Hey all! Hope you had a great week. This week, I posted an essay that got a lot of traction, mostly, I think because I intentionally tagged a lot of writer friends and asked them to spread the piece. It's something I've wanted to write about for a long time, but have been a little fearful, given the state of the country (government). It's about abortion. Specifically about an experience I had when I worked at Planned Parenthood about 20 years ago. I need to use my voice to speak out on this issue. Not hiding anymore. Bodily autonomy must be given back to us. If this post resonates, please restack? https://nantepper.com/p/her-very-first-time
That was a really powerful post, but bodily autonomy will never be given back to us. We need to take it back. It's semantics, sure, but it's also a state of mind. Thank you for the reminder how this hits the most vulnerable of us, children.
I agree with you completely, Jodi. Thank you for stating it so clearly. We have to take it back, we have to fight for what is ours, we have to come into our power 100% and fight for what's always been ours, regardless of what the patriarchy believes. It's absolutely sickening to be subjugated in this way, we've always been treated this way. I smell a revolution in the air. I have a list. It's quite long. xo
It's kinda funny that the last time jessica hosted this space another writer spoke about serendipity in that myself and someone else were both speaking to motherhood in a different way. One of the main themes for my podcast this season is motherhood and your article is serendipitous as well! Happy to share it and thank you again for writing it! It is important
That's great. I was never a mother. I didn't want to take on that most important job without a partner, adequate resources, and a sense that I was well-equipped to parent. So I didn't. Sometimes it makes me a little sad that I missed that experience, but mostly, I know very deeply that is the right choice for me personally. That's all we need. The ability to choose our own lives, our destinies, for ourselves. No one else needs to intercede on my behalf, especially where decisions about my person are concerned. I can handle that, thank you very much. We can ALL handle it. Who the fuck do they think that are? Sorry, not sorry. I get a little heated about these issues. Now I see that "a little heated" isn't nearly enough.
Yes to everything you just said! Becoming a mother should always be a CHOICE to be made by the woman who will be the one stigmatized for it. Sorry not sorry to the dads. Those that show up, great. Those that are true partners, fabulous! But at the end of the day, make no mistake that it is the mother that holds the bag and consistently gets shat on, by everyone (kid, dad, family, friends, strangers and society). So IMO, everyone can just back tf off and let the woman make the decision that is best for HER, her body, her mind, her emotional well being, her life, End Of!
Hi! Great to meet you all. I can certainly relate to the stepping back. I've been focusing on what brings me energy and for a bit there substack was not fueling energy and I felt pressure to constantly write, post on notes, comment, etc. I stepped away. My latest post is about how gut feelings lead to better decisions. https://katherinelibonate.substack.com/p/how-gut-feelings-lead-to-better-decisions
Hi Jessica, your plate sounds full. Sending some chill-zen vibes and Bravos for everything you do for your community!
I hear you. I've learnt to be more essentialist! From day 1 of Substack, I promised myself I'd stick to my Caregiver's credo of NOT tying myself to a strict routine or rules—that's how, in the past, I increased my stress, frustration, and bad mood because there is Nothing predictable in my days or weeks—even with a passion project! For example, this week with medical appointments and symptoms...even bursting with content ideas....even with mentoring business calls.. Corralling my own enthusiasm and setting my boundary to the 'do-able', and 'get done well', things has been a mean feat ;-) (I think you can feel the energy just in this paragraph!)
My publication Carer Mentor: Empathy and Inspiration is Heartfelt empathy for Care Givers/Receivers. A hub of practical tools, resources, and insights. A community support network—Human-ing hard. A portal of hope. ❤️ https://www.carermentor.com/
This week, I've been tying together the work I've done over the last months on Information, resources, and curated anthologies about Cancer.
Firstly, thank you for doing this Jessica! I can't believe I'm first to comment, I'm never on here this early but I guess right time and place :) Also, I doubt I'll get to engage much today as I am a bit behind in my writing. April was also unusually busy for me and I got sick the first week so that led to me running like a mad woman to catch up :( The past week I was able to get a couple things out. Posted a new episode and companion newsletter to the podcast and also did a review for my other publication (haven't done that in a while but I was that moved) Here are the links...
