where i've been
and how things are changing this year ✨
It’s been a minute — sorry for my absence. I really love our little home here, and I’ve missed writing.
Where did I go? I’ve mentioned a couple of times online but in case you missed it, my dad suddenly fell very ill just over three weeks ago. I’ve spent my Christmas on trains between home and hospital wards, squeezing in coffees with loved ones and replying to messages from concerned family friends asking for updates on my dad’s condition.
The good news is that he’s hopefully on the mend! He’s been moved out of critical care to a ward where he’ll stay for a few months as he recovers. After a truly horrible month, I feel like there’s space for me to breathe again and get back into the swing of normal life.
I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting recently, even before my dad’s illness forced me to press pause. I want to nurture this community over the coming months and years, and also make sure you feel like you’re getting good value from me. So I’m going to change some things over here to improve life update, making it clearer what you get when you sign up.
Going forward, everyone (including free subscribers) will receive one newsletter-style email a month. Everyone will also receive occasional articles or essays — I’m aiming for every two months but keeping it flexible for the time being.
Members, however, will receive an additional letters multiple times a month — more of my musings on culture, fashion and life, along with trend reports and voice notes. I want to build more of a community among us (I’m very aware there’s a friendship cavern that forms in your twenties), so I’m going to create more chats on the Substack app where we can share what we’re wearing, reading and listening to, ask for advice and exchange ideas. If this sounds like a bit of you, you can sign up for the price of a coffee every month — and get two months free when you choose an annual membership!
If you’re a student or new grad and £4 a month feels like a stretch, I’ve heard you and hopefully created a solution?! I know some of you share memberships to spread the cost (you’re actual angels, thank you) and I want to make this easier, SO: when you sign up as a group, you now get 50% off. For life. No questions asked. Now you can have your own account, you can get the emails direct to your inbox and you can participate in the chats without your friend having to read the responses to your weird toenail confession.
I’m also changing the pricing structure slightly. I’m rounding the monthly subscription up to £4 instead of £3.99 for simplicity (forgive me), and creating a founding member tier for those who want to support my work further and get priority access to new projects. Hopefully this pricing structure will enable everyone who’s keen to join at the level that works for them!
If you’re interested in subscribing but, as I’ve sometimes found, this sounds like a lot of emails, I recently discovered that you can opt-out of chat and thread notifications in your account settings on a subscription-by-subscription basis. Life-changing! So if you’re just here for the writing, don’t let the social side put you off — the notes and chats will always be there for you on the app.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and support the Substack. I’m excited to get back into writing my silly little posts! I hope you’re having a lovely start to the year. Chat soon xo
Glad to hear your dad is getting better, Lucy.