Nothing Says "Gratitude" Like a Reader Survey

It’s a holiday in the US, and in the past, as a freelance writer, that hasn’t meant jack shit. There’s no such thing, really, as a holiday when you’re self-employed. That said, I’m trying to be “healthier,” and that means giving myself a goddamn break.

I was going to write about food and the holidays — how hard this can be to navigate for all of us, thanks to diet culture / trauma / family / grief / food talk / body talk. Instead, I’m going to point you to the wonderful guide that Virginia Sole-Smith wrote on “eating with other people.”

And I’m going to ask, should you have the time or the inclination, to give me a little feedback on how things are going for you as a reader of this newsletter.

You can either fill out a Google survey (I’m not collecting email addresses) or you can leave a comment here.

I’m interested in your thoughts on the content, frequency, and price of the newsletter; what you think about a paywall, about Substack features, about the podcast. Whatever’s on your mind.

I’m toying with the idea of shifting things a bit in the new year, sending the newsletter out just twice a week perhaps — including a short essay with each recipe on Mondays and a short essay with each news-roundup on Fridays. There’ll still be periodic, long-form pieces and a monthly podcast. I have no shortage of ideas; I’m just not sure that the amount of effort I’m putting into writing matches the amount of effort folks can make into reading all of the words. So yeah. Your thoughts will be super helpful.

I am incredibly grateful to be writing again, grateful to already have a large audience here in this new project. Thank you for being here. Really. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be able to string together ideas into sentences after everything I’ve been through. It means a lot that you’re willing to watch me fumble and piece my writing life back together and think with me about what it means to age and grieve and eat and run and lift heavy shit.

Happy Thanksgiving.