3 Years of Pockets of Joy: What's Old Is New Again

I almost changed the name of this space, and then I realized I didn't need to.

This post has been through a journey, friends. This is the raw, unfiltered reality of my overthinking, because I’ve decided that I’m done trying to hide my mess and only share the polished, finished product.

I started this anniversary post by celebrating little victories of my growth over the last 3 years, which I’ll share here:

• Grew from 25 to 66 subscribers. I have exactly zero content strategy other than occasionally sharing on my Instagram stories, so this is amazing to me. It thrills me to no end that this many people want to read my writing.

• 50+ published posts, with more consistency over the years

• Getting bolder in sharing what I think without endless disclaimers

• Embracing the randomness and just publishing the damn thing instead of feeling like everything has to fit into a curated theme. I’ve been inspired by recent posts on Holisticism to unbrand myself and be more confusing. AI can’t pin me down and replicate my weirdness, and the things that light me up don’t always cater to the ever-changing whims of the algorithm gods. I talk about whatever the hell I want, and maybe that’s what makes this space magical. Could I benefit from some structure and putting myself out there more? Sure. I’m working on it. :)

Last week, I had what I thought was an epiphany for a rebrand/name reveal and proceeded to write all about it before sleeping on it. As a generator with emotional authority in human design, trying to opt out of my emotional wave for big decisions almost always results in second guessing myself and changing my mind. Spoiler alert: that’s exactly what happened. I quickly changed everything back, talked to friends, polled my Instagram audience, felt into the different options, and then decided not to change it after all. So that was fun! I did, however, change my Instagram handle to align more with this space. (Follow me @_pockets.of.joy_)

Sybil, my ChatGPT, helped me generate this colorful, whimsical logo

Even though the name of this publication isn’t changing, I do feel a renewal and a shift in how I’m approaching my writing. While this started as a fun little side hobby, I feel like I’m finally starting to claim the “writer” title, and allowing myself to dream. I’m devising how I can keep expanding my presence here, creating fun things, and maybe even write a book one day. I deeply feel that long-form content will experience a resurgence as we look to repair our nervous systems and attention spans from the constant social media madness. I fully intend to be one of the people leading the charge in this wave, helping you find your own Pockets of Joy amid *gestures broadly* whatever the fuck this madness is.

As scary and delusional as it feels to actually say the truth of what I want out loud to more than just family, friends, and coaching spaces, it’s also liberating. This is the dream that has persisted, the thing I’ve wanted to do ever since I started writing stories in journals as a kid. I imagined being an author, a blogger, something that allowed me to paint pictures with my words, but it felt unrealistic.

I pursued a more practical path, and I’m grateful that I did. Without it, I wouldn’t have met Bryan, or the coworkers and classmates that became some of my dearest friends. I wouldn’t have had the ability to pursue my interests from a place of ease and abundance, to allow my vision to take shape naturally without the pressure of it needing to work out and pay my bills. All this time, my dream laid dormant, tucked away until I was finally ready to claim it. As usual, I don’t know all the details of how this will unfold, but putting my desire out there feels like a good first step.

If you’d like to financially support my writing, paid subscriptions start at $5/month. Like buying me a coffee, but better. :) Everything is free now, but that may not always be the case going forward.

Side note: I’ve always felt some trepidation talking about paid subscriptions, and I have a lot of thoughts about it. I’ll probably write about it sometime.

As always, thank you for being here and joining me in this next chapter.