A soft, warm welcome
My dear reader.
After more than three months away from my public writing practice, it is with such nervous excitement that I welcome you into our new digital space today. Yay! Hi! I’m so glad you’re here!
This newsletter project (entitled Now What?) is for folks who crave self-exploration and collective experimentation on who/how we want to be in a collapsing world.
(I promise it will be more uplifting than it sounds, lol.)
Today’s note is simply a gentle way to gather us all together again, with the “real” writing starting next week. I’ve been moving slowly with this newsletter migration and that’s on purpose, as a way to honor the fact that we are living through a time of widespread nervous system disregulation, during which many things are indeed urgent but many (like this project) are not.
Which is to say that this newsletter won’t be a news source and it won’t be a place for prescriptive advice or hot takes, because I’m just not that kind of writer. Instead, you can expect weekly-ish memoir-style story-sharing about how I’m navigating the realities of being a person in this world right now, especially a person with no Big Answers.
If that’s the type of reflection that calls to you, wonderful! It will feel so good to not be alone in my wtf-ness of this moment, and you’ll always be invited to use our comment section to share your own thoughts, feelings, and questions. The layout of the comments here isn’t quite as sexy as it was on Substack, which is one of the trade-offs I’ve knowingly accepted in order to leave a platform that doesn’t feel correctly aligned for me. Hopefully you’ll be willing to jump this small, aesthetic hurdle in order to stay in conversation with me and each other. (Although just reading quietly and keeping to yourself is absolutely welcome, too!)
Three more housekeeping notes:
If for any reason you’d like to unsubscribe, you can find the link to do so in the footer of this email. No hard feelings!
Every reader was migrated over from Substack with their existing payment settings, and payments will resume later this week. In next Monday’s email (once payments are reactivated) I will share info on how you can switch to a pay-what-you-can subscription if that’s what you’d prefer. The option of a more financially accessible payment model was one of the main draws of Buttondown for me, since I know what a hard time this is, money-wise, for many folks, and I want to honor that in a tangible way while also allowing folks who’d like to pay a higher amount to be able to do so. Meeting everyone where they are is deeply important to me, as you well know if you’ve been in my corner of the internet for a while!
Going forward, the monthly What’s Working column (on the first Monday of each month) will be free for all readers, while all the longer-form writing will be for paid subscribers only. This is the boundary that supports me in managing the vulnerability of such a personal writing style, as well as the energetics of tending to so many parasocial relationships.
If you have any logistical questions of course feel free to let me know, and if you’d simply like to break the seal on the new commenting section I’d love for you to come say hi! (The link to do that is at the bottom of the email.)
Then I’ll be back in your inbox next Monday with the first proper edition of this newsletter, which is a reflection on what I experienced during the early days of my father’s death last month. Thank you for holding that forthcoming writing (and me) so tenderly in your heart, and thank you as well for taking a chance and coming along with me for this new project. It means more than you know.
**
More soon—
Nic
Join the discussion:
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Welcome back!
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Excited for your return! 💛
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It's so lovely to see you back in my inbox, Nic. Yay! Sending love 💕
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Hi Nic! I’m glad you’re back! 😊💜
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Hi, hi, hi! So glad to see you back in my inbox, Nic! Gentle, but enthusiastic, welcome back!
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Seeing your emails in my inbox always makes me happy 🧡 Thanks for taking us along as you start this new chapter
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Your email was such a lovely surprise this morning, looking forward to being here.
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Just dropping by to say hi!! It's so good to have you back in my inbox, Nic, and I can't wait to discover what 'Now What?' will bring 💕 sending love!
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So excited to see you back! Also, I like the look of this comment section <3
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I'm enjoying this new platform comment section. It feels kind of like a newspaper or a throw back to LiveJournal. Welcoming you back warmly!
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Excited to be on this journey together again! Hope you're well Nic.
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I was so, so happy to see you pop up in my inbox this morning! Welcome back, Nic! We've missed you!!
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Happy to see you back, Nic!
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Excited for what's to come next!
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Hihi! Sending virtual platefuls of Sweet Tomatoes your way!
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Glad you're back!
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Very excited to see you in my inbox again!
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I’m happy to reconnect with you, Nic! I’m sending you the softest blessings for this new chapter 💜
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Welcome back! Your perspective, prompts, and community vibe feel more relevant than ever. Cheers to being mindful of pace during change, too.
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Hi! I love that you aren't rushing. That feels great for me.
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So glad you're back to writing, Nic. I've missed your resonance and wit, and I've been thinking of you during this hard time of grieving on top of ::gestures vaguely:: everything else.
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Okay but I kind of love the zero aesthetics no sexiness vibe of this platform! It reminds me of early-aughts-era blogs, and I miss those times. Welcome back to writing, it has been missed in the best way!
