“For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.” II Corinthians 7:5
Though to the casual observer, I seem to have a placid exterior, the waters are boiling underneath. I think hard about at least ten consequential, earth-shattering subjects of political, Biblical, cultural import and the intersection of all three of these every day in one way or another. I don’t know if that’s normal or not.
That is simply the status quo for me. Most of the time that’s fine, and I can keep my equilibrium. But often, I find myself so mentally and spiritually tired with all this thinking, I don’t know what to do with myself.
That’s where I’m at today…on a day where I really must get something written so that you can read a newsletter on Monday morning as I have promised.
I spent the last week absorbing a YouTube series by Janice Fiamengo, spanning Feminism’s history from the late 1700s until now. (I highly recommend that you go and watch all 39 of her highly informative read essays there. Here’s a link which will take you to her channel. From there just go to the Fiamengo File 2.0 Playlist and get listening!)
I spent equal amounts of time on Twitter reading the thoughts of the embodiment of Feminism’s backlash from men who congregate there since Elon Musk’s takeover and actual return to uncensored speech. (Which I applaud, by the way. I don’t believe in shutting people up no matter how distasteful their words.) Nevertheless, Twitter isn’t exactly an edifying place. No social media platform is.
And all of the hot or not so hot takes I’ve read there are certainly playing their part in this mental fatigue of mine.
Nevertheless, I find myself needing to be there so I can be sure about the flavor of what I’m picking up from this movement, if you can call it that. Otherwise my Red Pill Heresies series will be a lot of uninformed hot air.
As you might have surmised, I’m not yet ready to continue the series. But rest assured. I will complete it.
Until then, expect more newsletters about refreshing things like, how good it is for you to get outside and see the sun. Or perhaps an essay or two about poems that have changed my life. Or about what your average stay-at-home-wife’s life actually looks like apart from the curated TickTock videos and Instagram reels of wives prancing around the house in frilly dresses and makeup or the baby-wearing, messy-bun gal slowly sipping coffee while giving an inspirational message about slow homemaking and the evils of sleep training. (Yes, that was a joke and you’re allowed to laugh.)
While I’m thinking through this series and trying to articulate what needs to be said and the best way to say it, I will be punctuating the series with pauses like today's—writing about something completely different. Not just to cleanse my palate, but hopefully yours, as well.
On that topic, I want to spend a few moments giving thanks to the Lord for some things this newsletter has made possible over the last year, and to thank a reader in particular.
First of all, I have never actually made much money with my writing. After making back the money my dear dad paid to the short run publisher for my first novel, The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse, I may have made all of five hundred bucks on book sales before it fell out of print.
And now for the first time, I’m actually making a yearly wage by writing every week. Granted, it’s still under a thousand dollars a year, but it’s something…something I’ve never had before. That was such a neat realization!
Last week, a paid subscriber, Patricia, updated her paid subscription to a Founders Subscription! She also happens to be the first paid subscriber to have completed my book and sent it back to me with a note and feedback on the manuscript. Thank you for taking the time to jot that down, Patricia. To hear that you enjoyed the story so much encouraged me, and it’s those kinds of messages that keep me writing.
It takes a lot of time for me to write something that’s interesting and worth reading every single week. Believe it or not, I have a lot of side gigs I do to contribute to my husband’s and my income. Often, it can be difficult to tear myself away from all of those things to produce my weekly offering. All of you who help support me financially make it much easier for me to justify the time spent writing and away from other tasks. So thanks a million.
I would so appreciate it if the rest of you would consider upgrading your free subscription to paid. And for any that do, I’ll mail you a preview copy of 27 to read with a prepaid mailing label. You’ll get the rare opportunity to give me your feedback on the manuscript when you send it back. All paid subscribers have access to The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse audio book read by me!
I also have at least one reader (and possibly more) who has expressed the desire to become a paid subscriber but can’t afford it. If you’d like to give this reader a chance to get a preview copy of 27 to read and review, as well as access to the Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse audio book, just click the button below this paragraph.
I hope all of you have a wonderful and productive week.
That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…