Hello and welcome to all of the new subscribers!! I’m so glad you are here!
I want to tell you all how amazing you are for all of the brave things you are doing (which you have been sharing with me and each other). . . . But first, I just have to tell you about this crazy, incredible thing that happened last week. Maybe you saw it.
What Just Happened?
On Monday morning, I was scrolling through my Notes feed on Substack, when I came across this:
I stared at it for a few moments, not sure what I was seeing, but somehow I could feel in the pit of my stomach that something big was happening. And then it registered—the Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love and so many other amazing books) had shared my post! She had read it and liked it and created a Note to share it on Substack. And she had said, “You know I love everything about it!”
As this sunk in, I got up off the sofa and walked around my apartment, thinking, WHAAAAAAAT? Did that just happen? The whole day after that was one long surreal moment after another. Normal life had somehow stopped and this new, bizarre existence had started. By the next day I felt like reality had pretty much returned, but watching my subscriber numbers go up and up and up was still pretty surreal.
You all, I can hardly believe it, but this little newsletter has gained over 3,000new subscribers in the last three weeks! It all started with the original 1,400 subscribers. So many of you liked and shared my post “Two Years Ago I Quit My Life” that it got on the Substack leaderboard in literature. That was YOU! And then Elizabeth Gilbert saw it, read it, and shared it, and things went exponential!
Here is a visual to give you an idea. This is the number of views of the newsletter overall:
You can see on the left the usual pattern, with a little bump when I sent out a new post. Then things started growing with those last three posts. And that really tall spike is last Monday, the day after Elizabeth Gilbert shared her Note. That is over 7000 views—in one day!
But all of that before was happening because of internal momentum—because I wrote some things that a lot of people are feeling right now and thinking about—and you liked and shared them.
Some have congratulated me on my “success,” but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like an outpouring of energy from women all over the world who are also going through similar things—on all points of the journey. Some are just beginning. Some are looking back at multiple transformations in their lives. And some are in the middle of big changes. Some are taking new directions in their careers or their personal lives. Others are contemplating or have already made a big move. Some just want to figure out what they want from the next phase of their lives.
If you haven’t read the comments, check them out! You will be amazed at all of the stories. And all of the strong women finding their way through radical change . . . finding their way forward—but also back to themselves.
As some of you pointed out, when we want to reinvent ourselves, we are really just trying to remember who we truly are, deep inside. Midlife—or any time—is an opportunity for reorientation, to set our compass back to the path that we really want to be on, or that we wish we’d had the courage to take in the first place.
If you’d like to see the comments for yourself, here you go:
I’m happier than I can say to have attracted so many of you amazing women to witness and gain courage from each other. And no, you absolutely are not crazy for wanting to make big or little changes in your life. I hope you can find strength and draw inspiration here. I see so many of you doing that already. It’s been beautiful to behold!
I must admit that it’s also been a little overwhelming. Unless I was checking in constantly, the comments started to build up and I know I lost track of some. (One post currently has 542 comments, the other 289!) It’s hard to navigate in Substack sometimes, so I apologize if you didn’t get at least a “like” from me. I tried to read them all and respond to as many as I could.
But more importantly, you all were responding to each other—supporting, encouraging, and simply acknowledging what others are going through. I want to thank you for keeping it so positive and making new connections with each other!
I would love more than anything for others to feel less alone on their journeys toward transformation. When I was hitting rock bottom and needing inspiration for the rocky road ahead, I have to say that I felt pretty alone at times, like I was doing something kind of crazy. My friends were amazing—they listened and listened and gave me so much support!! But I was the only woman I knew who was jumping ship and heading into uncharted waters. I mean, who does that?
To know that others are going through what we are, or that others understand what we are dealing with, is huge!! When no one around us seems to get it, when we feel like an outlier, we can lose our courage. We can doubt ourselves and hang back instead of moving into the unknown. But knowing someone else has been there before us, or is heading in that direction as well, makes it a little easier. It’s still hard! But it feels less lonely.
It has always been the magic of literature to help us feel less alone. And now the internet can do that for us as well. Substack seems to be this unusual online space that merges the best of both worlds, where we can share our stories and inspire each other. There are so many ways for us to do that on the online platform and in the Substack app. Substack is so much more than a newsletter mailer.
