1. I'm reading this in Greenwich Village New York.
2. I miss my Irish woodland, whenever I'm away, but it's good to be away to appreciate what we have.
3. If we had coffee, I'd like to talk about what you say about the life you've built. The lives we build for ourselves, the how, the when, the why, seems to me like an interesting kick-off for a good chat over coffee. Love the artwork, btw.
Would love to be in Greenwich village with you for that coffee, chatting about building lives and taking them apart, over and over again until we construct something that's just right, that feels like a fit.
I'm in Minneapolis, in a home I've lived in since 1995. My wife and I have had lots of improvements done over the years so it is a home we love. We also love having people over for dinner and brunches especially in the summer when we can sit out on the patio in the garden.
We plan on moving to Europe when we retire. Right now, I would love to be in the Cinque Terre area of Italy.
If we met for coffee we could talk about all sorts of random interesting things, like New York during the gilded age, women in history, what kind of fiction we like, food and cooking, are we the only planet with life, what was there before the big bang. I can ramble on about gardening but have gotten better at telling when people aren't interested. I became a volunteer master gardener so I didn't bore my wife too much!
Thank you Jodi 😊 you know I lived in Italy for a few years, so I totally understand the longing for Cinque Terre. I've only been there a couple of times even though it wasn't far from Florence, where I was based. Also I would be happy to listen to gardening stories 😊
I'm writing from my couch in Vancouver, BC, which I've called home for 8 years. Moved here from Ireland for no other reason than to shake up my life and leave unhealthy patterns behind. I miss it and my friends and family, but I love my life here.
I'd rather be anywhere near a cool body of water to swim because it's unseasonably hot here and currently 25°c. I'd love to visit all the places that others have mentioned in their comments. I definitely miss Europe so much and having easy and cheap access to so many different countries. I'm hoping to do more of Italy, Greece and Croatia next time I'm back that way.
After I figure out whether you are Barry's or Lyons and what your favourite biscuit is 😉 I'd love to chat about reconciling with your body after hospitalization and illness...and learning to trust your body again. I'm not sure what your hospitalization was for, but I've had Crohns disease for half my life and I'm no stranger to hospitals. Even though I've been in remission for a long time, I struggle to find home in my body. I'm working on it and getting there slowly but damn it's hard!
Caragh, thank you so much for this comment. How lovely it is to hear from a fellow Irish person living away from home. I'm so sorry to hear about your war with your body, perhaps we could chat about it properly sometime and not over comments. I know that the trust and feeling of safety can be hard to build...
And by the way, Barry's 😂 I have a stash of it brought back with me, but everytime I'm home I also have to bring back Lyon's for an Irish friend here, he thinks I'm the worst in the world for drinking Barry's!
Hahaha, my friends usually ship me a box of Barry's or my my parents bring some. I love that this is such an Irish thing. Your friend should be very grateful for the suitcase space sacrifice for the box of Lyons!!!
Apparently I'm 'obviously from Cork' if I drink Barry's (according to him). I'm about to spend a month in Spain and I'm like, hmm yeah I think I'll pack some! My mum posted me enough to last about 2 years 🤣
Just send me an email anytime you'd like to arrange that chat :)
😄 🤣 Well, I'm from Limerick and I'm Barry's all the way! Oh very jealous for all the wonderful food and scenery you'll enjoy in Spain. Very exciting! I'm impressed you have such a good stash. I often wonder if customs officials just roll their eyes when they see parcels or suitcases brimming with teabags and just go...oh these Irish and their tea 😄
Hi Claire! I don't mind at all 😀 I highly recommend both. Let me know if you've any questions? I don't know if there's like a direct chat function on here? That is, if you wanted to pick my brains about either. I'd be happy to share 😊
Ah there isn’t but thanks! I feel like Ireland world be too wet for me as I already feel like that with Northumberland 😂 we’ve both spent time in Canada and feel like it would be a more chilled/ outdoorsy place to bring up the kids. Cx
Haha, it rains a lot in Vancouver too but always has a great summer. Definitely a different pace of life here. I think the west coast is especially chill. Sooooo much beautiful nature to explore. Definitely an outdoorsy place! 😀
1. I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Kansas City- the heart of the Midwest.
2. I have been craving the cold, mountain rivers and fresh sage scent of summer in Colorado. My family vacationed there growing up- it was a time for the whole tribe to get together, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We’d spend a week on the river in rustic cabins formally used by Teddy Roosevelt on his hunting expeditions.
