I enjoyed your post this morning. As I read your words about fear, I was reminded of Edward Morrow in Good Night and Good Luck. About fear he said, “If we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, we will remember we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.” That is why so many Americans got out on Saturday to let their ideas known. Thanks for stimulating us to think about life from another’s perspective.
Circling back to read your newsletter shortly but dropping by to say I've been watching The Studio too! Just watched ep 7 last night and it was too funny—and of course in the end the execs were overanalyzing the wrong thing. I do wish there were more Catherine O’Hara!
I enjoy your writing about your life and family, and then connecting to the larger world. You write well and do some interesting things and you reflect on our disgraceful state of affairs. I am a bit older than you are but we are both facing age and re-jiggering our relationships to adult children.
Whenever I see a notification of a new post, I click over to read it. It doesn’t count as doom scrolling, it’s a brief essay that is disseminated on line. Hope you can keep going!
Thank you Meg, SO much. I've just started the journey of "re-jiggering" my relationship with my children. College age is such a gray area. I'm still footing the bills! And they are legal adults, but still seem like kids to me especially as there is a tiny bit of regression when they come home on breaks. I am bracing myself for when the older one most likely will move back home after graduation next year.
I read newsletter the same way, for the same reasons you do. I crave for real. Real love, real fear. Real confusion, real joy. All I want is real because I want to stay real. Human. Alive. This is all I want. The opposite of this is what I fear the most. So if you were wondering, yes you are worth reading. It is actually the type of newsletter I like to read (and write) the most. And yes Jenna, I have been writing these types lately and yes each time, a few unsubscribes. But honestly, I don't mind. As long as I keep it real, I know that I will be more than ok. xo thanks for sharing.
Real, human, it’s just going to get even more valuable as the line between what’s real and what’s fake gets blurred even more. And thank you Danni. Also, I’m pretty sure everyone gets unsubscribes each time they publish. This is when you need to stop looking 😀
It truly doesn't phase me anymore. I am happy for them. I want people to be in their right spaces. We need to be truer to ourselves. And not take things so personally. Plus, sometimes we need to choose. We don't have time to read everything and those inboxes get overloaded and stressful. hope you are enjoying the start of the Summer… and your fuller house. xoxo
I haven’t written my newsletter in a few weeks because Lord Almighty what is there to say??? I start with song lyrics and go from there, but ugh, lately, I just don’t have it in me to write about what’s going on in the world and the trivialities of my life just aren’t enough right now. I need to allow my creativity to resurface without any pressure.
I LOVE reading yours and your writing is so evocative - it is gentle and reassuring, even when your topics are neither of those things. I read many different types of newsletters but the ones I like best make me feel like I’m connecting with a friend.
I know how you feel Kris. It's been a struggle here too because there is just SO MUCH news. Every single day. But aren't these trivialities one way we can get through the days? Just because we write about the mundane details of life doesn't mean we are ignoring all the other stuff going on out there. At least I tell myself that! And thank you for the feedback. Often you put stuff out in the world and self doubt creeps in. What am I actually contributing?
Such a good read. Thank you! Even now, when my kids are in their 20s + 30s, a sudden swoop back home and I'm delighted...yet bewildered...yet delighted. :) I also appreciate the reflections regarding burnout, especially from online overuse. I used to feel I had to be online all the time in order for my small business to work and that simply wasn't true for me. I do yearn for simpler times and wonder is that a getting older thing or just a result of having every inch of our lives commoditized? If you're enjoying Braiding Sweetgrass, you'll probably like her book, The Serviceberry. I'm almost done reading it and I love how she delves into what it means to have a gift economy. It highlights how meaningful and healthy relationships to everything around us are so important for us as social creatures.
Oh when you have a small business, it's so hard! We also had a small business and keeping up with the online presence was its own hamster wheel. Thank you for the book recommendation! I'll add it to my looong list of books to read ☺️
I am certainly interested to make it more human. When I first discovered internet—the portal to the world—from my little hometown, it was magic. Somehow, we have lost the way, and now I hope we can finally use it for us, humans, for connections, for knowing we are not alone. Our struggles are the same, our joys the same, and all we need is just more compassion all around.
It WAS magic. But like anything else in excessive consumption, the luster has lost its magic. I do believe many of us are turning a corner, if only because of how much we're giving our lives over to big tech.
‘Humans are not meant to live as digitally herded entities’ - very powerful! This is exactly why I stopped using Instagram and FB and am slowly extricating myself from the google web. 🙃
“I’m in a constant volley of emotions, feeling like I raised them right one minute, only to question my parental judgment the very next morning.” - our 18 and 22 year old came back for a long weekend visit, and I had the same feelings. 😆
You write beautifully. I hope you continue to write. I’ve been on this platform for 2 years and last month was the first time I’ve wondered how much longer I will keep going on here.
