Hello readers! In my part of the world (western Wisconsin, USA!), this is the weekend when clocks change and we are plunged into a confusing world of increasingly dark days and our bodies trying to adjust. This is historically a tough time of year for me (not just because of the literal darkness) and I actually spent hours writing about it this week only to ultimately determine that while it was cleansing to get it all out, the topic isn’t one I want to go into in depth in this newsletter. And I realized ………. what a gift that space was ~ the space between writing and publishing that didn’t exist for me in my Instagram days. I am so grateful that I found the courage (my word of the year!) to step away from that platform, although I am definitely still in the mourning phase of the separation.

That link takes you to an episode of a podcast dedicated entirely to stepping away from social media ~ Off the Grid: Leaving Social Media Without Losing All of Your Clients from Amelia Hruby ~ that I’m so excited to listen to in full. I’ve already left, but how do I continue to grow my creative ventures? The episode I linked to was my first, but the one that I very much needed right now ~ a perfect entry point!

And now ~ today’s newsletter brings you some recommended “soft” newsletters and (yes, I promise!) a roundup of some of my recent reads ~ let’s dive in!