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Just wanted to say hi Nic! I was so glad to see your name in my inbox and am so eager to read your writing again. Thank you for thoughtfully creating this space, I really look forward to spending time here.
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Soft and warm is so exactly what I’m looking for these days. Very glad to know your writing will be back in my inbox and hope you’re taking good care of yourself in all the ways you need to, Nic!
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Wow, what a refreshing and welcome change this is - the name, the platform, the comment section, the lack of fanciness. I hope you're able to find the comfort and alignment you're looking for.
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Greetings! Glad you are back and ready for a gentle start back.
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Forever on board with any and all of your experiments. Thank you for bringing us along and trusting us to follow (or not). It feels really good.
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It brought a smile to my face to see your email this morning, Nic! A warm and gentle welcome to you and all readers!
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Hi Nic, I don't think I ever commented on the substack newsletter, but I figured I'd change that behavior! I'm glad to see you in my inbox again. (I tried to binge all of Wild Letters before the final shutdown, but didn't succeed. If you saw a weird spike in traffic though... that might have been me. Sorry!) One of your newsletters about taking creative retreats prompted me to finally take one for myself... so I'm planning that now.
I'm so, so sorry about your father, and I hope you are wrapping yourself in warm blankets and getting snuggles with the pups.
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So glad to see you’re back Nic and what a perfect way to start fall and Libra season. I’ve missed your writing and this community so much over the past few months and am so excited that you’re back!
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Looking forward to your (subscriber/public) writing starting back up again and intrigued by the shift in topic. I'm sure it will as thought-provoking as ever. So is the main thing missing from these comments the ability to like posts? It's a bummer if you don't like how the comments function as much but I'm glad you feel more aligned with this platform :)
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Very fortuitous that I happened to check my spam folder this morning looking for something else and I found THIS—quickly marked as not spam, but head's up that might have happened for other folks on your list <3 So glad to see a message from you and looking forward to next week's installment.
Same for me! So glad I found it!
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My condolences on your loss of your father. Saying goodbye is complex and rich, and veryvtender. Sending you love. I plan to listen into your new project and get to know you some. Thsnkbyou fir being here, and offering community in difficult times. We need leaders who authentically speak their views. Thanks. Margaret
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Helllooo from nova scotia, and welcome back. Thank you. Wild that the comment box is at the bottom of buttondown, as I expect you'll get a lotta love. I know I've been around since 2016 in different forms of your work, and really appreciate feeling seen.
My sorrows for your sorrows.
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Hi hi! Excited for this new season of your writing and a new creative space. Sending love as you navigate this reset, the general chaos of the moment, and the loss of your father. Hope you are taking sweet care of yourself. ❤️
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So happy to see you back in my inbox! Thanks for introducing this new platform to us and I'm looking forward to future reads. xx
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Hello! Lovely to see your name pop up. Twas in my spam folder just in case you notice a difference in usual engagement. I resonate deeply with your paid newsletter boundary.
I hope moments of joyful memory are bubbling toward the surface of grief's heaviness; sending big love.
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So delighted to have you back Nic!
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So lovely to have your writing pop back up in my email (and I’m glad I checked my spam folder this week)! Looking forward to your thoughtful reflections. Sending you warm and caring thoughts as you navigate your loss of your father.
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Welcome back!! Thank you for migrating us over onto this new path with you ❤️
I am so grateful to learn about the "Indigenous Food Sovereignty" group. Will definitely check them out!
Onwards and upwards and hugs 💕
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So glad to have you back! Like a few others have reported, your message was also hiding in my spam folder. I'll be checking it more routinely in case it happens again!
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So glad I came here to discover I need to check my spam. <3 to you all
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How rude of my inbox to put your emails in spam. Today’s whats working is the first message it deigned show me.
Love the simple look of the post and comment section.
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Welcome back! I was very excited to find you in my mailbox :) Sorry I saw it a bit late! Sending you all the virtual love I can for the LIFE that has been happening for you behind the scenes.
Question for you and deep apologies if I missed communication about this elsewhere - but will you and Julia still be doing your monthly reflections? If so, will we find that on this platform or another? If not, I am very interested in a cycle of Jan-Dec questions, even from last year, to use on my own. I would participle in this practice alongside you two and found great value in it and have a hard time coming up with my own reflection questions. I would be more than happy to pay you for the work you have done in creating the reflection question packets (sadly I did not save any of them) and if I could get them sent as attachments somehow for me to use in the coming months/ years as a guideline I would be so grateful. Thank you in advance for addressing! :) Also, totally ok if the answers are just no and no. I would completely understand with no further explanation needed. <3
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