During college an English Professor once suggested that I keep writing essays and/or short stories, because she thoroughly enjoyed reading my assignments and saw that I had talent. I took her recommendation to heart. I planned on continuing to write after I finished college; however, real life took center stage in the Fall of 2001 and that recommendation was filed away. Now, here I am 22 years later, and I am finally ready to write. But real life is still happening, isn’t it? Yes, it is. So, what’s the difference between 2001 real life and present-day real life? The answer is this: It’s my discovery that all the strange occurrences--or “High Strangeness” as most people call it--that has occurred throughout my life has been happening for a reason. These occurrences need to be written about. They need to be shared with the same people who are experiencing the same High Strangeness I am experiencing. They need to be shared with the general populace so they, too, can become aware.
When I joined Substack, it was initially to read articles of interest to me. It didn’t occur to me to consider using Substack as my writing platform for my blog until I discovered several Twitter/X accounts promoting their own Substack articles and several podcast guests promoting theirs. After briefly researching and comparing blogging platforms, I quickly determined Substack would be ideal for me. So, I dived in head first. I re-vamped my account. I updated my bio. I had an outline. I had topics to write about. I even had a blog in rough draft form. I was ready to go. Or so I thought.
When it came time to write my first blog post, I became paralyzed with fear. The fear of failure. What if my first post doesn’t make a good first impression? What if I don’t have anyone subscribing? What if I can’t grab and hold a reader’s attention? What if, what if, what if?! Oh, the agony. I was beside myself. This was a new endeavor for me. How was I going to tell my stories? How was I going to reach others? How was I going to move forward and overcome these fears? HOW?! While contemplating how I was going to move forward, I received an email from Substack giving various writing tips. In the email was a link to an article posted on October 4, 2023, by author, Jamie Varon (@JamieVaron). It was titled, “Dear Writer: Advice on creating a sacred writing space”. Wait…what did she mean, a “sacred space”? I was intrigued. I started reading the article and learned Substack had reached out to Ms. Varon, asking her how she makes this platform a sacred space.
In Ms. Varon’s article, she detailed her success on Instagram. She explained her “how” and “why” for migrating to Substack. She further explained her hesitation in coming to Substack and the “Grace” she decided to give herself when it came to publishing. Ms. Varon also allowed herself the following four things:
1. She allowed her heart’s desire to guide her,
2. She allowed her inner voice to come through and share what she felt she should,
3. She allowed herself to be imperfect, and
4. She allowed her curiosity to guide her and not feel “boxed in” or “resentful”.
Ms. Varon’s article resonated with me. ALL of it. From making the leap to Substack from Instagram, to her heart’s desire and curiosity, to her own imperfections. Ms. Varon’s article provided me with the clarity I needed to move forward. The Grace and allowances she gives herself are exactly what I need to give myself on this new adventure.
Thank you, Jamie Varon. You have no idea how impactful your article was.
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I love this and that guidance was sent to you. Now you get to take that and teach me everything that you learned so that I can start on here. It’s the circle of life. ⭕️