I am alive, I survived
First post in 2024, quick check-in, reflection on Substack experience and plans for this year.
Content of this post: Check-in, Reflection on my time on Substack and future plans, Word for 2024, Content Calendar, Your ideas!
Hi Wonder Woman and Happy New Year!
How have you been? How was Christmas and New Year? Just the title of
catch-up post prompted some reflection - survival, the bliss of family moments, a rush, slowing down, zero time, or maybe a bit of time for creativity? Probably a mix of everything. Our family embarked on an adventure car trip across Europe for the last three weeks to visit family (UK-Germany-Poland + return!). I'm still digesting and recuperating from the visit, filled with good memories, some difficulties, and nostalgic sights. The experiences are still vivid, and I'm processing them, knowing they'll spark new posts in the days to come. Although my last entry was on December 25th, in the evenings, I found myself binging on Substack, chaotically jotting down any ideas that came to my mind.
Our Englad-Germany-Poland trip!
Reflection on my Substack journey so far
I kicked off my Substack on November 15th, and currently, I'm still trying to get used to the platform and find my way around it. However, I genuinely feel that Substack is a perfect match for what I and my offerings need. It seems like a good place for both personalities - the factual, organized one and the one that likes to be creative and experiment. I'm blown away by the opportunities here and, more importantly, the people who are also writing. I've found some writing souls here and space to keep up with my drawing hobby. For example, I joined the 30 Days Drawing Challenge, and I'm just loving it!
What is next?
Expect more posts from me on this space :) As time goes on, I'm gaining clarity on how I can start showing up here and the ways I can use this space. After reading
post on finding a single word for the New Year, I chose "growth". It came to me effortlessly. I want to grow my audience and community here, grow as a person in regard to my own well-being, and grow as a mother.In the next few weeks, I hope to start slowly introducing and developing some relationships with fellow Substackers to bring more quality, resources, knowledge, and compassion together!
So, please stay put as I have plans for exciting collaborations and some draft posts are already writing themselves to help you experience motherhood with more lightness.
Content Calendar
This is not something I've ever done, but one evening I came across
post about creating one. Despite every cell of my body cringing and shouting, I followed Russell’s suggestion and experimented with AI to create some content suggestions. Like with AI, many of these were complete rubbish, but some aligned with my values and things I wanted to write about anyway. It feels good to have a backup plan in case the Muses go on holiday, and I'll be frantically thinking, “What should I write about?!”. So yes, if you would like to give it a go and see what happens, have a look at the article below.
Your voice matters!
As mentioned above, the content calendar is useful as a backup plan, but more important is that this space serves you in the best possible way. I thought that perhaps hearing from you about what you would like to see here on this Substack might be a good way to get clarification and meet your needs and expectations. Therefore:
In the upcoming months, what would you like to see here?
Do you crave more information-based posts?
Are reflections on motherhood what you're seeking?
Are you navigating specific challenges and desire coping strategies?
How about collaborative pieces with fellow writers?
What topics would resonate with you the most?
Share your thoughts and expectations in the comments; I'd love to tailor upcoming content to meet your needs.
Thank you for reading until the end of this post. As mentioned above, due to a long break on this Substack, I just wanted to touch bases with you, check in with each other, and let you know that space will be GROWING in 2024!
I hope you are ready for it! Let me know in the comments.
Warm wishes,
Love the idea of motherhood with more lightness!
I have the same reaction to content planning, I always just wing-it! But I will check out Russell's calendar, for sure. I definitely need *some* structure this year.