My latest piece is an interview with the incredible Julie Ann Crommett, who is a powerhouse in media and entertainment:
* Roles at NBCUniversal, Google, Walt Disney Studios.
* President of her own consulting agency, Collective Moxie.
* A dedication to increasing diversity and representation both behind the camera and on the screen.
* Direct impact on a few titles you may have heard of: The Powerpuff Girls, Encanto, Soul, Coco, Black Panther, Raya and the Last Dragon, and West Side Story (to name a few).
* Harvard grad.
* Former Jeopardy! contestant.
* Incredible style.
During our conversation we discussed the (weirdly) hot button topic of D.E.I., why inclusive storytelling is so important, and how an animal attack reenactment series led to her current line of work.
As an academic, April and May are always busy and exhausting for me. But I get a lot of energy from spring, which is finally arriving in Minnesota--what my sisters and I call the "green haze" of leaf buds has finally started appearing on the trees. I'm kind of an essentialist too, and end up cutting things when I feel overwhelmed, so I hear you, Jessica! What's funny is that Substack is the one thing I'd rather NOT step back from, because I enjoy this writing. But classes and finals will be done in a few weeks, and I'll be able to take a break and then put a little more energy into my writing.
This week's post is the second in a pair that gives an overview of some of the core ideas of the book I worked on during my sabbatical last spring. It's the part about how a relational view of human nature shows up in the history of philosophy, bringing together the "lower" ends of the mind-body and reason-emotion dichotomies that pervade our culture:
Love this: "the green haze" of leaf buds. It brings me so much joy (and relief!) when they finally come this time of year. I get energy from spring as well.
Thanks for this space to share! I love reading the variety of topics. I wrote a short piece about how grief shows up in things like music and food 3 years after my dad died.
“The hardest part: my parents’ absence is permanent.” I feel this—on some deep level I’m still figuring out my Dad is gone. I hear you in your grief through the words you write.
Marking this to read later today. I'm still entertaining the fantasy that when Mom passes, I'm ready and everything will be smooth sailing....Not quite ready to be disenchanted of that belief. A little later today...
Hi all! Ah, this space is nice-- even if we are all busy.
Last week, I wrote about (shocker) being the mother of an incarcerated son and how Good Friday looks different from that lens. Though Easter is over, it is still gaining reads and likes and subscribers. I would love to hear what this group thinks, especially. 🖤
Thanks for this opportunity to share! This week I posted a review of my recent favorite memoirs. I also include an announcement about a book discussion I am having in May with author and fellow substacker Casey Mulligan Walsh. I am inviting readers to read Casey’s memoir “The Full Catastrophe” and join us to discuss it. Casey’s book is about grief and thriving through immense loss. I would love to invite folks to check out the link for more information and consider joining us in May! https://open.substack.com/pub/agroomes/p/dr-ambers-memoir-round-up-pt2?r=30pxzo&utm_medium=ios
Thank you for letting us know about this event, Amber, and also Carey Mulligan Walsh’s book, which sounds wonderful. It reminds me of the work of Jessica Fein, who has a podcast “I Don’t Know How you Do It” and wrote the memoir Breathtaking, which I think you’d enjoy. I’ll post a link to Jessica’s Substack here. Thanks again!
Last week, I wrote about perimenopause, struggling to take care of myself, and the things that surprised (and comforted) me when I stopped trying to figure out what's wrong: https://open.substack.com/pub/bridcro/p/takecare 🧡
Thank you for providing a place where we can share - I love having the opportunity to read such great new writing! Below is a piece I wrote earlier this week; I hope it sparks something in my fellow writers.
Thank you so much! It's so funny - I didn't even think about the fact that there's poetry embedded in it, although I made a conscious effort in writing the poem to not use the lines from the existing poems verbatim. I love hearing what other people notice in my pieces, so thank you for this.
