--Is it possible to see the rest of the costume?! You look STUNNING, and how amazingly creative! I love the wreath, too. And I resonate a great deal with the reticence to write when most of what I have to say are hard things... sometimes it's too great an investment to commit to. It's ok to hibernate and gather your strength and thoughts while safely tucked away for a spell.
Stephanie—wow wow wow what nice compliments, thank you!! The only photo I have of the full costume is posed with my husband in an alien mask. I’ll have to check with Aaron and see if I can share it. 😆
I appreciate your words about hibernating and gathering strength. It reminds me of one of my stepson’s favorite board books, “Shh! Bears Sleeping.” Also, there’s a Henri Nouwen quote I saved recently that I keep coming back to: “Time given to inner renewal is never wasted. God is not in a hurry.“
Here’s to taking things the slow way, and being gentle with ourselves.
I really related to your thoughts on writing and sharing on the internet. I am constantly navigating this myself. I’m also trying to go easier on myself, and not feel the rush to write something just for the sake of having written it, and instead remembering that much of the work of writing is in thinking deeply, sifting through information, and deciding what role you want your words to play at this point in time.
Hi Sophie! Thanks so much for your comment. Your “go easier on myself” phrase stood out to me. (Probably something to do with being a recovering perfectionist and forever nervous I’m not doing something The Right Way.)
I think there’s a temptation for me to treat Substack more like Instagram where you often find real-time thoughts. Although I’m not writing a book, I wonder if I might benefit from approaching my work that way at times. Really sitting with words and stories and even giving them/me time to just be—before anyone else sees or critiques or applauds them.
What signals you to pause a piece of writing and not share it online yet? Have you ever really wanted to publish something but felt like your gut told you no?
I am also a recovering perfectionist. My substack so far has been an interesting experiment for me because I want it to be worth reading, but I also want to allow myself space to be imperfect and find out what works for me.
While my tendency to procrastinate is often very frustrating to me, I’ve found it pretty interesting in the context of writing. There are a lot of times where I notice that by procrastinating on writing or posting something, I’ve found myself mulling it over in the back of my mind, and sometimes that means I end up exploring different things, adding on new thoughts, or deciding it’s not something I want to share after all. I’m not advocating for procrastination, but it’s one way that has helped me see that time and noodling away at something in your mind can be an important part of being a writer.
As for what I choose to share, something I’ve been doing even for basic social media posts for quite a few years now is asking “does this bring value to anyone?” The value doesn’t haven’t to be something big and life-changing. It can be as simple as bringing a laugh, being something interesting for them to look at, etc. I’ve been using the Day One journal app for the things that I evaluate and decide that no, this one really is just for me. I get a record of it, but I don’t have to put it it up for public opinion.
Hey Sophie, I’m sorry for my delay! I appreciate you sharing more of your thinking/writing process here. That value question is *fantastic.* It was a HUGE shift for me to start Nōto and give myself permission to share beyond “serious suffering” kind of posts. The good little Christian girl in me had to untangle that for years. I would’ve scoffed if I knew I’d be posting about an Ursula costume one day—but for me that is growth. 🥲 I already liked when other people shared those kinds of things, so why couldn’t I let myself have that same joy? Again, growth.
I hope 2025 holds a lot of fulfilling writing moments for you. Cheers!
--Is it possible to see the rest of the costume?! You look STUNNING, and how amazingly creative! I love the wreath, too. And I resonate a great deal with the reticence to write when most of what I have to say are hard things... sometimes it's too great an investment to commit to. It's ok to hibernate and gather your strength and thoughts while safely tucked away for a spell.
Stephanie—wow wow wow what nice compliments, thank you!! The only photo I have of the full costume is posed with my husband in an alien mask. I’ll have to check with Aaron and see if I can share it. 😆
I appreciate your words about hibernating and gathering strength. It reminds me of one of my stepson’s favorite board books, “Shh! Bears Sleeping.” Also, there’s a Henri Nouwen quote I saved recently that I keep coming back to: “Time given to inner renewal is never wasted. God is not in a hurry.“
Here’s to taking things the slow way, and being gentle with ourselves.
Yes! Beautiful Nouwen quote.
I really related to your thoughts on writing and sharing on the internet. I am constantly navigating this myself. I’m also trying to go easier on myself, and not feel the rush to write something just for the sake of having written it, and instead remembering that much of the work of writing is in thinking deeply, sifting through information, and deciding what role you want your words to play at this point in time.
Hi Sophie! Thanks so much for your comment. Your “go easier on myself” phrase stood out to me. (Probably something to do with being a recovering perfectionist and forever nervous I’m not doing something The Right Way.)
I think there’s a temptation for me to treat Substack more like Instagram where you often find real-time thoughts. Although I’m not writing a book, I wonder if I might benefit from approaching my work that way at times. Really sitting with words and stories and even giving them/me time to just be—before anyone else sees or critiques or applauds them.
What signals you to pause a piece of writing and not share it online yet? Have you ever really wanted to publish something but felt like your gut told you no?
I am also a recovering perfectionist. My substack so far has been an interesting experiment for me because I want it to be worth reading, but I also want to allow myself space to be imperfect and find out what works for me.
While my tendency to procrastinate is often very frustrating to me, I’ve found it pretty interesting in the context of writing. There are a lot of times where I notice that by procrastinating on writing or posting something, I’ve found myself mulling it over in the back of my mind, and sometimes that means I end up exploring different things, adding on new thoughts, or deciding it’s not something I want to share after all. I’m not advocating for procrastination, but it’s one way that has helped me see that time and noodling away at something in your mind can be an important part of being a writer.
As for what I choose to share, something I’ve been doing even for basic social media posts for quite a few years now is asking “does this bring value to anyone?” The value doesn’t haven’t to be something big and life-changing. It can be as simple as bringing a laugh, being something interesting for them to look at, etc. I’ve been using the Day One journal app for the things that I evaluate and decide that no, this one really is just for me. I get a record of it, but I don’t have to put it it up for public opinion.
Hey Sophie, I’m sorry for my delay! I appreciate you sharing more of your thinking/writing process here. That value question is *fantastic.* It was a HUGE shift for me to start Nōto and give myself permission to share beyond “serious suffering” kind of posts. The good little Christian girl in me had to untangle that for years. I would’ve scoffed if I knew I’d be posting about an Ursula costume one day—but for me that is growth. 🥲 I already liked when other people shared those kinds of things, so why couldn’t I let myself have that same joy? Again, growth.
I hope 2025 holds a lot of fulfilling writing moments for you. Cheers!