What Matters

I started my Substack a year ago, December 2024. I started it with the hope to elevate and share my writing in a bigger way; to have someone reach out and say “wow, this is amazing, so glad I found you, let’s work on getting this published!”.

Well, that never happened. Surprise, surprise. And because that wasn’t happening, I started writing less and less and haven’t posted in three months. (I do adore the notes feature, though, and write and share notes all the time. It’s comforting, relatable, and real.)

I think my story, and my writing, is important for not only me but for others like me- Brown women in recovery; Brown women living with mental health issues. Yes, to some degree I write for myself, but I also write because I truly want to help others feel less alone. If I had known another Brown woman like me 11 years ago, would I have gone down the horrible path I did with my drinking and mental health? Who knows.

A year ago, when I started this account, I was confident I would get published in some capacity again. (I had the fortunate reality of getting published in 2023 for a local magazine in Austin, Texas.) I feel it in my bones that it’ll happen again one day.

Life has changed a lot since I started this account- I have a full time job in the nonprofit sector again (so grateful for it, for many reasons), my youngest is 2 and is in preschool full time, and time is stretched in a way that it hasn’t been before for me. I am 41. I care less about certain things, but care more about certain things. Life is not easy. But at least I’m sober for it.