2024

Hi neighbors and happy 2024!

It’s become a tradition of mine to take all of January off to make any plans for the coming year. I know that many people do this in December and start the new year with intentions, plans, a word-of-the-year, or resolutions. I tend to need the quiet pace of January, as opposed to the bustle and loudness of the holiday season, to figure all of that out. So, as I mentioned in my last post of 2023, I took a few weeks off to do just that. Be quiet, listen, ease into whatever rhythm the new year might bring. I do this with no expectation either that major epiphanies will occur or life changes will be made or…I just try to be very quiet and then see what emerges. Some years, the big epiphanies do come. Other years, something quieter (slower?) comes. Some years it’s harvest and others feel planting.

The year before my book came out, I was full of so-many-words-at-all-times. I couldn’t wait to get it all out on page and verbally. It was a year of excitement and joy - which I tend to have a hard time containing that! The year before that year though was full of the opposite and was a relatively quiet year. I actually took a full year off of Substack and all social media. I found myself quieter in life too. Not sad or anything. Just quiet. It was just normal and happy and quiet.

This year it feels quieter again. Kindof like my dog, Charlie. =)

I can tell that because I don’t have a lot to say here. Or in general. (This is not normal for me! We had to cut 20,000 words from my book, so I am generally full of words and thoughts.) =) Maybe it’s because last year was a huge year for me. I hit major professional milestones at work with publishing my 65th peer-reviewed, scientific article. My research grants were going strong. My family and I went to Africa together for the first time. My book came out and, y’all, this was a dream come true type of event. I am so deeply proud of that book and am thrilled that many of you have left reviews or sent me messages about it. I was also surprised at some of the backlash after the book came out, most of which was behind the scenes. It wasn’t necessarily backlash like negative reviews or anything. It was more personal. I know I write in my book about the cost of that and losing so much during the pandemic. I dedicated 2 chapters to that. But, I just wasn’t prepared for additional losses after the book came out. Those, if I’m being honest, are hard because they are so personal.

So, maybe that’s one reason why this year feels quieter. Maybe it’s because it’s an election year and that is always loud, am’I right? I’ve done the election year while being public, and I don’t really want to repeat all of that. =)

I don’t think that’s all though. I’m just not sure the other reasons right now, but I’m following the rhythm of the quiet for now. Last time the quiet year happened, it was followed by an explosion of joy and words and me being, well, more of “me”. Will that happen this time? I don’t know. But I am trusting that the quiet produces something.

So, why do I tell you all this?

I’m going to continue writing here, but am pulling back the Neighbor Tuesday posts to bi-weekly rather than weekly. I might also do some random posts like what I’m reading, cooking, or my cute dogs. Here’s our other dog, Luna, for verification of the cuteness factor.

And, who knows if I’m suddenly struck with an explosion of words in April! If that’s the case, I’ll ramp back up! I just don’t want to overcommit and not be able to do weekly Neighbor Tuesday posts plus any other posts.

I will also do more posts for paid subscribers only.

Can I talk about that for a minute too? After being so vulnerable and honest in my book, I decided to do the more personal posts for paid subscribers here on Substack. I still want to write authentically and openly, but I also want to pull back a bit on these interwebs on some of the more personal posts for this year. Especially during an election year where talking about equity or science comes at great risks of threats. I do not want to repeat 2020! And, I guarantee that is still a major risk right now, again especially in 2024, from talking to science colleagues. Many of us are still receiving ‘yuk’ and this will certainly ramp us this year with the election. As a mom, I’m deeply cognizant of what 2020 looked like and what I’m trying to avoid.

So, the Neighbor Tuesday posts, the science posts, the “here-are'-my-favorite-book-list” posts are always free and will continue to be! But I wanted to let you know about the more personal, paid posts. Last time I talked about making this switch, I received some emails (some were kind while others were, ahem, not-so-much) that misunderstood what I was trying to say and thought I was doing it as a gimmick or with coercion. Or another said that we, in the public sphere, should be fully accessible and available to everyone for free (for the record, I know that’s not true at all). There’s no bait-and-switch here. It’s just me, listening to the rhythms of the year, fumbling through being a public figure, while also being a scientist, mom, wife, human - and an introvert. And, while trying to explain (probably over-explain, I know, I know) what I’m doing.

In the coming paid posts, you’ll notice I’ll give everyone a preview of what that post contains. Everyone will be able to see some of it but not all. This isn’t a bait-and-switch or gimmick (some have emailed and told me that’s how it comes across when I do a preview). It’s simply to let you all know what content is in the paid posts in case it’s something you’re interested in. (The other alternative is to make it fully behind a paywall, which definitely feels too exclusive to me and I don’t want to do.)

So, here’s to 2024! I’m looking forward to the year to come and all it entails. As always, I’m completely grateful with this great FNE community.

-Emily (and the goodest doggos around)