid-subscribers-only email with an update and an occasional sneak preview of my work-in-progress.