A Year in Writing

2024

Dec 25, 2024

Happy Holidays Friends!

I hope December has been treating you well. It’s been a beautiful month here in Maine. T.J. and I got ourselves married a few weeks ago and then went right into the holiday season, which for me has been a balance of work (I’m doing fascinating storytelling work with The Witness Institute right now) and quality time with friends. As a result, my writing life this month has taken place in my journals rather than the public eye.

But like many, I appreciate the end of the year as a time to reflect, and I’m thinking about the role Substack has played in my creative life over the past 12 months.

Back in 2021, after We Share The Same Sky was released, I stopped writing for a while. I had spent more than 10 years living the story of that book. Writing it wasn’t just a project, it was my life. It was how I healed when I lost my late-husband, how I understood the changing political landscape, and how I fostered my relationships. So when the chapter of writing that book closed, I had nothing left to say to myself for a while. Even during the Covid lockdowns when I was editing the final manuscript and knew many people were documenting their isolated worlds, I didn’t. I couldn’t. I had to give my memory a break. Instead I did puzzles, learned how enjoyable trash tv can be (thank you Love Island), and put my time into cultivating a community in Maine. That time off was necessary, but eventually it became evident that I needed to write: it’s how I process. It took me burning out in 2022 to realize it, but I did eventually get there.

Slowly, slowly I did make my way back to the page and therefore back to myself. But as I found my voice again, I ached for a space to write that wasn’t dictated by word counts, gate keepers and the divisive culture that is the news cycle. So, I came to Substack and it has been a joy. I’ve referred to this past year as the year I returned to blogging. Having this space to write and read has made me feel like I did back in college, when I was hungry to experience, create and share.

Thank you to all of you who have subscribed and spent time reading these essays. Thank you for sharing them with others. Thank you for leaving comments and engaging in conversation with me. If you haven’t had a chance to read some of them or would like to revisit any of the pieces, I’m listing the essays from this past year below. I strive for my storytelling to be evergreen and hope that even the essays that relate to current events hold some truths, perspectives and questions that remain relevant as life moves forward.

If you have read this far and have not yet subscribed, please do! And if you are really in the giving spirit, consider becoming a paid subscriber (you can gift a subscription too!). My goal is to keep nearly everything I publish here free and open for all. Paid subscribers help make that possible.

Onwards! We have a big year ahead.

Rachael