Waking up and falling asleep to the sound of the water gurgling over rocks, eating, playing and fishing together we’re some of my favorite moments. A lot of my family has moved or passed away, including my Dad who loved Colorado and was always happiest there. I’d love to go back to that time and place to fish with him and hear his laughter and delight when I finally caught something.
3. I’m sure we’d dive straight into the deep end- talking about what makes a home, sharing our travel experiences, waxing nostalgic about the past and the future. 💗
I love this Mariah! I hope you can make the journey back to Colorado, even if it ends up being a kind of pilgrimage to that nostalgia. I know the grief can be so overwhelming, and visiting places of shared moments and memories isn't necessarily easy. I love your description of it, the gurgling streams, the cabins, the fishing. It sounds pretty magical!
I am reading this from Los Angeles where I am visiting my brother because he has a yard and I don’t and I needed one for my dogs for a bit while healing from a fractured ankle.
But I live in San Francisco which is where I moved seventeen years ago for no other reason than that I love it and feel my most creative self there. It has its flaws but sometimes you can fall in love with a place like you do with a person and I am lucky I found that place.
I love conversing about most things especially people’s uniquely niche interests. My specific passion is exploring the intersection of art and mental health so I would probably find my way to the topic.
Art and mental health, the story of my life, in so many ways! Thank you for your comment.
I love how you talk about falling in love with a place just like we can fall in love with a person. I believe that in the same way we can love someone who hurts us, the same can happen with a place. I've had to move on from places that I absolutely loved, but they weren't necessarily right for me any more! I am hoping to move to somewhere new soon, to also feel my most creative self in a different location...
I hope your ankle recovers quickly and that the dogs enjoy the garden! Do you have good books to read while you recover?
Ah yes that is true about unhealthy love for a place too. The insight to move on from those people and places is so valuable. It can break your heart but broken hearts heal 🩵
I have a huge library stack back at home - I am doing a deep dive into Sylvia Plath which has been interesting because I read her as a teen then didn’t for twenty years and now finally felt ready to return to her.
But here at bro’s I am just reading random selections from his shelves - Warholisms, a variety of children’s books like The Giving Tree, currently rereading The Glass Castle. What’s been capturing your reading interest recently?
I am nearly finished The Return by Hisham Matar, which is an absolutely stunning read. I've been so busy that I haven't read as much as I like to lately, but I'm about to go on retreat for nearly one month in Spain on a fellowship, so I have a stack of books packed for that!
I am writing this from my office in the attic of my stone build terraced cottage in a teeny village by the woods and a river, surrounded by fields, NE England.
I am happy here but I would also like to be reading this from a beachside cafe somewhere on the Dalmatian coast, under a massive umbrella in the shade, watching the sea sparkle, ordering iced coffee.
What would we talk about? Ooh, deep stuff. Fears, boundaries, limiting beliefs, where our lives are heading, what we will write about next.
Oh the Dalmatian coast, a favourite spot for me too! I often say that at least Graz is well-located, just a few hours drive from Croatia, Italy, Slovenia etc, it makes it much more bearable to be here! In fact, a treat to myself after I got out of hospital in 2021 was ten days on an island in Croatia, just processing and healing ❤ Do you have a favourite spot?
Love those topics to dive into, and yes as Substack enthusiasts I have no doubt that what we will next write about would certainly come up! With that in mind, I'm not actually what I'll write about next 😂 You?
I love the Kastela region and Trogir, but this year we are trying out Dubrovnik! I think I’ll still write about fear maybe once or twice more this month, so many interesting thoughts came out of the session I ran for my subscribers this lunchtime so I definitely want to dive in more!