Two New Ways for “Members” to Connect
As I mentioned in my last post, I’d like to provide even more opportunities for people to connect, using some of the tools that Substack has to offer.
Thank you to the new members who upgraded their subscription! I’m so grateful to have your support.
If you’d like to participate in these new initiatives for members, join us by upgrading as well. (I’m calling those who upgrade “members,” by the way. So much better than “paid subscribers.”)
First up, I had suggested a group read of Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert, which seems more appropriate now than ever. This is a book about living creatively—which means so much more than making “art.”
As the book’s blurb says: “Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.”
So let’s get reading. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it! I’ll give you some time to get the book and move it to the top of your TBR pile. Our discussion will start on Wed., July 24, covering two parts a week for three weeks. I will send out threads with questions for discussion on these dates. You can jump in whenever you are ready or have something to say.
Parts I (Courage)-II (Enchantment): July 24
Parts III (Permission)-IV (Persistence): July 31
Parts V (Trust)-VI (Divinity): August 7
Click on the image to go to the publisher’s website with all the links to where you can buy the book.
Second, I have created a Chat for members. This is like a dedicated channel or online hangout. It’s a space where we can share ideas and questions with each other. Feel free to initiate a discussion or ask a question there. I will also pose questions to facilitate connection. The first one is up, asking you to introduce yourself and share a picture of your reading/writing space, if you like.
These are two “tiny experiments” that we’ll try out. If they work, we’ll keep going. If not, we’ll try something else.
That is how we make change, by the way—by conducting tiny experiments. Seeing shifts as an opportunity to try things out and see what works relieves so much pressure! We don’t have to have all of the answers at once. I’ve written about this before and may do so again. It would be interesting to share with you all the many tiny experiments I’ve conducted and their outcomes.
I’d love to hear your thoughts . . . What has resonated with you here? Have you felt alone as you’ve contemplated shifting gears in your life? Have you found that the people in your life are supportive? Have you ever felt like you were “crazy” for feeling like you want more, or simply something different?
See you in the comments!
—Anne
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, please click on the heart at the bottom or the top of this email. It helps others discover Audacious Women, Creative Lives. And makes me super happy!
I'm picturing your community as a giant launch field at a hot air balloon rally. For those who haven't seen one, it's a gorgeous sight.
There is a time in the early morning when the first balloons lift into the sky, but dozens more are on the ground in various stages of inflation, held down with ropes until they have enough hot air to fly. It takes time to inflate each balloon, and the flame engines sound just like giant creatures (dragons?) breathing.
Some people spend decades thinking they belong to the ground and weaving strong ropes - jobs, children, mortgages, pets - and then at some point realize they also belong to the sky.
It's sublime to see massed balloons at any stage of inflation, on the field or in the air. 🎈 ❤️
I absolutely share your sense that something huge is building among post-menopausal women and `I hope it can be more diverse and inclusive than such shifts have sometimes been in the past. `I'm just getting my head around the way things work in Substack so I'm holding back a little on posting in my own right and focussing on engaging in groups like @bethkempton 's Soul Circle and various other writing groups.
I'm picturing your community as a giant launch field at a hot air balloon rally. For those who haven't seen one, it's a gorgeous sight.
There is a time in the early morning when the first balloons lift into the sky, but dozens more are on the ground in various stages of inflation, held down with ropes until they have enough hot air to fly. It takes time to inflate each balloon, and the flame engines sound just like giant creatures (dragons?) breathing.
Some people spend decades thinking they belong to the ground and weaving strong ropes - jobs, children, mortgages, pets - and then at some point realize they also belong to the sky.
It's sublime to see massed balloons at any stage of inflation, on the field or in the air. 🎈 ❤️
I absolutely share your sense that something huge is building among post-menopausal women and `I hope it can be more diverse and inclusive than such shifts have sometimes been in the past. `I'm just getting my head around the way things work in Substack so I'm holding back a little on posting in my own right and focussing on engaging in groups like @bethkempton 's Soul Circle and various other writing groups.