Congratulations on this beautiful piece! So evocative. I also have trouble sharing/posting about my work. I started my substack last week, and have told close friends and strangers, but am still holding off on the "big announcement" post across my communities. The fear of being seen is so, so relatable. Thank you for this.
The fear of being seen and perfaps also the fear of not being seen? Once you announce it, it can also hurt to see how many people actually sign up/notice/respond. So it could be a fear of both being seen and of rejection!
Well done Tamzin! You wrote an exceptional piece that the world needed to see. It stirs up so much.
It is so hard to put it out into the world yourself rather than have it posted elsewhere. If you hadn't posted about it here though, I would not have ever been able to read it and I'm sure some of your other readers are the same. Keep putting it out there and know that it will land where it is supposed to land.
Thank you so much Donna. I'd love to hear about what it stirs up for you. It was amazing to hear what memories or thoughts came from people associated with their beds.
And also thanks for your encouragement, that's why in the end I did post it here - because I knew many of my own subscribers wouldn't see it otherwise!
Tamzin! This is amazing! Your essay is beautiful and you deserve to shout about it from the rooftops. I’m so pleased you did decide to share it because I’d never have discovered it if not. Well done, and huge congratulations 👏🏻👏🏻🤍
Hi Sophie, thank you so much for this! It is different to my usual writing for sure, I have quite a few pieces like this that just sat in a folder on my desktop 😂 Perhaps now is the time to start bringing them into my work a bit more! I'm so glad you enjoyed the piece ❤ Any interesting memories/associations come up from your beds?
I think they deserve to come out of the folder! 😊 I wrote about my bed and how integral it is in our family life in a recent post. Out of all the beds I’ve ever had and lived in, the one we have right now is the most precious because it safely welcomes my little family each morning 🥰
Such a beautiful piece, I am not sure I have the words to do it justice right now, it feels like a piece that will stay with me and that I will be thinking about for a while. So pleased it got some of the recognition it deserves
Kelly thank you so, so much for these kind words. This time last year I had never even considered sharing any of my writing, so to receive feedback like this is just amazing. What kind of things do you like to write? Thank you for finding me in this space ❤
I’m so grateful Suleika shared it because that is what led me here (I’m sure I’m not the only one). While I love to hear from people who’s names I recognize, often it’s those I don’t, people living “normal” lives, that I truly connect with and resonate on a deep level.
Hi Rachel, thank you, I really appreciate it! I agree with you, I really love the diversity of the features on Suleika's Substack. I've discovered so many interesting creatives through it.
Thanks so much Claire! Yep it is, I would've thought it would be easy for things like this, something really worth sharing, celebrating and letting my subscribers or followers know about. But then when it happened, I just felt like sharing it would seem like I was showing off. Of course, I never think that when I see others share their achievements!
I think we sometimes need time to process it don’t we - like how it lands and compliments and the scary edge of growth for us as creatives and for our space we take up. I know when I guested on a podcast a few years back I couldn’t listen or share it for months and actually it was all fine and I am happy to share it now. I have compassion for past me - she was just trying to show up in a world that told her don’t do that people will think you are showing off or your ego is too big. ✨💌💕⭕️🪄
Oh I totally understand that, my first podcast I also didn't share! Every time I'm on a podcast now I manage to listen to myself with some gentleness and even joy. Of course we will always cringe a little at ourselves or think that we could have said/done this or that 'better', but now I just try really hard to give myself credit for putting myself out there at all, for showing up and doing it, no matter the imperfections.
Thank you so much for sharing with us. <3 I definitely understand that fear of being seen. And the fear of not being seen if we do share our work.
There's a sense of constant displacement I got from reading this that was so powerful. It's this continuing search for places that feel like home, the idea that a bed can almost be like a microcosm of our current state of being/living, how a bed is often where we're the most vulnerable. It made me think of all the beds I've been in and the stories attached to them--the makeshift beds, the ones I've felt trapped in, the ones I've been dying to leave, and the ones that I wanted to stay in for days.
Congratulations on this beautiful piece! So evocative. I also have trouble sharing/posting about my work. I started my substack last week, and have told close friends and strangers, but am still holding off on the "big announcement" post across my communities. The fear of being seen is so, so relatable. Thank you for this.
The fear of being seen and perfaps also the fear of not being seen? Once you announce it, it can also hurt to see how many people actually sign up/notice/respond. So it could be a fear of both being seen and of rejection!
