Fresh starts and new beginnings

On christening a platform

I’ve been meaning to write this post for weeks, ever since I got home from California. But I kept coming up with excuses. Things that took precedence. Reasons to put it off, just a little while longer, in the hopes that inspiration would arrive as it always does — just in time, with a shower of sparks.

It hasn’t yet. So here I am, writing from a place of not-quite-ready-yet, of no-time-like-the-present.

I’ve talked briefly about my trip to California — how it changed my life in the best, most unexpected ways. I won’t rehash what I said, because I value your time, but the gist is this: I left for California with thoughts of quitting social media and came back with a new lease on life. I have purpose again.

I have hope.

It’s strange, stepping into a new era of my life with the world on fire. But I am trying to enjoy it. To embrace the moments as they come, instead of pushing them away for fear of not deserving it.

In times like this, I remember an affirmation that I’ve treasured for years now: You can have everything you’ve ever wanted, but you have to decide you deserve it first. But this post isn’t about what I do and do not deserve.

This post is about platforms.

Last fall, I created a Ko-fi, so people could engage with my work without leaving their inbox. This seemed like a good idea at the time. No more catering to the algorithm! But I realized a month or so ago that Ko-fi doesn’t automatically send my posts to people’s inboxes. You have to opt in to email notifications, which requires an account, which is significantly more complicated than I believed it to be.

All this to say that I am switching from Ko-fi to Substack.

If you’re receiving this email, it means you subscribed to my quarterly newsletter, “Letters in Light,” at some point in the past. I imported all my subscribers while making the switch to ensure that everyone was aware of the change. But you are free to unsubscribe from “Studies in Light” at any time.

As with Ko-fi, there are memberships available for those who want to support me financially. But most of my content will be available for my free. I’ll be posting everything from micro-essays to Notion templates and in-depth writing updates. “Letters in Light,” on the other hand, will be short, infrequent, and more focused on career updates.

To those who have been here from the beginning, thank you. A lot has changed in the past couple months, and I could not be more excited to see where things go from here.

More soon 💜✨