Dear blog
I’ve missed you. Actually that’s not completely true. While I was away I didn’t miss you at all. There’s now so many other ways to connect with people, my desire to connect here was sated by Instagram and Facebook and, lately, Reddit of all places. I’ve been writing courses and love letters and a magazine column and that’s satisfied my need to write, but I’ve been feeling the urge to connect in different ways and share words that aren’t attached to any other outcome other than their expression. I’ve started working on a short story just for the hell of it, just because I need to write. I’ve been looking back at the old days of blogging with a wistful smile. It was exciting to share words on the internet! To connect with people all over the world. We shared our stories on our blogs because that was the only place we had to share them. We wrote poems and took pictures of our homes and dedicated posts to our online friends who were hurting — I have blog posts printed out and stuck in my old journals.
I started blogging in 2006 a few months after I’d turned 33. A year and a few months into my bereavement. A lot has changed since then, and as I read back posts from that time — no longer public but saved as drafts — I want to reach a hand back to that young woman and tell her it’s going to be okay. She will change and evolve and she will thrive. If I’d known then what I know now I might have given up — to still be single and perfectly content with that? To not be a mother and have reached an ever-evolving acceptance of that? My 33-year-old self could not have imagined that’d be possible and yet here I am. I made it into the future.
So I wonder, dear blog, if it’s time for us to renew our acquaintance. Shall we give it another go?
Yes! I’ve been reading your work since 2007 and I’m delighted to lay eyes on these beautiful words today. Welcome back, lovely.
Another big Yes , Susannah. Your flow of words , from the heart , inspire me. You give me faith and courage to also share my thoughts and express myself more openly and with honesty …when communicating with my family and friends . Not to forget helping me then to untangle my sometimes inner turmoil …
It’s a resounding YES! from me as well. I am circling back to my blog (dipping a toe in, maybe?) and wonder if anyone out there does that anymore. Do those words matter? I’m not sure I have any answers to those questions yet, but I do love reading your words. Please know, if you are having that same wonder, that yours do matter.
Oh, yes, please! I refuse to use Facebook because it’s so insecure & riddled with bots &, as a platform for hate, is doing immeasurable harm to democracies around the world while the company itself puts profit over social responsibility. I tried Instagram & abandoned it. Ditto reddit & Twitter, I’m much more interested in what people are thinking & feeling over what they’re doing, and ideas & emotions don’t lend themselves to being distilled down to 280 characters :-) I miss the intimacy & slower, more thoughtful pace of blogging & truly look forward to reading more here.
I love reading your posts, please continue ?
Yes YES! I would love to read your writings. Your loveletters is one of the few that i still read until now since 2013? ???
Another yes! here. I’m not on FB much either these days, and I’m finding that I’d rather spend my online energy in more intimate settings, like blogs. I know the blog is public, but there’s more of a chance that people who come here are interested in the same things; a creative, well-lived and honest life. Your recent emails on perimenopause and other life changes have been interesting. If I respond to an email, though, I’m only responding to the creator and there’s no conversation with others in the community. On the blog I can see that others feel the same (or different, and why) as I do and that provides a bit of comfort. Change is such a big part of our lives as creative persons. Social media platforms come and go, but it’s nice to see your words here and know that they won’t be edited or filtered out at a company’s whim.
I wish more people still blogged. I miss that late 2000s-early 2010s heyday. You mentioned that you’re writing a short story–I’d love to hear more about your process when it comes to creative writing!
Yes please!! I miss reading blogs :)
YES PLEEEEAASSEEE!!!
Yessss Please!!! Blogs feel so much more intimate and personal than social media posts. As if the writer is speaking directly to you, rather than the soap box feel of facebook. :D Your love letters via email are about the only emails I have stayed subscribed to – they are beautiful and I so look forward to them.
Oh I’m so darn happy that you’re back!
My tummy just did a little flip-flop of joy when I read this! I have so missed reading your blog, Susannah. Your words offered such comfort, deep wisdom, and raw honesty. I always felt like a kindred spirit was writing to me from the other side of the world. I too am in my mid-40’s and starting the journey through perimenopause, and I’m overjoyed that you are opening up the discussion. I was wondering – would you consider re-visiting some of your early blog posts and giving your perspective on them now?
Yes please! I love your writing and your love letters are my inbox highlight. Blog posts too would be such a gift :)
Hello,
I only know your Love Letters and love them and I would love reading your posts on your blog.
I still write from time to time on my own blog, just for friends.
Blog posts from you would be a great joy.
Blog power!
Oh, yes! Please! For as long as it resonates again, please do blog. I was so excited to add your site to my list on Bloglovin’.
I’m an avid blogger, although the last couple to few weeks don’t reflect that. (Deadlines have taken precedence.) I typically blog three times per week. There’s something about putting my content out on my “home turf” rather than on borrowed turf (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) that keeps the blog fire burning.
Blessings be, Susannah. Thank you!
Susannah, I came over from your email about peri-menopause… and from the ancient age of post menopause 59, I have to say …. in your own words … “tell her it’s going to be okay. She will change and evolve and she will thrive.” And yes, I’ve learned to not just accept, but to love (most days) my post menopausal (dryer, achier, still hot flashing) body.
I love the blogging world (been here for 4 years now) and hope you continue.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
YES please! I’ve not followed your blog for that long yet, but I love it. I like reading blogs. It’s so much nicer to sit with a cup of tea and read something a little bit longer and let it sink in instead of little flighty snippets on Instagram.
Yes please. I’ve been following for so long and taken multiple courses from you. I so appreciate your writing and honesty. Looking forward to whatever you decide in this space.
I hope you resume the blog writing if that makes you smile. I certainly would love to read more from you. So I vote YES! Nancy Moon ?
I’ve continued to blog as a marker for me of the daily things that I often forget, and in a little more earnest lately since moving.
I would love reading your posts!
YES! I’ve left most other platforms and blog reading has always been my favorite. It’s more in depth and seems less vapid than social media platforms.