I do love the creative outlet and, like you, I won’t be going anywhere after this. But it does feel oddly different than a year ago…but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Yes, the platform is different, and it was always meant to evolve. If you're writing mostly for an audience, that's one thing. But if you're mostly writing for yourself, please continue! 💕
I stopped reading blogs when they became too much of a machine for selling a life that wasn't real or attainable for the majority of us. I started reading Substacks for the reasons I followed blogs when they were more real, and uncluttered, and irregular. They weren't churned out daily, but arrived haphazardly. They were thoughtful. They wrote when they had something to say. I don't blame the bloggers who turned blogging into careers and big houses and nice things. Who wouldn't want that if you had the drive and the opportunity? It just all stopped resonating with me, so I stopped trying to keep up.
Hi Tracy! I know what you mean about blogs turning more influencer-oriented. I never much related to the aspirational aspect of social media though it can be a fun escape in very small doses. I appreciate the read and your thoughtful comment here, thank you.
I see you and in my current morose state of mind I feel a bit like you. I have a much smaller kid, summer is behind us, we are pummelled by rain thanks to the monsoon in this part of the world. It is struggle bus even as I try not to think of the inane fires I’ll have to stomp out when I get to work, even as try to protect time to focus on the research paper I’m writing. The fires leaping at us from all around make me more edgy and morose. None of it is helping but reading others through long form writing makes me feel a bit more together. In stark irony to my presence here the internet does get on my nerves, not to speak one can no longer tell what is real.
Still one can always tell what is not manufactured content and that matters.
Ah, monsoon season! Here in NYC we are currently in a heatwave with temperatures expected to go up to 100 degrees. Perhaps then these newsletter are a respite from the hecticness of life. I don't always get to read books everyday, but I like to think of checking in with my newsletter subscriptions as a mini day. Hang in there!
Thank you, Jenna, for all that you share with us. I met you at the little potluck at Anne Kadet's place a while back and I feel like you're a kind of guide for me, as I navigate life as mom to a three-year-old. Our children may be different ages, but a lot of what you say resonates with me as I think about the future and imagine her older -- while still trying to hold onto every moment of her being this small! As Meg said below/above, I also enjoy how you write about your family and life, and make these connections to the larger world. It's something I strive to do too, but often let self-doubt (and time!) get in the way. Thanks, again!
Hi Nadia! I remember you! Hope you and your toddler are enjoying summer (well, maybe not this heatwave). Thank you for such a lovely comment. I've found that many parenting observations hold water no matter what age the child, even adult ones! ☺️
'I started to wonder what makes a newsletter worth reading. So many voices competing for the same sliver of attention in your inbox. Is it for insightful commentary and the dissemination of information? To be transported, entertained, to learn, and be inspired? Or for the poetry of words strung together that make you pause, reflect, and leave you breathless in their beauty? Surely, it’s not this random mess of thoughts I’m writing.'
I think all of it, even the more trite and unspirited versions of social media, are a desire for connection, for varying motivations. Trying to get it and trying to give it. I'm old enough to have already experienced much social media fatigue from the Facebook and wordpress eras, but with substack I go looking for interesting voices and don't mind spending the time to weed through the notes to find them. There's no way that i would have as many great writers around me where i physically live as I do on substack. The ones I follow, including you, seem compelled to reach out in the dark and connect in a meaningful way. We are free to choose how accept and give connection. i think that gives even the quietest voice some agency in how our media is shaped.
So long-winded way of saying i think it's worth it what you're doing. The variety of a 'random mess of thoughts' if done by a good writer, can be very refreshing and also a gift. Professional writers can often hide, too much, behind what they think is a necessary online persona or by what they think the audience wants - i think they risk restricting their range by doing that. As well as limits the plate of the reader. Sorry, i didn't mean to make this comment so long. I guess i've been thinking about this subject a lot too lately.
Thank you for this lovely meditation on why we do this! I look forward to your newsletter every week, and always appreciate the mix of personal and political insight.
I really enjoyed sweet fine day and was very happy to stumble upon your substack. Just like I watch a lot of documentaries, I appreciate the glimpse into a very different life (Korea! the US! married with kids! tech savy!), and the connection - it broadens my world. And at the same time, it helps me focus on the beauty and the small joys of life (cats! past lives! art! city life!).
[I hope it doesn't prepare me for life in a neo-fascist country but god knows what to expect in the coming years].
Hi! I remember your username from the blogging days 🥰. Thank you so much for this lovely comment and reconnection. I hope you’re having a lovely summer as well!
I enjoyed your post this morning. As I read your words about fear, I was reminded of Edward Morrow in Good Night and Good Luck. About fear he said, “If we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, we will remember we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.” That is why so many Americans got out on Saturday to let their ideas known. Thanks for stimulating us to think about life from another’s perspective.