- Yesterday released new podcast interview with a midlife writer of kidlit who has gone indie, @carolsaller .
- Wrote about feeling guilty about feeling good on a gorgeous spring day.
- Wrote about loving an extraordinary morning and trying to remind myself that EVERY morning on Earth, no matter how hard it is for any of us, is an extraordinary morning on this exceptional planet of ours.
- I did a short podcast of interviews with women at our local Hands Off rally—it was cool that I randomly approached two different women who had been Freedom Riders and got to interview them!
- And (this one was my husband's favorite) I did a satire of the Tradwife life and had a lot of fun tweaking women who think they don't need feminism.
- How Harriet the Spy comforted me and has stuck with me all these years later.
- How writing comes from the soul, which traditional methods of teaching writing misses completely.
- How I detest and dread the standard 5-paragraph essay.
All told it was a very busy month for me. Now, as so many of us have to do, I'm off to help family in the hospital. I'm trying in midlife to work as hard as I can, produce as much as I can, but also be there for family members who need me. Not to mention spend as much time outdoors as I can on this glorious planet that is our only home.
May is going to be a very busy month for me! I have way too much going on. On top of that, I’ll be picking up my college kid to come home for the summer 🎉 But, I will probably have to take a trip there (3 hours away) the week before to bring some of his stuff back because I don’t think it will all fit in my car at once. And I’m worried about getting it clean before he needs to check out! That’s going to be a lot.
April was a blur of family commitments and finishing the fourth draft of my memoir. May I’ll be headed to New Orleans for a panel on Daughters of Gonzo and a reading of my work in progress, 😬 the first time I’ll be sharing that in public. I’ve been struggling with keeping up my Substack pace but felt compelled to write about the death of Pope Francis and how the theme of fatherhood is central to my memoir.
Hey all! Hope you had a great week. This week, I posted an essay that got a lot of traction, mostly, I think because I intentionally tagged a lot of writer friends and asked them to spread the piece. It's something I've wanted to write about for a long time, but have been a little fearful, given the state of the country (government). It's about abortion. Specifically about an experience I had when I worked at Planned Parenthood about 20 years ago. I need to use my voice to speak out on this issue. Not hiding anymore. Bodily autonomy must be given back to us. If this post resonates, please restack? https://nantepper.com/p/her-very-first-time
Thank you for writing this. And thank you for using your voice. Such a moving, awful story.
Thank you, Jessica! There's so much support here. I appreciate it as I become more brave in my subject matter. There's a lot of permission to grow.
I agree with everyone else: what a story. An important story. Thank you.
Thank you, Erica. xo
That was a really powerful post, but bodily autonomy will never be given back to us. We need to take it back. It's semantics, sure, but it's also a state of mind. Thank you for the reminder how this hits the most vulnerable of us, children.
I agree with you completely, Jodi. Thank you for stating it so clearly. We have to take it back, we have to fight for what is ours, we have to come into our power 100% and fight for what's always been ours, regardless of what the patriarchy believes. It's absolutely sickening to be subjugated in this way, we've always been treated this way. I smell a revolution in the air. I have a list. It's quite long. xo
Thank you for the work you did then and the work you’re doing now by writing about it.
Thanks, Leslie! xo
Such an important article, Nan. I'm glad it's gotten traction. People need to read this! Love you 🥰❤️
Thank you, Amy. Love you right back! xo
Cross-Posted to my Podcast De-Stigma Dialogues! This is an example of what I am hoping to encourage more of, talking out LOUD! Thank you Nan
Thank YOU, Tamara. WOW. xo
It's kinda funny that the last time jessica hosted this space another writer spoke about serendipity in that myself and someone else were both speaking to motherhood in a different way. One of the main themes for my podcast this season is motherhood and your article is serendipitous as well! Happy to share it and thank you again for writing it! It is important
That's great. I was never a mother. I didn't want to take on that most important job without a partner, adequate resources, and a sense that I was well-equipped to parent. So I didn't. Sometimes it makes me a little sad that I missed that experience, but mostly, I know very deeply that is the right choice for me personally. That's all we need. The ability to choose our own lives, our destinies, for ourselves. No one else needs to intercede on my behalf, especially where decisions about my person are concerned. I can handle that, thank you very much. We can ALL handle it. Who the fuck do they think that are? Sorry, not sorry. I get a little heated about these issues. Now I see that "a little heated" isn't nearly enough.
