december letter from the editor (me)
a dear reader, journal excerpts, and what i've been into
Dear Reader,
I wanted to start this “letter from the editor (me)” series on Substack to have an opportunity to connect with my readers (you!). Firstly, I want to thank you all so much for all the love on my last post “im quitting social media & content creation is dead to me.” I got so many DM’s from people telling me how much they related to the article and felt their feelings articulated.
I also got texts from a few friends asking for my advice about how to spend less time on social media which I promptly responded to with a rampage of texts (I can talk about this for hours).
Seriously - thank you so much for taking the time to read my essay and for sending me messages about it after. I was bedridden from a fever and cough at the time I posted that essay and it made my day to read all of your messages. 💕
Since that last post on November 20th, I’ve been drowning myself in Vitamin C in an attempt to kick this illness to the curb, took a week-long trip to the South to visit my parents (happy belated Thanksgiving!), and returned to my New York apartment that’s currently buried under boxes because my furniture has officially arrived from my old apartment in Seattle! I can’t even begin to describe how good it felt the first night in three weeks that I slept on a real bed and not an air mattress.
With real furniture, my health returning, and a successful, peaceful visit with my parents this past week (a testament to our healing relationship), I am feeling really good about the near future. That is, until I remember the presidential election results, climate change, etc., but my therapist has been teaching me to allow thoughts to appear without letting them take over. My favorite tactic, with a festive autumn theme, is to imagine the thought is an orange maple leaf floating away on a river in a forest of brown, red, yellow, and orange trees. I guess now that it’s December, I may switch out the orange maple leafs for white, fluffy snowflakes. Who needs seasonal decor from Target when you can seasonalize your coping mechanisms?
As we enter December and the final lap of 2024, I remind you to stay warm and invite you to get cozy and read bits of my oversharing below. In this edition of “letter from the editor (me),” I wanted to share a few journal excerpts from the month of November, and what I’ve been into.
🗒️ Journal Excerpts
one way through social anxiety is to figure out what you love to talk about and write about it so you understand yourself better - is this studying yourself? → substack article!! “the art of studying yourself”
me and a notebook can spend hours together. this is how I speak to my brain or I guess it’s my brain speaking to itself 😵💫
i’ve been thinking about how working from home has stolen parts of my twenties from me - see WFH ruined my 20s by She Says She Thinks
Didion, J. (2011) “Time passes. Could it be that I did not believe it?” page 17 of Blue Nights
I enjoyed this quote “i’m gonna see the uncertainty as a sign that there’s room for it to all work out”
figure 7. this quote makes me feel more
🤎 What I’ve Been Into
🪑 Shaker style interiors. I’m in the market for a dresser. My clothes are currently living in piles on the floor in my bedroom, and in my hunt for the perfect dresser, I’ve found myself drawn towards Shaker style dressers. Shaker style is characterized by simplicity, clean lines, functionality, and minimal ornamentation, primarily associated with furniture and cabinetry created by the Shaker religious community.
🧶 Knitting. I feel this pull to learn how to knit. Imagine all the sweaters I could make for Otis. I don’t even have any knitting tools or materials yet but I’ve been watching dog sweater knitting tutorials.
🎨 Handmade gifts. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl on a budget after a cross-country move emptied my wallet, but I am so excited to become one with my inner DIY Pinterest Girly™️ and hand-make a bunch of gifts for my friends and family this Christmas. I won’t go into too much detail since I know some of my friends are reading this but here are a few images I’m using for inspiration.
💌 Mailing Letters to Friends. Somehow it’s slipped my mind the past five years of my adult life that I can mail cute letters and stationary to my friends??
📝 Writing. I loved writing in high school and did well in the subject. Since pursuing a degree in engineering in college, I haven’t had a regular writing practice since 2015. My favorite part of adulthood is reconnecting with the hobbies you lost time for but now, can do with your own time and money. I’ve been reading more, refreshing on how to analyze literature, reminding myself how to write grammatically correctly, got myself a new journal from Paper Republic to write in, and started writing on Substack
Thank you again for reading and welcome to my 30 new subscribers 🙀!! Happy December 1st - I hope you all are cozy wherever you are 🤎 Until next time 💋
Love,
Sarah
P.S. if you’d like to send me any virtual mail, you can write to me here or leave a comment below!
Swang (2024), “Who needs seasonal decor from Target when you can seasonalize your coping mechanisms?”
I’m framing this.