State of the Fields 2022
Looking back on my first year of Substack
Today I start this post from my favorite coffee shop’s last day before they permanently close their doors at their Arlington location. I don’t know if I’ll finish it before they close at 12pm, but it feels right to be writing here on the final day.
I wrote my first ever Substack post, “A 2021 Reading Roundup”, here at this coffee shop just over a year ago. I published it on December 10th, and here I am again, one year and eleven Substack posts later. I’m thankful for every one of you who has subscribed and followed along for this written journey.
If you have read that first post, you know that this Substack is a gentle foray back into writing after a really grueling grad school experience through the pandemic. Keeping a creative space like this one has always been important to me, but is especially precious after a season where writing really felt like running through molasses.
I’ve kept some form of a blog since the Wordpress days in 2011 when I was in high school, new to faith and new to wielding words through writing. I was bright-eyed and clumsy, enthused and harsh in both of those landscapes. I remember that high school version of Ellie, who made a lot of mistakes, but earnestly loved the writing life. I still do, ten years later.
It is a fight to love the writing practice, easily set down and easily shrugged off when life is busy, but it is such a privilege to love and tend to a practice like this in all the slow and simple ways. And it is so, so rewarding to see progress and have those peak moments, like when I got to read my first-ever published article for Plough this fall. I’m looking forward to cultivating the writing life even more next year, whether that means more of these moments or smaller, hidden practices.
This was also a really sweet year in other creative departments. I booked photoshoots in my fledgling photography business, which I hope to grow into next year. I released a long-brewing collection of wood paintings, and took some painting commissions. I launched my art website and a holiday shop, and learned how to market my work and send newsletters and process orders. There are plenty of great discouragements in the life of a creative business, and I have faced several this year and over many years. But, even though the gains of this year might be meager, this year was a good and growing one. I had some deeply encouraging, beautiful, and exciting moments in art making this year.
The rest of 2022…
What can you expect here for the rest of the year?
First, I’ll wrap up my Advent series and write a little into Christmastide, too. This year I’ve started looking at life through the lens of the liturgical calendar. Though I’m not part of a liturgical church in this season of life, examining my own timekeeping through the church’s ancient understandings of time has been good for my soul. I’ll keep sharing what I’m learning with you!
I’m also planning a reading roundup post for 2022. I set out to read twenty books this year and I’m halfway through my nineteenth, so we’ll see if I hit the mark or not. Either way, I’m looking forward to sharing some favorites!
…and Beyond
Here’s what 2023 holds!
If you didn’t know already, I have two newsletters! There’s this Substack, which is where my longform writing lives, and I have another on Mailchimp that’s more an art-focused letter. I send that studio letter on the first Friday of the month for updates on what I’m creating, shop restocks, and sales. Here on Substack, I’m planning to write on a twice-monthly rhythm for 2023. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead. And again – thank you for being here. Truly, it means so much.
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