Why I’m Here and What I want to Accomplish with Substack

One of my goals for 2023 is to transition from my regular blog website over to Substack. This got me thinking to the root of why I have a blog in the first place. It initially started as a lifestyle blog and quickly became a bookish blog when I realized that all of the content I was posting was bookish: book reviews, book excerpts, author Q&A’s, and lists of recommendations.

Other than posting about all things bookish, one thing I’ve consistently shared for the past 4 years on my blog (since 2019) is all of the fun national holidays. I’m a big fan of actively seeking joy in our everyday lives and having a fun holiday to celebrate each day is a great starting point.

Now that I’m transiting over to Substack I wanted to take a moment to revisit why I’m here and what I want to accomplish with this new publication. I want to inspire people with ways to find joy and gratitude and minimize unnecessary stress in their lives.

What stresses you out? On the flip side, what brings you joy?

One thing I always find stressful is an overflowing email inbox - whether it’s your work inbox or your personal inbox. I can’t quite help with the professional one (other than to recommend the beauty of blocking your time in your calendar!) but I can give my number one recommendation for your personal one: unsubscribe to unnecessary emails!!!

Think about how often you open your email and it’s all just junk and advertisements. You end up spending so much time wading through the crap to get to the handful of emails you actually want to read. Go into your inbox and start clicking that unsubscribe button!!

If you’re worried you’ll miss out on sales and good deals you should realize that’s where tons of money gets spent on unnecessary advertisement induced purchases. If you really don’t want to miss out, consider following your favorite brands and shops on social media. They’re always more than happy to tell you about their latest sale there. Let your inbox be a place for productivity or joy, not the never-ending advertisements that make you itch to go online shopping for things you don’t need.

Instead of subscribing to all those advertisement emails consider subscribing to a few Substack newsletters instead. Fill your inbox with a few of your favorites so that your emails makes you smile, not cringe. One of my personal favorites is my friend Jaymi’s Substack page called Let’s Read Nonfiction. She’s got the best non-fiction reading recommendations and she’s always inspiring me to try something new. She’s also my favorite social media guru and she’s always willing to share her expertise.

Sometimes you have to take the leap even if it’s not all ironed out yet!

I’m still in the planning stages of deciding how often I’ll be posting on Substack but I know sometimes it’s best to just jump in and do it, rather than sit around revising things until they’re perfect before launching them.

Initially I’m planning to share book reviews (hopefully not long after I read the book) along with monthly posts of the fun holidays and upcoming new releases. I’m also planning a weekly post to go out on Sunday mornings (this may change) that includes the upcoming weekly holidays to celebrate along with a bit about what I’ve been enjoying (tv, movies, articles, recipes, etc.) and what books I’m reading.

So here’s to new adventures and a new publication platform for The Joyful Book Blogger [previously Living Life With Joy]. I hope you enjoy following along with me! If you haven’t already, go ahead and subscribe to my newsletter to keep updated every time I post.