I can get heated too ;)P
:)
Yes to everything you just said! Becoming a mother should always be a CHOICE to be made by the woman who will be the one stigmatized for it. Sorry not sorry to the dads. Those that show up, great. Those that are true partners, fabulous! But at the end of the day, make no mistake that it is the mother that holds the bag and consistently gets shat on, by everyone (kid, dad, family, friends, strangers and society). So IMO, everyone can just back tf off and let the woman make the decision that is best for HER, her body, her mind, her emotional well being, her life, End Of!
AMEN! I mean AWOMEN! Yup. xo
Agreed! Silence is no longer an option given the current landscape! Thank you for sharing this! Will restack
Thank you so much. xo
I write humour. This week I wrote about my new sexy vacuum cleaner:
https://rosiemeleady.substack.com/p/why-is-there-a-butt-crack-attachment
Loved it!!
Such truth! Especially the part about a man not reading instructions!
Hi! Great to meet you all. I can certainly relate to the stepping back. I've been focusing on what brings me energy and for a bit there substack was not fueling energy and I felt pressure to constantly write, post on notes, comment, etc. I stepped away. My latest post is about how gut feelings lead to better decisions. https://katherinelibonate.substack.com/p/how-gut-feelings-lead-to-better-decisions
I've read about intuition in a couple of other places lately too. The universe is telling me things. :)
commented and restacked your wonderful essay.
Useful advice!
Hi Jessica, your plate sounds full. Sending some chill-zen vibes and Bravos for everything you do for your community!
I hear you. I've learnt to be more essentialist! From day 1 of Substack, I promised myself I'd stick to my Caregiver's credo of NOT tying myself to a strict routine or rules—that's how, in the past, I increased my stress, frustration, and bad mood because there is Nothing predictable in my days or weeks—even with a passion project! For example, this week with medical appointments and symptoms...even bursting with content ideas....even with mentoring business calls.. Corralling my own enthusiasm and setting my boundary to the 'do-able', and 'get done well', things has been a mean feat ;-) (I think you can feel the energy just in this paragraph!)
My publication Carer Mentor: Empathy and Inspiration is Heartfelt empathy for Care Givers/Receivers. A hub of practical tools, resources, and insights. A community support network—Human-ing hard. A portal of hope. ❤️ https://www.carermentor.com/
This week, I've been tying together the work I've done over the last months on Information, resources, and curated anthologies about Cancer.
This is the umbrella index - web-published, going out via email next week: https://www.carermentor.com/p/index-cancer-articles-and-resources
May I also recommend reading a really great article by Amber Groomes publication Dr Amber Writes: How To Sit With An Emotion The "how-to guide" you've been waiting for: https://agroomes.substack.com/p/how-to-sit-with-an-emotion
Thank you for the chill vibes! And yay for essentialism!
Thank you so much for sharing my piece Victoria, and introducing me to Midstack!
You're very welcome, Amber!
Thank you Jessica,
This post is about the reality of long-term marriage.
https://open.substack.com/pub/karenwesleywriter/p/marriage-on-the-other-side-of-the?r=6ubiu&utm_medium=ios
Thank you for this honesty and vulnerability!
you're so welcome. Thank you for reading
Firstly, thank you for doing this Jessica! I can't believe I'm first to comment, I'm never on here this early but I guess right time and place :) Also, I doubt I'll get to engage much today as I am a bit behind in my writing. April was also unusually busy for me and I got sick the first week so that led to me running like a mad woman to catch up :( The past week I was able to get a couple things out. Posted a new episode and companion newsletter to the podcast and also did a review for my other publication (haven't done that in a while but I was that moved) Here are the links...
https://destigmadialogues.substack.com/p/were-all-guilty-the-judgement-of
https://destigmadialogues.substack.com/p/feeling-judgey
https://tamarafoster.substack.com/p/believe-the-hype
Happy Friday and Happy Weekend! Looking forward to this month's Meet-Up!
