Congratulations, you’ve found my substack! This is an effort to reclaim my writing energy and to publish some things I’ve held back thus far. However, there remains one problem: I don’t really know what I’m doing.
For some of my friends, the pandemic served as a time to plan and execute creative projects they’d been waiting on; not so for me. I spun out creatively. I spent too much time overthinking how things might have gone differently. Most of what I wrote during this time will never be published, as it was largely an exercise in processing my thoughts and emotions. It’s better for me and the world that those things go in the trash.
My friend Sam loves to say that every great writer you know has drawers and drawers full of bad writing. I think this substack will probably serve as a drawer for mediocre writing — my more polished things will hit the blog or go to other sites I write for. Of course you’re welcome to check out my writing there as well (I’ll try to remember to link them here).
But if you’re willing to read my weekly mediocre writing, I hope to give you some joy in return. I’ll send you some favorite links, a commonplace quote, and whatever happens to be on my mind that week. You are, of course, welcome to check those out or chuck them in the trash can.
I named this place “On the Common” because it reminds me of the goodness we can share in community — of green space and resources that help us flourish. I hope to point you to some spaces like that every week here. Sometimes that will mean uncomfortable thoughts; sometimes that will mean humor. From a Christian perspective, it will always mean culture care instead of culture war.
Thanks for joining me.