A Writing Life Epiphany (and New Year News)

When you ask God for clarification about the coming year...and He completely surprises you

UPDATE: So many new writer friends have come my way in the last few days and we’ve chatted about my writing pivot, i.e. helping writers get their words into the world in a book or website or Substack (yay Substack!) If you want to know more about where to begin if I can aid you in that journey head over to my author website www.jodyleecollins.com and click on WORK WITH ME.

I look forward to connecting!

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A poem for a new season.

FOR THE NEW YEAR

I've begun this post 15 different times in my head, a flurry of thoughts swirling around, hard to capture and commit to virtual paper. Where to start?

In the quietish weeks of November and December as I sat with my questions and pondered what God might be saying for the coming year about my writing, I sensed a nudge that surprised me. It surprised me, but felt right.

Here’s what I heard:

It's time for me to step away from my weekly posting, hosting comments and engaging with you all around the world of poetry. There are nearly 600 subscribers/readers of Poetry & Made Things and I don’t take that for granted; I appreciate you all more than you know.

(And for new subscribers who j u s t signed up to receive my posts—well, I apologize.)

A bout that nudge: several factors go into my decision to stop writing here on Substack.

Spiritually, God has been stirring up my desire for a deeper closeness to Him, a desire to be in the Word, and offer myself again in teaching and worship to my local church community. That takes time and attention I need to recapture.

Also, for the past year and a half I have been working behind the scenes, editing and coaching folks in different phases of their writing journeys. As a creative endeavor, I’ve come to realize that is my greatest joy, offering people wings for their words.

And, I have another poetry project brewing for the coming year, a poem/prayer devotional inspired by many readers’ reactions and comments surrounding my two poetry books, Mining the Bright Birds: Poems of Longing for Home and Hearts on Pilgrimage: Poems & Prayers.¹

To that end, it's time to open up the space for me to be more intentional and direct my energy to my own writing projects as well as being a cheerleader for other folks and their work.

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Husband Bill & I Victoria B.C. 51st anniversary trip, July 2024.

What does that mean for you?

ONE—NO CHANGES to Poetry & Made Things site

The content that it is currently on my Substack site will continue to remain unchanged; I’m not closing my account or taking anything away. Whether you are a new subscriber or have been following my work for awhile, take a look around by clicking on this link, where you’ll find not only poetry but reflective essays on everything from leaving social media to why you should read poetry if you’re writing it.

Also, be sure to look under the “Poetry & Writing Resources” for FREE curated poetry lists. Some of my favorite books are in the lists I’ve crafted for you.

Home Schoolers-look for the Free “PoetScribe” resources, a printable notebook of 12 poems for copying, remembering and reciting.

TWO-RECOMMENDATIONS

In the last year and a 1/2 nearly 20 other Substack writers have been recommending Poetry & Made Things to their readers, for which I am eternally grateful. I'm not quite sure how to unrecommend a newsletter, but if that is something you sense you need to do going forward, I completely understand. (If you’d like to see whose Substacks I’m recommending, my list is on the right hand side site underneath the Subscribe square.)

THREE-PAID SUBSCRIBERS

Thank you for your vote of confidence in my work. I completely understand if you feel the need to cancel your financial support. (Alas, if you have supported me with an annual subscription, that cannot be recouped.)

THREEa-FREE SUBSCRIBERS

Most of you—yay! I would still like to keep in touch in the months ahead when my next poetry book is ready. To that end, your name will continue to be on my email list unless you Unsubscribe. The process is easy enough and no worries—I toggled off notifications for that action so I won’t even know. Be blessed!

FOUR-MY EDITING & CONSULTING WORK

If you'd like to know more about the editing and consulting I've been doing for new and seasoned writers, CLICK HERE. Some of my clients have been Substack beginners and I enjoy coaching in that regards. I also have a FREE 4 page download for Self-Publishing in the “How I Self-Published my First Poetry Book.”

Guiding people in the indie publishing process brings me great joy. If you have a brainstorm (or brainsprinkle) you want guidance for, from a manuscript review, Substack 101 to self-publishing—I’m scheduling 30 and 60 minute Clarity Calls now for after January 15th.²

FIVE-PEOPLE (My people)

Practically speaking, it's also important to address my current season of life. Our oldest grandchild will be 22 this month, the youngest one is 5 1/2. Life is short and there is much to participate in, family-wise. My husband turns 80 in July (photo above taken on our last anniversary, also in July.) I will be 73 in August. We are, shall we say, in the Golden Years that Matter stage of our lives, and I am prioritizing accordingly.

Mary Becca, the 5 1/2 year old. First Christmas program, 2024. Shared with permission.

FINALLY

I’ve been writing online since January 2012 via my first blog—Three Way Light. At the time I jumped in with both feet (see photo below) and had no idea how rich the experience and online connections would be. Many, many of you who are readers now were people I first met online and then had the joy of meeting in person over the years. My soul is filled because of those relationships.

I launched my website on Blogger during a ‘snow event’ in the Seattle area in January 2012. The snow lasted one week and I had plenty of time to learn my way around the world of websites. “You should start a blog,” someone said. “What’s a blog?” Well, I found out—what fun it’s been!

With that marker in mind, I thought I’d be tiptoeing away this summer from my writing/posting schedule. But God has made it clear that time is now. The energy required to attend and sustain my presence here in the Substack community is work I enjoy, ESPECIALLY because of the people—meaning YOU, but that season is over. (Although I will be dipping into Notes from time to time and continuing to read the newsletters to which I subscribe.) And I’m happy to report there is no snow outside my window to be tiptoeing away in….

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So, here we are. I figured out how to gather all those swirling thoughts…….. I think. So, without further ado, I’ll say ‘adieu’ for now, dear readers, newly met or well-acquainted. It has been a joy.

I do hope you’ll email me if you have any questions or just want to say hello; email me at heyjode70 (at) yahoo dot com, or leave a Comment here using the Comment button below this post. I love hearing from each and every one of you. Truly.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE-your presence is a blessing to me.

Jody

1. You can order copies of my poetry books via the button below. Thank you, Biana, Linda F. & Barb for the inspo for the next project.

2. More about what I offer and the fees for consulting can be found HERE on my author website. Betcha didn’t know I had an author website. There is also 12 years’ worth of Archives there for your reading enjoyment.