Lovely post. Sounds like you have been busy with celebrations! My response to lesson 1: Friends can be chosen family, but do so with intention and awareness, otherwise you may find yourself replicating the same dysfunctional dynamics. This year I yearn for (increased) connection with those who can support me in my return to self.
(And to be sure, most of my January was spent on work and running errands; I didn’t properly “celebrate” anything besides Lunar New Year! The other holidays are for perspective, mostly.)
Ahhh, that's a shame. I might aim to incorporate a few more next year- although I consider each day to be a chance for a fresh start, it's nice to have these symbolic makers too!
I can relate to your Lesson #1. My family is fairly small, but a few of us live in different countries (mostly Europe). We keep the arguments to a minimum when we get together, although there are a few trouble makers that tend to set everyone else off, every year without exception. As I moved out by myself, and my parents still live in Bulgaria, friends are quite literally family (even for an only child who is rather used to her own company). Lives are busy but we make time to see each other - it is not about the place but the company so a coffee date would do!
Regarding the chat functionality on Substack, it is something I have been meaning to activate myself. I am likely to start off with the New Thread first and see how that goes; for some reason, it feels less scary than the chat. However, I do have the app and happy to participate in any future chats. I have done it with a few other Substackers (?) and it is fun.
Thanks for sharing about your family, Siya. “It is not about the place but the company” --> indeed!
I’ll look forward to your substack’s chat feature if/when you do decide to activate it. But I, too, am content with using good old comment threads in the meantime. Perhaps a nice use case for Substack chat is gauging and brainstorming ideas with your readers for a future post, much like Twitter is for some.
Lovely post. Sounds like you have been busy with celebrations! My response to lesson 1: Friends can be chosen family, but do so with intention and awareness, otherwise you may find yourself replicating the same dysfunctional dynamics. This year I yearn for (increased) connection with those who can support me in my return to self.
Amen to this. 100%. And good luck with your goal for this year! Thank you for also replying in the chat: will respond there a bit later too.
(And to be sure, most of my January was spent on work and running errands; I didn’t properly “celebrate” anything besides Lunar New Year! The other holidays are for perspective, mostly.)
Ahhh, that's a shame. I might aim to incorporate a few more next year- although I consider each day to be a chance for a fresh start, it's nice to have these symbolic makers too!
Hi Pavel,
I can relate to your Lesson #1. My family is fairly small, but a few of us live in different countries (mostly Europe). We keep the arguments to a minimum when we get together, although there are a few trouble makers that tend to set everyone else off, every year without exception. As I moved out by myself, and my parents still live in Bulgaria, friends are quite literally family (even for an only child who is rather used to her own company). Lives are busy but we make time to see each other - it is not about the place but the company so a coffee date would do!
Regarding the chat functionality on Substack, it is something I have been meaning to activate myself. I am likely to start off with the New Thread first and see how that goes; for some reason, it feels less scary than the chat. However, I do have the app and happy to participate in any future chats. I have done it with a few other Substackers (?) and it is fun.
Fabulous post. I love the footnotes!
Thanks for sharing about your family, Siya. “It is not about the place but the company” --> indeed!
I’ll look forward to your substack’s chat feature if/when you do decide to activate it. But I, too, am content with using good old comment threads in the meantime. Perhaps a nice use case for Substack chat is gauging and brainstorming ideas with your readers for a future post, much like Twitter is for some.
Oh that is a good idea! I have not even thought of that up until now...A week later, I am yet to post the first thread! There went my plan :)
Hey Pavel, it was fun hanging out together in the poem salon. Thanks for the shoutout!