Who Are You Showing Up For?

Something I've been giving a bit of thought to... lately.

Pondering…pondering.

Who am I writing for? This is something that has been on my mind since I read yet another note telling people how they should run their Substacks. So I wrote my own note telling people to do whatever the hecc they want with their Substacks. Allow me to explain.

So, admittedly, I am what one may call “new” to Substack. I am still getting the hang of things. But this is where I am writing, this is where I am bleeding my heart out, so when I say “get the hang of things” I mean that I am trying to find my footing here. Trying to get into my own rhythm of things. I’m not trying to follow someone else’s best practices. And the fact that so many people are posting what they thing Substack best practices are really grinds my gears, it does.

Someone restacked my note and asked if we can really call it our art or even personal if we are going by someone else’s standards. (T’was a wonderful point.) Others mentioned that they needed the reminder, as they were getting caught up in the “engagement” convo and wondered if the way they were running their stack was correct. (It is. It really is.) Others mentioned that they write for themselves, and are not at all interested in other peoples rules. (Right on, fellow sapiens.)

This last point got me to thinking: “Do I write for myself?” Well, ultimately- yes. If I don’t write, it will eat a hole out of the back of my head, or I am forced to projectile word upchuck my thoughts onto my long suffering husband. And if he’s not here, well, my fuzzy cat son, Marlon Brando, has to suffer. At least until he starts licking his ol’ starfish, then he can take his leave. But, I’ve been thinking about it, and I write for others too.

I write for the black girls that grew up built like a brick instead of a brick house. I write for the children that were to be seen and not heard, and, now that Parent thinks of it, try not to be seen too much either. I write for the highly sensitive ones that want to romanticize life because why shouldn’t you? I write for the Stardew Valley fam. I write for the people that love Marvel Cinematic Universe but admit that right now DC is telling better stories (reply to ya mom). I write for the people that are fed up at how the X-men are always getting the crap kicked out of them in the comics. ooooo. I write for those that love a good run on sentence. Those that love the comma and semi colon. Those that love long paragraphs. Those that love parenthesis. Long notes—! Those that Italicize. Those that are too weird to be normal but too normal to be weird. The ones with the hot takes that don’ hurt people. The people who are tired. Who are weary. The ones that write in stream of consciousness style. The sweet babies that are poets. The ones that realize they don’t fit in and are comfortable. The lovely souls that jumped off the hamster wheel and want to read my nonsense while enjoying a cuppa. The ones that like acrylic, or oil, or photography, or collage, or color pencil or pen. The ones that like it all. The ones that do it all. The ones that love. Those that mourn. The ones that have so much love to give and the world has made them feel bad for it. The ones that want so much love and the world has made them feel bad for it. The mom friend. The strong friend. The granny friend (hello it is I ). The fun aunt. Those who are free. Those tryna get free. The ones that listen. The ones who let me be.

I write for you. Thank you.