I'm switching to Substack!
Don't worry, you'll get the same newsletter -- but with more options
Dear friends,
I started this newsletter last month on Mailchimp because several musicians I knew had email newsletters that they used to keep fans updated on their work. Since I sent that first email, a lot has happened to me. Pleasant, wild, painful, thrilling things. Things that I have experienced before, and things that are somewhat different in intensity or character than previous experiences. It’s really a lot to navigate, and I am growing in my capacity to care for myself and reach out for support when going through such periods of intensity.
I’ve found that a lot of these periods of intensity are turning points in my journey of spirituality and meaning-making, and this one is no exception. A lot has emerged for me, the primary revelation being that I cannot become any one particular thing. I already knew that, to an extent. But recently, I had been feeling social pressure to present myself as someone seeking specifically a career in music, such that everything that I’m doing besides music is merely meant to keep me financially afloat prior to my breaking into the music industry. Interestingly, my parents have been the strongest source of this pressure, for now that they are finally convinced that I could succeed in music, they want me to focus all my energies on pursuing that success. Yet my immersion in music festivals last month also contributed, as it felt that most people around me were so much more thoroughly musicians than I, an interdisciplinary imposter, had grown to be.
Indeed, I’m not just a musician. I’m philosopher, artist, awakener. Music is the creative discipline in which I have the most training, but my creativity tends towards the interdisciplinary. Recently, my musical creations have taken on the character of performance art (more on that soon…). And literary writing has long been an outlet for my intense thinking and feeling and a tool for my growth. My mathematical interests also pine for nourishment, and I am still figuring out how to best engage them in my newfound freedom to learn. (Academic mathematics had begun to feel suffocating, because that is the nature of academia. Yet since graduation, I’ve been frequently more hungry for maths than anything else, because now I can do it my way.)
I had already been thinking about Substack as a platform for my writing, since it is designed so well for writers, so I began to wonder, what if I made my “monthly updates” newsletter just one part of a Substack publication, which could also include sections for other types of writing I create? The thought had already partly come to me before the intense feelings took over and told me “this is what you must do!”, so I am even more inclined to trust it and take the risk.
So…welcome to Marginal Notes, my Substack newsletter-blog hybrid!
There are multiple benefits that Substack has for readers like you:
You can read newsletters not just when they drop into your inboxes, but also online, at marginalnotes.substack.com, or in the Substack app. You don’t need a Substack account to receive newsletters, but I encourage you to consider getting one!
You can like and comment on newsletters as well as share them digitally with other people.
You can choose what types of writing you want to receive from me. Since you all signed up originally for the “monthly updates” content, you are automatically signed up for the “Updates” section of Marginal Notes as well as general “housekeeping” posts like this one. If you want to engage in slow and intentional conversation with me on tricky questions, seeking the spaces of nuance in settled dogma, subscribe to “Musings” and be eager to comment upon and critique my thought-attempts (and to offer your own!). If you are interested in longer reflective writings that go deeper into certain experiences that I can only summarize briefly in these monthly updates, subscribe to “Narratives.” On the Substack website or app, there is also a section called “Notes” that is designed somewhat like Twitter but is catered specifically to writers and their audiences; there, I’ll “restack” and comment upon posts from other Substack publications that I find intriguing. I may add more sections later as I see fit; when I do, I’ll let you know in the next monthly update.
To change the sections of Marginal Notes to which you are subscribed, click on “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of this email or, if you have a Substack account, go to www.substack.com/settings.
You can subscribe to other Substack publications as well and read them all in the Substack app! Some of my current favorites are I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand by ND Stevenson (creator of the graphic novel Nimona, which was just released as a Netflix animated film that is SUPER AWESOME!) and Infinitely More by Joel David Hamkins.
A lot of writers like Substack for its subscription-based monetization system: if a writer has turned on paid subscriptions for their publication, they can receive substantial monetary support directly from readers rather than relying on distracting ads. Writers vary in what content, if any, they choose to paywall; for example, most posts on Infinitely More are behind a paywall, but ND Stevenson only paywalls his most intimate posts for I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand. I do not have paid subscriptions turned on yet, and I don’t know if I will turn on that option in the future. However, if you wish you can pledge a future subscription to my publication in the case that I do open up paid subscriptions in the future. If I do, all or most of my posts would still be available with a free subscription (the monthly updates would certainly remain free), as access is a priority for me.
I have re-shared the first Mailchimp newsletter as the first post on my Substack, so you can find it on the publication website (marginalnotes.substack.com). In a week or so I will send the next Updates post, which will explain a little more about what has happened to me these past few weeks. In the meantime, here’s a little offering of inquiry to maybe inspire you:
What is it to be well, or to seek wellness, when the world is sick?
What is a gift, except what you must give?
Oh, and feel free to forward this newsletter (or the previous issue) to people you know who might be interested in joining me in my creative journey! And if this was forwarded to you, I encourage you to subscribe for more ;)