Emma, just so you know, I am in no way earning enough to live on only from writing. I'm also a visual artist and do mentoring with clients, so my income from writing is just one portion! It is slowly building though, more opportunities are coming, but I had none of that six months ago. I truly believe that perseverance and patience are key. What do you write about? If you'd even like to chat about the ups and downs of chasing this career, please feel free to send me a message!
Oh, sorry, I totally knew you also had alternative incomes and clients because you mentioned clients in the post! I feel the same is the right option for me, but it would be lovely to eventually have some reoccurring income from people enjoying what I write on the side :) Takes a bit of the feast famine cycle of freelance and feels more reliable.
On this primary space, I am writing for graphic designers about sustainability. It is doing quite well, I think overall, but I haven’t figured out yet the right way I want to go about possibly adding a paid tier, and I think it’s too soon to do so as well. I am thinking long-term with it, like you said! Patience! I hope to have some small success with a paid tier by the end of the year. I have been mulling over side projects for some hobbies as many of them I have much to say about, but haven’t fully decided to jump in to them seriously yet.
The writing has been so rewarding though, I get emails from my subscribers saying how much they enjoy the newsletters and that makes me so happy 😭
Don't apologise! Interesting that you don't feel like you should switch on paid subscriptions yet, do you mind me asking why it feels too soon? I'm not sure there's ever a 'too soon'.
Also, hold on to those responses! If you don't already, create a document or folder where you pour all of the positive feedback. One day you might need the boost of going through it, or to convince yourself to turn on those paid subscriptions 😊
I think I haven't figured out exactly what the "benefit" would be to like upgrade to a paid tier: what I would offer monthly as the little bonus to supporting me! I agree that I don't think there's truly a "too soon" and often doing scary things means jumping in before you feel "Ready" but I do feel I should have some kind of offering, even though I think it's lovely to support creators just... to support them and myself support Patreons simply because I want to support them not because I need bonus content... but still. Because my page is more educational I feel like, there should be some kind of benefit I can do monthly, and I would want that to be sustainable in some capacity for me as well and not over-promise.
I'm totally going to go read your other post now though! And I loooove your idea of saving those replies. I really should do this ASAP!!!
I think you can turn on the paid tier without offering anything extra until you figure out what feels good to you. Just allow yourself to receive something for the hard work and time you already put into your newsletter!
Connecting without even thinking about the need to connect is a perfect coffee date! Meeting the other exactly where they are in life , sharing laughter, stories, frustration! A coffee date with people who I enjoy and feel safe , allows me to be present and vulnerable to learn and to be ! 💕
Beautiful Tamzin - I adore hearing more of your story about being here! I’m in Northumberland by the coast in the UK, I’d be waking up somewhere warm surrounded by mountains if I could but it is beautiful here too. If we met for coffee I’d love you to tell me about a book you’d read that changed you and your outlook in life or a favourite walk you like to do. Or we could just chat about magic and writing and finding connection. I’d love that too. ☕️✨🪄
Claire I had no idea you were interesting in my homeland! But if you like mountains and good weather, you should be where I am in Austria! Cold in Winter yes, but bright and sunny and alpine. Hot in Summer, thank god!
Ooo - that’s a beautiful suggestion. The sad thing with brexit is there’s a very difficult tight rope to walk with re settling in Europe now. Not my vote but there’s a weird atmosphere and the paperwork isn’t easy anymore for us brits. 😞
True I've seen a good few friends go through it in various European countries, paperwork joy eh! But it's still a walk in the park in comparison of what other nationalities have to go through to get visas in Europe 😒
1. I'm reading this in Greenwich Village New York.
2. I miss my Irish woodland, whenever I'm away, but it's good to be away to appreciate what we have.
3. If we had coffee, I'd like to talk about what you say about the life you've built. The lives we build for ourselves, the how, the when, the why, seems to me like an interesting kick-off for a good chat over coffee. Love the artwork, btw.
Would love to be in Greenwich village with you for that coffee, chatting about building lives and taking them apart, over and over again until we construct something that's just right, that feels like a fit.