Thank you Jamie for this quote. It's a really good one.
Circling back to read your newsletter shortly but dropping by to say I've been watching The Studio too! Just watched ep 7 last night and it was too funny—and of course in the end the execs were overanalyzing the wrong thing. I do wish there were more Catherine O’Hara!
We just finished the last episode and hahahaaa. Sort of the same pace as Episode 7 but even more ridiculous.
I enjoy your writing about your life and family, and then connecting to the larger world. You write well and do some interesting things and you reflect on our disgraceful state of affairs. I am a bit older than you are but we are both facing age and re-jiggering our relationships to adult children.
Whenever I see a notification of a new post, I click over to read it. It doesn’t count as doom scrolling, it’s a brief essay that is disseminated on line. Hope you can keep going!
Thank you Meg, SO much. I've just started the journey of "re-jiggering" my relationship with my children. College age is such a gray area. I'm still footing the bills! And they are legal adults, but still seem like kids to me especially as there is a tiny bit of regression when they come home on breaks. I am bracing myself for when the older one most likely will move back home after graduation next year.
I read newsletter the same way, for the same reasons you do. I crave for real. Real love, real fear. Real confusion, real joy. All I want is real because I want to stay real. Human. Alive. This is all I want. The opposite of this is what I fear the most. So if you were wondering, yes you are worth reading. It is actually the type of newsletter I like to read (and write) the most. And yes Jenna, I have been writing these types lately and yes each time, a few unsubscribes. But honestly, I don't mind. As long as I keep it real, I know that I will be more than ok. xo thanks for sharing.
Real, human, it’s just going to get even more valuable as the line between what’s real and what’s fake gets blurred even more. And thank you Danni. Also, I’m pretty sure everyone gets unsubscribes each time they publish. This is when you need to stop looking 😀
It truly doesn't phase me anymore. I am happy for them. I want people to be in their right spaces. We need to be truer to ourselves. And not take things so personally. Plus, sometimes we need to choose. We don't have time to read everything and those inboxes get overloaded and stressful. hope you are enjoying the start of the Summer… and your fuller house. xoxo
I haven’t written my newsletter in a few weeks because Lord Almighty what is there to say??? I start with song lyrics and go from there, but ugh, lately, I just don’t have it in me to write about what’s going on in the world and the trivialities of my life just aren’t enough right now. I need to allow my creativity to resurface without any pressure.
I LOVE reading yours and your writing is so evocative - it is gentle and reassuring, even when your topics are neither of those things. I read many different types of newsletters but the ones I like best make me feel like I’m connecting with a friend.
I know how you feel Kris. It's been a struggle here too because there is just SO MUCH news. Every single day. But aren't these trivialities one way we can get through the days? Just because we write about the mundane details of life doesn't mean we are ignoring all the other stuff going on out there. At least I tell myself that! And thank you for the feedback. Often you put stuff out in the world and self doubt creeps in. What am I actually contributing?
Comforting - thank you Jenna
🙏
Such a good read. Thank you! Even now, when my kids are in their 20s + 30s, a sudden swoop back home and I'm delighted...yet bewildered...yet delighted. :) I also appreciate the reflections regarding burnout, especially from online overuse. I used to feel I had to be online all the time in order for my small business to work and that simply wasn't true for me. I do yearn for simpler times and wonder is that a getting older thing or just a result of having every inch of our lives commoditized? If you're enjoying Braiding Sweetgrass, you'll probably like her book, The Serviceberry. I'm almost done reading it and I love how she delves into what it means to have a gift economy. It highlights how meaningful and healthy relationships to everything around us are so important for us as social creatures.
Oh when you have a small business, it's so hard! We also had a small business and keeping up with the online presence was its own hamster wheel. Thank you for the book recommendation! I'll add it to my looong list of books to read ☺️
I am certainly interested to make it more human. When I first discovered internet—the portal to the world—from my little hometown, it was magic. Somehow, we have lost the way, and now I hope we can finally use it for us, humans, for connections, for knowing we are not alone. Our struggles are the same, our joys the same, and all we need is just more compassion all around.
It WAS magic. But like anything else in excessive consumption, the luster has lost its magic. I do believe many of us are turning a corner, if only because of how much we're giving our lives over to big tech.
I sure hope we are turning around. There is so much good that can come from this magic.
‘Humans are not meant to live as digitally herded entities’ - very powerful! This is exactly why I stopped using Instagram and FB and am slowly extricating myself from the google web. 🙃
It's a slow process of extrication. Thanks for reading, Gaby.
“I’m in a constant volley of emotions, feeling like I raised them right one minute, only to question my parental judgment the very next morning.” - our 18 and 22 year old came back for a long weekend visit, and I had the same feelings. 😆
You write beautifully. I hope you continue to write. I’ve been on this platform for 2 years and last month was the first time I’ve wondered how much longer I will keep going on here.
