Oh hi!
I’m writing a substack. Because of course I am. Lol.
You can find it here: https://joshweed.substack.com/p/dear-mama-shellie
While I still plan to post content here, I think this is going to be the main thing I do as far as sharing my writing–blogging here has been beautiful–but writing more personal stuff here has felt too fraught for the last several years. Turns out it’s hard to feel safe in a space where lots of traumatic stuff has occurred. Whodathunkit? 🙂
So yeah, I’ve needed to find an additional outlet, and this feels good and right.
It’s called “The Driftless Letters” and the idea is that it’s letters to different, people, entities, whatever. This is because I really love writing letters (especially emails–I LOVE writing long emails). And I explain the “Driftless” part in the first letter.
It’s important to me to remain true to my own intentions in whatever I post, so I’m trying hard to not make promises outside of myself about what, when or how this should look. The loose intention is to post something weekly, and that seems to be about the cadence my brain wants to do.
I have found the things I’m drawn to address so far are: some of the stuff that has happened in the last five years since my divorce from lolly; lots of weird stuff about spirituality, including some channeling/weird-sounding spiritual stuff that is still kind of new confusing to me, but whatevs. (I sometimes find other people’s stuff like that boring, so I don’t expect anyone besides myself to find that stuff interesting necessarily–that is mainly my letters to K/Kindreds/Kindling/s, so feel free not to read that stuff if you’re not interested.)
There are letters to dead people.
Similar to this blog, I’ve found so far that it’s random and weird and sometimes poignant and sometimes silly. Just like me. (Go fig.)
My most important stuff will probably be in the letters to my mom. Like the one I’ve linked today.Â
I think there are two of those so far (can’t remember). But that seems to be where my brain wants to process the happenings of the last five or so years. Today’s letter seems to start around this time five years ago, some of the stuff leading to the divorce, and it does appear to want to go chronologically.
But who knows what might come next?
If you’d like to support my writing, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It’s super cheap, and it would mean a lot to me after so many years of providing content online for free. (But please feel zero pressure at all.)
I will only be allowing paid subscribers to leave comments, which is more about me wanting to avoid spam and trolls than anything else. There might be a few things I only publish for paid subscribers (and of course those will probably be the juiciest or most shameful/personal, cuz that’s the only real reason I’d ever lock shit down like that) but most of the stuff will be accessible to free and paid subscribers alike.
Or at least that’s how things are right now. I will allow space for this project to become whatever it wants to become over time, so I’m refraining from making promises of any kind. (This whole not-making-promises-outside-myself thing is hard for me to do, but I am really committed to the concept of “allowing”–allowing this thing to grow, allowing myself to grow and change, and not committing myself to ideals, expectations or promises than later stifle my creativity.)
Anyway, I’m finally feeling ready to let y’all know about this, so if you’re interested, welcome aboard 🙂 And if you enjoyed the letter I am sharing below, please do me the favor of smashing the ol’ share button and spread the word.
I am so thankful for all of you, and so glad to have found these spaces to share what is inside of me. Thanks for hanging out for all the phases as they unfold, and I sure hope you join me on this one! (And that you hang around these parts, too.)
Much love, my besties <3
Also, here’s a couple of pics of the girls (one includes Lolly!) Everyone is doing so, so well!
Lolly and the girls!
May your day be filled with joy!Â
–Josh
