One Year on Substack

learning to celebrate creative moments

Today marks a momentous occasion in my writer life: I’ve been on Substack for ONE YEAR!

And if I’ve learned one thing about the creative process this past year, it is to CELEBRATE every moment I step, sink into, and savor the creative moments of my life.

Celebrating is new for me, and something I’m perhaps strangely trying to get better at. Celebrating others? Of course! Hands down, I’m there to scream your name, throw confetti, voraciously clap, and add some “woo girl” to the voices in the audience. But for my big moments? I often blaze through them.

I would see an occasion go by, briefly nod at it, and then move on to the “next big thing.”

Be it a dream, a goal, or an offer—I’ve lived a lot of my creative life closing up shop on what I’ve done and trying to switch tracks quickly. As I’ve examined this past behavior, some of it came from the necessity of a job being over (like a theater contract would end and I would have to move on), and some of it came from a more frantic energy that if I didn’t move on swiftly, my momentum would get stuck.

I’m unlearning this pattern and pausing to celebrate. Today marks the first anniversary of a new internet home for my writing, and I’ve stayed committed to the process of writing and publishing pieces, when NO ONE ELSE ASKED ME TO SHOW UP HERE. That’s an important note, too. I am a highly responsible person (as in responsibility and “showing up” for people and my commitments are things I value). Still, I find it easier to do things for others than to do them for myself. For one year, and I hope many more to come, I’ve genuinely enjoyed writing in this space, and challenging myself to play here, to hit publish before I’m ready, and to read the work of others trying to do the same.

When I shut down my website a few years ago, I didn’t know if I’d ever return to a steady online writing practice again. I watched Substack unfold with much trepidation. There is a longer post I’ve already started drafting about the history of my writing online, but the short of it is: I wasn’t sure if Substack was the “place” for me. I’d long been sold on the idea of owning a “.com” website, and I had one, with all the bells and whistles! But that website started to feel costly and unmanageable, and I was never showing up to write there because it felt, well, lonely.

However, after watching rave reviews from my writing group about their experience on Substack, I decided to give it a try. A year ago, with sweaty palms and a pounding heart, I decided to create a new online space to share my long-form writing. And here we are, on piece number 30 (!!!) rounding out a year of not only writing, but sharing the work.

Thank you for supporting my work. Thank you for every comment and connection. I read all of them and respond to all of them. I know it takes time to read and write your thoughts. Thank you for sharing YOUR work with me.

I still believe that art can move hearts. I believe it is worth it to pursue our words, our crafts, our brushstrokes, our sketches, our wild and wondrous hopes. I believe we must pause and mark the time for ourselves, too, to honor the brave choice we make every time we turn a piece around to the crowd and say, “Hey, look— I made something here. I’d love to now offer it up to you.”

Thank you for receiving my offerings.

Below, I made a list of every piece I created this past year (links included). It’s incredible to see how small flutterings of ideas spread their wings across the page. I hope for many more next year.

If you're creating on Substack as well, please share one of your favorite pieces from last year in the comments!

Writing JOY,

Lindsay

A SUBSTACK RECAP! June 2024- June 2025