Well done Tamzin! You wrote an exceptional piece that the world needed to see. It stirs up so much.
It is so hard to put it out into the world yourself rather than have it posted elsewhere. If you hadn't posted about it here though, I would not have ever been able to read it and I'm sure some of your other readers are the same. Keep putting it out there and know that it will land where it is supposed to land.
Thank you so much Donna. I'd love to hear about what it stirs up for you. It was amazing to hear what memories or thoughts came from people associated with their beds.
And also thanks for your encouragement, that's why in the end I did post it here - because I knew many of my own subscribers wouldn't see it otherwise!
Wow Tamzin, beautiful, well done!
Thank you so much Merinda and thank you for being here ❤ What do you like to write about?
Tamzin! This is amazing! Your essay is beautiful and you deserve to shout about it from the rooftops. I’m so pleased you did decide to share it because I’d never have discovered it if not. Well done, and huge congratulations 👏🏻👏🏻🤍
Hi Sophie, thank you so much for this! It is different to my usual writing for sure, I have quite a few pieces like this that just sat in a folder on my desktop 😂 Perhaps now is the time to start bringing them into my work a bit more! I'm so glad you enjoyed the piece ❤ Any interesting memories/associations come up from your beds?
I think they deserve to come out of the folder! 😊 I wrote about my bed and how integral it is in our family life in a recent post. Out of all the beds I’ve ever had and lived in, the one we have right now is the most precious because it safely welcomes my little family each morning 🥰
Such a beautiful piece, I am not sure I have the words to do it justice right now, it feels like a piece that will stay with me and that I will be thinking about for a while. So pleased it got some of the recognition it deserves
Kelly thank you so, so much for these kind words. This time last year I had never even considered sharing any of my writing, so to receive feedback like this is just amazing. What kind of things do you like to write? Thank you for finding me in this space ❤
I’m so grateful Suleika shared it because that is what led me here (I’m sure I’m not the only one). While I love to hear from people who’s names I recognize, often it’s those I don’t, people living “normal” lives, that I truly connect with and resonate on a deep level.
Hi Rachel, thank you, I really appreciate it! I agree with you, I really love the diversity of the features on Suleika's Substack. I've discovered so many interesting creatives through it.
What a beautiful piece! Thank you for sharing, Tamzin. I'm excited to read more from you.
Thank you Clare, that's such a lovely thing to say 😍
This piece throws up so many different memories and thoughts, it needs several readings. Love it.
Thank you ❤️
Loved your piece Suleika shared with us in TIJ! So many of us loved your prompt and we have truly enjoyed reading one another’s stories! ❤️
Thank you so much Susan, I really appreciate that! It has also inspired me to write a little more personally sometimes here on my own Substack.
A beautiful piece Tamzin! I hear you on the showing up to share - it’s a practise isn’t it?!
Thanks so much Claire! Yep it is, I would've thought it would be easy for things like this, something really worth sharing, celebrating and letting my subscribers or followers know about. But then when it happened, I just felt like sharing it would seem like I was showing off. Of course, I never think that when I see others share their achievements!
I think we sometimes need time to process it don’t we - like how it lands and compliments and the scary edge of growth for us as creatives and for our space we take up. I know when I guested on a podcast a few years back I couldn’t listen or share it for months and actually it was all fine and I am happy to share it now. I have compassion for past me - she was just trying to show up in a world that told her don’t do that people will think you are showing off or your ego is too big. ✨💌💕⭕️🪄
Oh I totally understand that, my first podcast I also didn't share! Every time I'm on a podcast now I manage to listen to myself with some gentleness and even joy. Of course we will always cringe a little at ourselves or think that we could have said/done this or that 'better', but now I just try really hard to give myself credit for putting myself out there at all, for showing up and doing it, no matter the imperfections.
Thank you so much for sharing with us. <3 I definitely understand that fear of being seen. And the fear of not being seen if we do share our work.
There's a sense of constant displacement I got from reading this that was so powerful. It's this continuing search for places that feel like home, the idea that a bed can almost be like a microcosm of our current state of being/living, how a bed is often where we're the most vulnerable. It made me think of all the beds I've been in and the stories attached to them--the makeshift beds, the ones I've felt trapped in, the ones I've been dying to leave, and the ones that I wanted to stay in for days.
I can't wait to read more of your writing!