That's poetic!
I'm in Minneapolis, in a home I've lived in since 1995. My wife and I have had lots of improvements done over the years so it is a home we love. We also love having people over for dinner and brunches especially in the summer when we can sit out on the patio in the garden.
We plan on moving to Europe when we retire. Right now, I would love to be in the Cinque Terre area of Italy.
If we met for coffee we could talk about all sorts of random interesting things, like New York during the gilded age, women in history, what kind of fiction we like, food and cooking, are we the only planet with life, what was there before the big bang. I can ramble on about gardening but have gotten better at telling when people aren't interested. I became a volunteer master gardener so I didn't bore my wife too much!
Thank you Jodi 😊 you know I lived in Italy for a few years, so I totally understand the longing for Cinque Terre. I've only been there a couple of times even though it wasn't far from Florence, where I was based. Also I would be happy to listen to gardening stories 😊
I'm writing from my couch in Vancouver, BC, which I've called home for 8 years. Moved here from Ireland for no other reason than to shake up my life and leave unhealthy patterns behind. I miss it and my friends and family, but I love my life here.
I'd rather be anywhere near a cool body of water to swim because it's unseasonably hot here and currently 25°c. I'd love to visit all the places that others have mentioned in their comments. I definitely miss Europe so much and having easy and cheap access to so many different countries. I'm hoping to do more of Italy, Greece and Croatia next time I'm back that way.
After I figure out whether you are Barry's or Lyons and what your favourite biscuit is 😉 I'd love to chat about reconciling with your body after hospitalization and illness...and learning to trust your body again. I'm not sure what your hospitalization was for, but I've had Crohns disease for half my life and I'm no stranger to hospitals. Even though I've been in remission for a long time, I struggle to find home in my body. I'm working on it and getting there slowly but damn it's hard!
Caragh, thank you so much for this comment. How lovely it is to hear from a fellow Irish person living away from home. I'm so sorry to hear about your war with your body, perhaps we could chat about it properly sometime and not over comments. I know that the trust and feeling of safety can be hard to build...
And by the way, Barry's 😂 I have a stash of it brought back with me, but everytime I'm home I also have to bring back Lyon's for an Irish friend here, he thinks I'm the worst in the world for drinking Barry's!
I would love that. ❤️
Hahaha, my friends usually ship me a box of Barry's or my my parents bring some. I love that this is such an Irish thing. Your friend should be very grateful for the suitcase space sacrifice for the box of Lyons!!!
Apparently I'm 'obviously from Cork' if I drink Barry's (according to him). I'm about to spend a month in Spain and I'm like, hmm yeah I think I'll pack some! My mum posted me enough to last about 2 years 🤣
Just send me an email anytime you'd like to arrange that chat :)
😄 🤣 Well, I'm from Limerick and I'm Barry's all the way! Oh very jealous for all the wonderful food and scenery you'll enjoy in Spain. Very exciting! I'm impressed you have such a good stash. I often wonder if customs officials just roll their eyes when they see parcels or suitcases brimming with teabags and just go...oh these Irish and their tea 😄
I surely will. Looking forward to connecting!
Caragh! I hope you don’t mind me saying hi but we often talk about moving to Canada or Ireland and I had to say hello. 👋 ✨
Hi Claire! I don't mind at all 😀 I highly recommend both. Let me know if you've any questions? I don't know if there's like a direct chat function on here? That is, if you wanted to pick my brains about either. I'd be happy to share 😊
Ah there isn’t but thanks! I feel like Ireland world be too wet for me as I already feel like that with Northumberland 😂 we’ve both spent time in Canada and feel like it would be a more chilled/ outdoorsy place to bring up the kids. Cx
Haha, it rains a lot in Vancouver too but always has a great summer. Definitely a different pace of life here. I think the west coast is especially chill. Sooooo much beautiful nature to explore. Definitely an outdoorsy place! 😀
1. I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Kansas City- the heart of the Midwest.
2. I have been craving the cold, mountain rivers and fresh sage scent of summer in Colorado. My family vacationed there growing up- it was a time for the whole tribe to get together, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We’d spend a week on the river in rustic cabins formally used by Teddy Roosevelt on his hunting expeditions.
