I started this Substack because I am a believer that not only is story probably more important than you think but, further, that it is deeply significant not only in how we understand ourselves and others but in how we fit into society, improve our lives, improve the lot of others and save our lives, the world and everything. I realise this is quite a bold claim.
Take impolite topics to discuss at dinner parties, for example; politics, religion and money. This is my claim - they are all story-based. Whatever the stories we and you are telling ourselves about them is what causes the disagreement, the upset, the peril of being deemed ‘rude’.
I love the developing discipline of narrative psychology because it delves into the arena of what this means for us and if we can understand it better - then how it can help us.
I do have a host of excuses as to why I have not written more about this. Some of them relate to a nasty accident and physical injury that nearly killed me and from which I am still recovering. Some of them relate to overwhelm and tech-phobia. Some to menopause. Some to lots of other demands on my time. Some to my need to read. Some to the need to earn money. However, my intention has always remained to learn more about this platform, develop my understanding of it and use it to discuss the ideas that I am fascinated by.
I am very interested in a lot of things: history, politics, literature, poetry, theatre, dance, art, aging, health, animals, cooking, creativity, books, communication, language, writing, development, learning, psychology, philosophy, gardening, nature and particularly humour and having a laugh - to give labels to some of the things that float my boat. They all come with their own stories and that is what I am going to explore much further. Starting today. To that end, today I am teaching myself just a little more about Substack.
I do use Substack for a podcast that I co-host with a much better ‘stacker than me who writes interesting things about the History of Medicine, The Quack Doctor, Caroline Rance, a professional writer and speaker. Our podcast is about our mutual interest in women writers who have been somewhat neglected and yet we think deserve to be celebrated and remembered from the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, She Wrote Too - so I do hope that you will listen and subscribe to that.
I am undecided as to the level of time commitment to give to this project. I am not yet sure whether to think ‘go large or go home’ and really go for it or whether to show myself some self-compassion and consider the reality of all of the excuses above. Your views on this decision-making process are welcome.
So, I’ll be back tomorrow.