spring calls for new beginnings

an exciting update about the finding quiet newsletter

hello quiet readers,

when i received an email in my inbox from substack that said, “great work! you’ve published 52 weeks in a row” i had to sit down. i had posted on this little substack newsletter every week for a year straight? me? the person who claimed they had absolutely no self-discipline and failed at every project she tried? this email was miles more important to me than the one that told me i had reached 1000 subscribers. don’t get me wrong, that one had me jumping over the moon too, but i don’t have control over who subscribes to me or not. i do have control, however, on whether i show up here every week and send you a quiet little letter.

i have never been so proud of myself. it’s up there with getting my master’s degree, self-publishing a collection of poetry on my own and creating my own magazine for five issues. this is something i will treasure for a very, very long time and use as proof for years to come that i am capable of doing something huge.

so if i am able to do something like this, maybe i can take this further.

i’ve never been at this position before. i’ve never got this far. i’ve always admired artists and creatives who have been able to make money through their craft. but i’ve always had this voice at the back of my head that said i’ll never be one of those people. those are the lucky ones, that sort of thing doesn’t happen to me. but why not?

so i’m making a big decision today, in line with the first day of spring tomorrow and new beginnings and the world opening up with a myriad of possibilities once again—i am turning on paid subscriptions.

i will not be paywalling every little thing i can. instead, i want you to think of a paid subscription as supporting me on my writing journey—something i will never be able to thank you enough for—with a few little extras on the side. i want my free subscribers to feel like nothing much has changed, like i’ve gone for a slightly lighter shade of blue on the walls.

if you wish to remain as a free subscriber, you’ll get access to the majority of my weekly wednesday posts. one or two may be preview-only or paywalled if i’m discussing something particularly personal.

if you are in the position to purchase a paid subscription, you will get:

• access to the finding quiet podcast which is the most casual podcast you’ll ever listen to but you’ll love it because i send my best friends voicenotes exactly like this

• the quiet list series with my bi-monthly media/books/article recommendations, reflections and more

• extra posts including my more creative and lyrical pieces, personal letters, poetry, more opinionated pieces and anything extra i want to share with you that i don’t want the entire internet to see

• 50% discount of my self-love magazine, la jaden

• all my love and adoration after the moon

i also want to take this opportunity to say how incredibly happy i am to have each and every one of you here. you are truly making my dreams come true and the 16-year-old version of me with a blogspot that got maybe 12 views once is eternally jealous but very happy for me.

thank you so much for subscribing, paid or not. i appreciate you so much <3

i’ll see you next week! xo