To endings and new beginnings
A farewell, a greeting, and a new blog
Keep Hoping Machine Running is relocating, and also changing formats. You can now find it here as a completely free blog. No schedule, no rules, no frills. I found the most minimalist blogging platform I've ever seen, where you don't have the option to customize much of anything, where the words are prioritized above all else. That's what I want. There's still the option to subscribe by email or by RSS, but it's not a newsletter.
I want it to feel like it used to, when I wrote for fun, because I had things to say and I genuinely believed they deserved to be read. I don't want to be stressed about whether or not it meets a standard that means people will be willing to pay for it, whether or not I'm writing often enough, whether or not the level of effort I'm putting in matches the payoff. I just want to write when i have something to write about, to stop when I feel like I'm done, and to feel no obligation to readers because I haven't promised them anything.
Maybe that's selfish. I don't think selfishness is always a bad thing, and I've spent so much of my life prioritizing absolutely everyone and everything above myself. This is one minuscule way in which I can show up for me. I hope you'll resubscribe to the new blog, but if you don't, I hope this iteration of KHMR has brought you something you didn't have before. I hope you've found value here, a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold or a comforting presence keeping you company in the dark. If you've been paying for the premium version of this newsletter and you no longer want to, let me know and I'll cancel your subscription, or you can cancel it yourself with no hard feelings. If you want to keep paying despite the different format and the probably decreased output, thank you, you mean an indescribable amount to me and my quality of life and I am so, so grateful, and there are more ways than just the Stripe payment link to support me. You can find them on the new blog.
It's been fun. I've written some words I'm really very proud of, and some I'm not, and I've learned a lot about myself and my capabilities and my voice. I'm happy about what I've created here and the work I've done over the past year, and I'm so glad you've all been by my side for the journey. Whether you keep traveling with me or not, thank you for making this feel like a thing worth doing. Again, if you want to resubscribe, you can find me here.