I do love the creative outlet and, like you, I won’t be going anywhere after this. But it does feel oddly different than a year ago…but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Yes, the platform is different, and it was always meant to evolve. If you're writing mostly for an audience, that's one thing. But if you're mostly writing for yourself, please continue! 💕
I stopped reading blogs when they became too much of a machine for selling a life that wasn't real or attainable for the majority of us. I started reading Substacks for the reasons I followed blogs when they were more real, and uncluttered, and irregular. They weren't churned out daily, but arrived haphazardly. They were thoughtful. They wrote when they had something to say. I don't blame the bloggers who turned blogging into careers and big houses and nice things. Who wouldn't want that if you had the drive and the opportunity? It just all stopped resonating with me, so I stopped trying to keep up.
Hi Tracy! I know what you mean about blogs turning more influencer-oriented. I never much related to the aspirational aspect of social media though it can be a fun escape in very small doses. I appreciate the read and your thoughtful comment here, thank you.
I see you and in my current morose state of mind I feel a bit like you. I have a much smaller kid, summer is behind us, we are pummelled by rain thanks to the monsoon in this part of the world. It is struggle bus even as I try not to think of the inane fires I’ll have to stomp out when I get to work, even as try to protect time to focus on the research paper I’m writing. The fires leaping at us from all around make me more edgy and morose. None of it is helping but reading others through long form writing makes me feel a bit more together. In stark irony to my presence here the internet does get on my nerves, not to speak one can no longer tell what is real.
Still one can always tell what is not manufactured content and that matters.
Ah, monsoon season! Here in NYC we are currently in a heatwave with temperatures expected to go up to 100 degrees. Perhaps then these newsletter are a respite from the hecticness of life. I don't always get to read books everyday, but I like to think of checking in with my newsletter subscriptions as a mini day. Hang in there!
Thank you, Jenna, for all that you share with us. I met you at the little potluck at Anne Kadet's place a while back and I feel like you're a kind of guide for me, as I navigate life as mom to a three-year-old. Our children may be different ages, but a lot of what you say resonates with me as I think about the future and imagine her older -- while still trying to hold onto every moment of her being this small! As Meg said below/above, I also enjoy how you write about your family and life, and make these connections to the larger world. It's something I strive to do too, but often let self-doubt (and time!) get in the way. Thanks, again!
Hi Nadia! I remember you! Hope you and your toddler are enjoying summer (well, maybe not this heatwave). Thank you for such a lovely comment. I've found that many parenting observations hold water no matter what age the child, even adult ones! ☺️
I enjoyed your post. Of this quote:
'I started to wonder what makes a newsletter worth reading. So many voices competing for the same sliver of attention in your inbox. Is it for insightful commentary and the dissemination of information? To be transported, entertained, to learn, and be inspired? Or for the poetry of words strung together that make you pause, reflect, and leave you breathless in their beauty? Surely, it’s not this random mess of thoughts I’m writing.'
I think all of it, even the more trite and unspirited versions of social media, are a desire for connection, for varying motivations. Trying to get it and trying to give it. I'm old enough to have already experienced much social media fatigue from the Facebook and wordpress eras, but with substack I go looking for interesting voices and don't mind spending the time to weed through the notes to find them. There's no way that i would have as many great writers around me where i physically live as I do on substack. The ones I follow, including you, seem compelled to reach out in the dark and connect in a meaningful way. We are free to choose how accept and give connection. i think that gives even the quietest voice some agency in how our media is shaped.
So long-winded way of saying i think it's worth it what you're doing. The variety of a 'random mess of thoughts' if done by a good writer, can be very refreshing and also a gift. Professional writers can often hide, too much, behind what they think is a necessary online persona or by what they think the audience wants - i think they risk restricting their range by doing that. As well as limits the plate of the reader. Sorry, i didn't mean to make this comment so long. I guess i've been thinking about this subject a lot too lately.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for this lovely meditation on why we do this! I look forward to your newsletter every week, and always appreciate the mix of personal and political insight.
I so appreciate your support, Jonathan!
I really enjoyed sweet fine day and was very happy to stumble upon your substack. Just like I watch a lot of documentaries, I appreciate the glimpse into a very different life (Korea! the US! married with kids! tech savy!), and the connection - it broadens my world. And at the same time, it helps me focus on the beauty and the small joys of life (cats! past lives! art! city life!).
[I hope it doesn't prepare me for life in a neo-fascist country but god knows what to expect in the coming years].
Wishing you and your family a lovely summer!
Hi! I remember your username from the blogging days 🥰. Thank you so much for this lovely comment and reconnection. I hope you’re having a lovely summer as well!