My latest piece is an interview with the incredible Julie Ann Crommett, who is a powerhouse in media and entertainment:
* Roles at NBCUniversal, Google, Walt Disney Studios.
* President of her own consulting agency, Collective Moxie.
* A dedication to increasing diversity and representation both behind the camera and on the screen.
* Direct impact on a few titles you may have heard of: The Powerpuff Girls, Encanto, Soul, Coco, Black Panther, Raya and the Last Dragon, and West Side Story (to name a few).
* Harvard grad.
* Former Jeopardy! contestant.
* Incredible style.
During our conversation we discussed the (weirdly) hot button topic of D.E.I., why inclusive storytelling is so important, and how an animal attack reenactment series led to her current line of work.
https://creativereverberations.substack.com/p/cr-043-julie-ann-crommett-on-the
Given our world today, I am especially looking forward to reading this more closely. What an impressive woman!
She is intimidatingly smart and so great at what she does!
As an academic, April and May are always busy and exhausting for me. But I get a lot of energy from spring, which is finally arriving in Minnesota--what my sisters and I call the "green haze" of leaf buds has finally started appearing on the trees. I'm kind of an essentialist too, and end up cutting things when I feel overwhelmed, so I hear you, Jessica! What's funny is that Substack is the one thing I'd rather NOT step back from, because I enjoy this writing. But classes and finals will be done in a few weeks, and I'll be able to take a break and then put a little more energy into my writing.
This week's post is the second in a pair that gives an overview of some of the core ideas of the book I worked on during my sabbatical last spring. It's the part about how a relational view of human nature shows up in the history of philosophy, bringing together the "lower" ends of the mind-body and reason-emotion dichotomies that pervade our culture:
https://ericalucaststonestreet.substack.com/p/dichotomies-of-human-nature-part?r=25crho
I'm looking forward to browsing through what the rest of you have been writing!
Love this: "the green haze" of leaf buds. It brings me so much joy (and relief!) when they finally come this time of year. I get energy from spring as well.
Thanks for this space to share! I love reading the variety of topics. I wrote a short piece about how grief shows up in things like music and food 3 years after my dad died.
https://open.substack.com/pub/carolbainadler/p/what-grief-looks-like-three-years?r=1i7tuo&utm_medium=ios
“The hardest part: my parents’ absence is permanent.” I feel this—on some deep level I’m still figuring out my Dad is gone. I hear you in your grief through the words you write.
Wonderful piece, Carol. I've commented and restacked with my own thoughts & tagged a few friends who I'm sure will enjoy it too. Thanks for sharing.
Marking this to read later today. I'm still entertaining the fantasy that when Mom passes, I'm ready and everything will be smooth sailing....Not quite ready to be disenchanted of that belief. A little later today...
I wrote about my return home after spending 3 months abroad.
https://open.substack.com/pub/revelandverve/p/home
I can relate to this so much! I did a bunch of traveling this month, but I love coming home.
Thank you for normalizing the peeing. Haha.
Hi all! Ah, this space is nice-- even if we are all busy.
Last week, I wrote about (shocker) being the mother of an incarcerated son and how Good Friday looks different from that lens. Though Easter is over, it is still gaining reads and likes and subscribers. I would love to hear what this group thinks, especially. 🖤
https://blacksheepmom.substack.com/p/black-sheep-friday
I really appreciated this honest exploration of a heartbreaking connection. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m grateful I got to read it today.