Waking up and falling asleep to the sound of the water gurgling over rocks, eating, playing and fishing together we’re some of my favorite moments. A lot of my family has moved or passed away, including my Dad who loved Colorado and was always happiest there. I’d love to go back to that time and place to fish with him and hear his laughter and delight when I finally caught something.
3. I’m sure we’d dive straight into the deep end- talking about what makes a home, sharing our travel experiences, waxing nostalgic about the past and the future. 💗
I love this Mariah! I hope you can make the journey back to Colorado, even if it ends up being a kind of pilgrimage to that nostalgia. I know the grief can be so overwhelming, and visiting places of shared moments and memories isn't necessarily easy. I love your description of it, the gurgling streams, the cabins, the fishing. It sounds pretty magical!
And I would love to chat travels with you!
I am reading this from Los Angeles where I am visiting my brother because he has a yard and I don’t and I needed one for my dogs for a bit while healing from a fractured ankle.
But I live in San Francisco which is where I moved seventeen years ago for no other reason than that I love it and feel my most creative self there. It has its flaws but sometimes you can fall in love with a place like you do with a person and I am lucky I found that place.
I love conversing about most things especially people’s uniquely niche interests. My specific passion is exploring the intersection of art and mental health so I would probably find my way to the topic.
Art and mental health, the story of my life, in so many ways! Thank you for your comment.
I love how you talk about falling in love with a place just like we can fall in love with a person. I believe that in the same way we can love someone who hurts us, the same can happen with a place. I've had to move on from places that I absolutely loved, but they weren't necessarily right for me any more! I am hoping to move to somewhere new soon, to also feel my most creative self in a different location...
I hope your ankle recovers quickly and that the dogs enjoy the garden! Do you have good books to read while you recover?
Ah yes that is true about unhealthy love for a place too. The insight to move on from those people and places is so valuable. It can break your heart but broken hearts heal 🩵
I have a huge library stack back at home - I am doing a deep dive into Sylvia Plath which has been interesting because I read her as a teen then didn’t for twenty years and now finally felt ready to return to her.
But here at bro’s I am just reading random selections from his shelves - Warholisms, a variety of children’s books like The Giving Tree, currently rereading The Glass Castle. What’s been capturing your reading interest recently?
I am nearly finished The Return by Hisham Matar, which is an absolutely stunning read. I've been so busy that I haven't read as much as I like to lately, but I'm about to go on retreat for nearly one month in Spain on a fellowship, so I have a stack of books packed for that!
Look forward to hearing all about them! Congrats on the fellowship.
I am writing this from my office in the attic of my stone build terraced cottage in a teeny village by the woods and a river, surrounded by fields, NE England.
I am happy here but I would also like to be reading this from a beachside cafe somewhere on the Dalmatian coast, under a massive umbrella in the shade, watching the sea sparkle, ordering iced coffee.
What would we talk about? Ooh, deep stuff. Fears, boundaries, limiting beliefs, where our lives are heading, what we will write about next.
Oh the Dalmatian coast, a favourite spot for me too! I often say that at least Graz is well-located, just a few hours drive from Croatia, Italy, Slovenia etc, it makes it much more bearable to be here! In fact, a treat to myself after I got out of hospital in 2021 was ten days on an island in Croatia, just processing and healing ❤ Do you have a favourite spot?
Love those topics to dive into, and yes as Substack enthusiasts I have no doubt that what we will next write about would certainly come up! With that in mind, I'm not actually what I'll write about next 😂 You?
I love the Kastela region and Trogir, but this year we are trying out Dubrovnik! I think I’ll still write about fear maybe once or twice more this month, so many interesting thoughts came out of the session I ran for my subscribers this lunchtime so I definitely want to dive in more!
