Hope springs eternal

When I’m feeling doubtful, my readers lift me up WSG 77

Photo by Carl Hunley Jr on Unsplash

Doubt springs eternal. I don’t think this is just a female thing. But, we women really have a knack for questioning ourselves through the eyes of others. Throw children into the mix and the doubt explodes! But, when I wrote the words “doubt springs eternal” it was about what I am doing here, in this blog, not my family. That’s another topic for another day.

Doubt?

I sent out an email this past week to readers of WSG who are the most “active” (openers, forwarders, commenters, likes, etc) as a way to connect to the people who enjoy what I am doing and say ‘thank you’ for reading this blog. Lately, I have been questioning what I am doing with my time. It’s a normal thing to do for all of us, isn’t it? I am not a natural at the business growth side of things and can be pretty insular so it’s easy to keep my head down and just plod along. But when I look up I am not sure where I have metaphorically wandered off to. So, I reached out.

Doubt.

It’s not a whiny, “I need attention,” doubt. It’s an, “Is this what I should be spending so much time on?” doubt. Am I serving my family, my community and myself by writing this blog, and by painting (insta link)? The painting (web link) isn’t your problem, although it does take up a lot of time. Time I could be figuring out how to grow this audience. You may ask, “Why bother growing the WSG readership?” Well, in corresponding with one active reader, she helped me confirm the point of all this:

“Doubt does spring eternal but from my vantage point, you are helping your community of midlife moms who are in a time of transition. The broader (Boston) community may have more complex, dire needs but we still need support and you offer that life line … I love the musings mostly because it often mirrors what I am feeling/experiencing.” -Cynthia

Another reader wrote:

I think this blog is great!!

It seems like old friends bonding over every day real events. -M

and another wrote:

I like your topics and the women you have interviewed. I am always interested to hear about anything that people have researched and anything that is inspiring and helpful! -D

I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS, TOO. womenssurvivalguide@gmail.com OR

Spark.

Reading what Cynthia wrote has sparked my motivation to keep asking, keep at it, keep experimenting. Below is the note I sent out to the “most active” and the Premium (paid) readers last week what she and the others responded to.

Hello you active Women’s Survival Guide reader, you!

I wanted to reach out to each of my Women's Survival Guide’s Most Active Readers personally to say ‘thank you’ for supporting my work. 

While I have your attention, I'd love to know what made you subscribe to WSG and what keeps you tuning in regularly. Can you share any thoughts on the above questions with me, please? Any other feedback, requests or other thoughts are welcome! I will get back to you personally, asap!

Thank you again for reading Women's Survival Guide! I look forward to hearing from you!

I heard back from a handful of readers and got a nice correspondence going with them! I really would like to know what makes you tune in. Should I go podcasty? More interviews? I have been neglecting that side of things…haven’t I?

Why bother growing?

The premise behind the writing is to foster a community of people who can relate to one another and help each other see that are not alone in our middle aged world (I know the term is not ideal, but…is what it is). In order to do that it takes some risk on your part. To comment can be a scary thing, but it can also be rewarding and enlightening. When I asked Cynthia, the active reader, about her thoughts on commenting she said:

“I lean more on the introverted side and I just tend to avoid commenting. I wonder if you wrote something along the lines of you would like readers to bond and learn from each other - can 10 of you all share a comment … sometimes it just takes a little spark to start a process.” -Cynthia

Let’s bond and spark. I will start below….

happy weekend!

Kim

PS, the Substack App is a thing. it’s becoming more popular and interesting because of the “Notes” aspect. I hear it’s like Twitter (X, whatever).