What you can expect in 2025
Happy new year, everyone! I hope your year is off to a great start. We rang in the new year with our annual family game night, sparkling cider, and lots of ice cream. And, I lost spectacularly in Yahtzee. =) But I had a great time doing so with my competitive teenagers and husband. I know I’ve said it before but I am loving this stage of life with teenagers. It’s a major plus that they are hilarious and a delight! I didn’t get pictures of the night other than Luna looking at me upside down. ha!
I wanted to give an overview of what you can expect in 2025. There are lots of changes going on *gestures widely* in the world. And, some of that affects being a public-ish figure in public health (like I am). Can I be a bit honest here? I remember being a public health person in the last Trump administration and definitely remember the threats and security issues associated with it. (As some small examples, we had threats at our house and against our children because of my work during the COVID pandemic. I had to work with authorities on legitimate threats sent through social media. And, more examples I just don’t want to talk about yet. Everything you’ve seen on the news or read about regarding threats against public health people is true. I think if you were in a red state, if you were female, and if you were speaking against Christian nationalism, the threats were triple.) I’ve talked a little bit about those experiences here on Substack and in my book, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. It was/is awful and beyond scary/frustrating/maddening, especially when my family was involved. So, I take those very seriously, as I’m sure many of you would too.
Because of all that happened during the pandemic, with the new administration coming in next week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to wisely walk into that world again and protect myself and my family, physically and mentally. That means I’m thinking through some boundaries and wanted to share that with you. One of those boundaries includes hiring help with legal, security, and management. There are legitimate fears on why I am hiring help with legal and security that go beyond my fears of 2020-2023, and I won’t speak about them here. But, I am hiring security/legal help in case it’s needed.
So, what else will change?
I’m going to write more than the bi-weekly ‘Neighbor Tuesday’ and paid posts! I have a hunch that there will be quite a bit to talk about in the coming years. So, you can expect more coming your way. The new team will be a massive help to make this happen and I’m thrilled to link with them!
Speaking of paid posts, I’ll continue writing my more personal posts. If you’re wondering why, here’s an explanation. I will include a free preview to these posts (most of the time except for the really personal ones). The free preview is not as a bait-and-switch! Believe me, that’s about as opposite of me as you can get. It’s simply to let you all know what content is in the paid posts in case it’s something you’re interested in. Can I also just say that I have loved writing those for you paid subscribers. It’s not a huge group, so it feels like a good-ole-potluck conversation. I’ve been so appreciative of the conversation in the comments and you all letting it be a space for me to be a bit more personal than in the regular posts.
None of my content will change. I’ll still continue writing on here as I have - so, you won’t notice any differences there. You may, however, notice some sponsorships at the beginning or end of the emails. I promise it won’t be spam! It will be more like a headline or a link or short blurb to help offset the additional costs associated with hiring more people. I will handpick who I sponsor with too! I want the sponsors to link in with our FNE overall theme of neighboring. So, you won’t see sponsorships from big tech or the capitalism-how-to-get-rich-bro-dudes-companies. You will, however, see sponsors who help us be better neighbors in a variety of different ways. Hopefully, they are helpful and provide resources to all of us on being neighbors in an unneighborly world. (See the PS at the end of the post if you’re interested in being a sponsor.)
You may notice I don’t write about everything that happens. During 2020-2023, I was mainly writing reactively - like whack-a-mole - trying to combat every pseudeoscience thing that was being shared around. In a pandemic as fast moving and changing as COVID was, along with the ever-changing political climate around the pandemic, it was necessary to play this reactive whack-a-mole game. However, it was also exhausting and unsustainable. =) Moving forward, I anticipate lots of pseudoscience coming out. I won’t be chasing all of it though. Frankly, I think there will be too much of it to combat and I want to spend my energies proactively rather than reactively. So, some issues I’ll talk about while others I don’t. Just because I don’t talk about certain issues that come up does not mean it’s not important. It’s just not what I will write about.
You’ll notice that I don’t name names or I might gloss over certain issues. And, by names, I mean leaders. This is because of some security issues that I’ve been briefed on. I do not want to make myself (or my family) a target for groups or leaders that incite violence, doxxing, or threats. This is a very legitimate concern for so many of us in public health right now, and I will use as much wisdom as I can on navigating it. (Please see exhibit A: My dog, Charlie, playing in the HUGE [read: not huge but fun while it lasted] snowstorm we had in North Carolina last week and telling me how he feels about threats. This picture makes me laugh so hard! He was actually having the time of his life playing in the snow and made this face when I told the kids and dogs to pose for a picture. ha!!!)
You may notice that my posts will remain focused on global neighboring. As mentioned in #2, I won’t be writing about all the public health issues that are about to pop up. I plan to continue writing in my lane of expertise of global health through the lens of neighboring. Yes, that does include things like bird flu, vaccines, and pandemics because that will affect all of us. So, you can still look forward to public health issues related to being good neighbors! But you probably won’t see posts on, for example, food additives or flouride or mold, because that’s not my lane or expertise.
Ok, neighbors. Onward we go through 2025! I got a bit teary writing this post to you. It feels like I’m jumping back into a space that is still a bit triggering to talk about. It was also the space where I met you all though! So, I appreciate you all letting me be honest here. As always, I am so thankful for this FNE community and the joy, the courage, and the neighborliness you exude. Thank you for walking with me. As neighbors.
-Emily
PS: If you’re interested in being a sponsor, let me know! In addition to traditional sponsorships, I’d also love to partner with people who are offering services or goods that exemplify neighboring. Do you have a new book coming out related to neighboring that you want to let others know about? Are you a counselor? Do you have a workshop or service? Do you own a fair trade company or a company that partners with global artisans? Let me know and we can talk through it.
PSS: An upcoming post is my FAVORITE OF THE YEAR and the one that I get the most emails about!! My FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2024. Y’all, it brings me so much joy to know that there are other readers out there too. See you soon! With my nose in a book.
I am so thankful to have your wisdom to make choices for my family and myself! Thank you for "going there again" (in advance)! I can only imagine how you must feel, and I know it can't be easy, but I am so so glad you are willing to! Thank you!
Erica
So grateful for you, Emily! I have always loved your perspective of public health through neighboring, and I'm glad to have voices like yours to guide me through the coming year(s). Happy new year!