Thanks for this opportunity to share! This week I posted a review of my recent favorite memoirs. I also include an announcement about a book discussion I am having in May with author and fellow substacker Casey Mulligan Walsh. I am inviting readers to read Casey’s memoir “The Full Catastrophe” and join us to discuss it. Casey’s book is about grief and thriving through immense loss. I would love to invite folks to check out the link for more information and consider joining us in May! https://open.substack.com/pub/agroomes/p/dr-ambers-memoir-round-up-pt2?r=30pxzo&utm_medium=ios
Thank you for letting us know about this event, Amber, and also Carey Mulligan Walsh’s book, which sounds wonderful. It reminds me of the work of Jessica Fein, who has a podcast “I Don’t Know How you Do It” and wrote the memoir Breathtaking, which I think you’d enjoy. I’ll post a link to Jessica’s Substack here. Thanks again!
https://open.substack.com/pub/feinbyme?r=24uace&utm_medium=ios
Last week, I wrote about perimenopause, struggling to take care of myself, and the things that surprised (and comforted) me when I stopped trying to figure out what's wrong: https://open.substack.com/pub/bridcro/p/takecare 🧡
Thank you for providing a place where we can share - I love having the opportunity to read such great new writing! Below is a piece I wrote earlier this week; I hope it sparks something in my fellow writers.
https://substack.com/@kdbonville/note/p-162042842?r=4e5q4&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I loved your poem with poetry inside it!
Thank you so much! It's so funny - I didn't even think about the fact that there's poetry embedded in it, although I made a conscious effort in writing the poem to not use the lines from the existing poems verbatim. I love hearing what other people notice in my pieces, so thank you for this.
Thanks to Midstack as always for this thread! I always read it right through and love reading all the great writing linked to here.
What I have done this month on The Babblery https://babblery.substack.com/ :
- Yesterday released new podcast interview with a midlife writer of kidlit who has gone indie, @carolsaller .
- Wrote about feeling guilty about feeling good on a gorgeous spring day.
- Wrote about loving an extraordinary morning and trying to remind myself that EVERY morning on Earth, no matter how hard it is for any of us, is an extraordinary morning on this exceptional planet of ours.
- I did a short podcast of interviews with women at our local Hands Off rally—it was cool that I randomly approached two different women who had been Freedom Riders and got to interview them!
- And (this one was my husband's favorite) I did a satire of the Tradwife life and had a lot of fun tweaking women who think they don't need feminism.
I also wrote on my KidsLearn Substack at https://kidslearn.substack.com/ :
- How Harriet the Spy comforted me and has stuck with me all these years later.
- How writing comes from the soul, which traditional methods of teaching writing misses completely.
- How I detest and dread the standard 5-paragraph essay.
All told it was a very busy month for me. Now, as so many of us have to do, I'm off to help family in the hospital. I'm trying in midlife to work as hard as I can, produce as much as I can, but also be there for family members who need me. Not to mention spend as much time outdoors as I can on this glorious planet that is our only home.
This all sounds great Suki! Re. the Trad-wife satire, do you ever read or listen to Pulling the Thread with Elise Loehen? She did one with Soraya Chemaly (The Resilience Myth) https://www.eliseloehnen.com/episodes/h1mjtwhv3bo2nddnd6ikmoj8ogsbzf-fw6wx
No, I haven't. Thanks, I'll check it out!
May is going to be a very busy month for me! I have way too much going on. On top of that, I’ll be picking up my college kid to come home for the summer 🎉 But, I will probably have to take a trip there (3 hours away) the week before to bring some of his stuff back because I don’t think it will all fit in my car at once. And I’m worried about getting it clean before he needs to check out! That’s going to be a lot.
I’m trying to prioritize my writing. I’m also going back and forth writing about life stuff and music. My latest post is mostly about my car issues… https://open.substack.com/pub/kristinwritesmuch/p/the-trouble-with-cars?r=1iil3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
April was a blur of family commitments and finishing the fourth draft of my memoir. May I’ll be headed to New Orleans for a panel on Daughters of Gonzo and a reading of my work in progress, 😬 the first time I’ll be sharing that in public. I’ve been struggling with keeping up my Substack pace but felt compelled to write about the death of Pope Francis and how the theme of fatherhood is central to my memoir.
https://open.substack.com/pub/piahinckle/p/the-grandfather-of-the-world?r=1g50dp&utm_medium=ios