Ahh, I so hope to be able to also be primarily a writer as my “job” as well. Your success is inspiring :)
Emma, just so you know, I am in no way earning enough to live on only from writing. I'm also a visual artist and do mentoring with clients, so my income from writing is just one portion! It is slowly building though, more opportunities are coming, but I had none of that six months ago. I truly believe that perseverance and patience are key. What do you write about? If you'd even like to chat about the ups and downs of chasing this career, please feel free to send me a message!
Oh, sorry, I totally knew you also had alternative incomes and clients because you mentioned clients in the post! I feel the same is the right option for me, but it would be lovely to eventually have some reoccurring income from people enjoying what I write on the side :) Takes a bit of the feast famine cycle of freelance and feels more reliable.
On this primary space, I am writing for graphic designers about sustainability. It is doing quite well, I think overall, but I haven’t figured out yet the right way I want to go about possibly adding a paid tier, and I think it’s too soon to do so as well. I am thinking long-term with it, like you said! Patience! I hope to have some small success with a paid tier by the end of the year. I have been mulling over side projects for some hobbies as many of them I have much to say about, but haven’t fully decided to jump in to them seriously yet.
The writing has been so rewarding though, I get emails from my subscribers saying how much they enjoy the newsletters and that makes me so happy 😭
Don't apologise! Interesting that you don't feel like you should switch on paid subscriptions yet, do you mind me asking why it feels too soon? I'm not sure there's ever a 'too soon'.
Also, I don't know if this might help. I had to give myself a good kick in order to be brave enough to post it, but I'm so glad that I did. We have to recognise the worth of our time and energy. https://tamzin.substack.com/p/ensuring-the-survival-of-a-very-strange
Also, hold on to those responses! If you don't already, create a document or folder where you pour all of the positive feedback. One day you might need the boost of going through it, or to convince yourself to turn on those paid subscriptions 😊
I think I haven't figured out exactly what the "benefit" would be to like upgrade to a paid tier: what I would offer monthly as the little bonus to supporting me! I agree that I don't think there's truly a "too soon" and often doing scary things means jumping in before you feel "Ready" but I do feel I should have some kind of offering, even though I think it's lovely to support creators just... to support them and myself support Patreons simply because I want to support them not because I need bonus content... but still. Because my page is more educational I feel like, there should be some kind of benefit I can do monthly, and I would want that to be sustainable in some capacity for me as well and not over-promise.
I'm totally going to go read your other post now though! And I loooove your idea of saving those replies. I really should do this ASAP!!!
I think you can turn on the paid tier without offering anything extra until you figure out what feels good to you. Just allow yourself to receive something for the hard work and time you already put into your newsletter!
Connecting without even thinking about the need to connect is a perfect coffee date! Meeting the other exactly where they are in life , sharing laughter, stories, frustration! A coffee date with people who I enjoy and feel safe , allows me to be present and vulnerable to learn and to be ! 💕
I love that, a safe space that allows for growth and also for fun and joy. So much can come from simple connection right?!
Ones take, you sound like the kind if woman I'd love to have a coffee with! You and Tamzin both.
Let me know if you are ever in Graz!
Beautiful Tamzin - I adore hearing more of your story about being here! I’m in Northumberland by the coast in the UK, I’d be waking up somewhere warm surrounded by mountains if I could but it is beautiful here too. If we met for coffee I’d love you to tell me about a book you’d read that changed you and your outlook in life or a favourite walk you like to do. Or we could just chat about magic and writing and finding connection. I’d love that too. ☕️✨🪄
Claire I had no idea you were interesting in my homeland! But if you like mountains and good weather, you should be where I am in Austria! Cold in Winter yes, but bright and sunny and alpine. Hot in Summer, thank god!
Ooo - that’s a beautiful suggestion. The sad thing with brexit is there’s a very difficult tight rope to walk with re settling in Europe now. Not my vote but there’s a weird atmosphere and the paperwork isn’t easy anymore for us brits. 😞
True I've seen a good few friends go through it in various European countries, paperwork joy eh! But it's still a walk in the park in comparison of what other nationalities have to go through to get visas in Europe 😒
Aw I'm so glad if it made you smile! How are you? So cool to see your portrait here as your profile image! I hope you print it out and frame it ❤❤❤