Beginning Again...Again

This time around, I'm playing for keeps.

The type of Vermont summer evening that you wish you could bottle.

Well, July has come and gone. I don’t know about you, but I for one am glad to flip the calendar over to August. This past month was full of personal growth, the Red Sox went on their longest winning streak since 1946 and I’m feeling physically more fit than I have since becoming a dad. And yet, I’m more than happy to have July in the rearview. Why? One word, weather. It’s not about how hot it was in Nashville this past month, heat I can live with, and did for many years in LA. No, no, no, it’s about the combination of heat, humidity and stagnant air that combine to create an environment that is most appropriately described as “disgusting”. I don’t use this word lightly. I would not have used it last year or the year before. Those summers were hot and humid too (sky is blue, water is wet) but on their worst days they were at most “gross”. Gross I can tolerate, disgusting is a bridge too far.

It doesn’t help that the month started with our being in Vermont during a particularly pleasant stretch of weather. Re-entry to Nashville after being anywhere in the northeast is a challenge, but in July it feels like a daily battle of wills between you and the outdoors. There’s only so much a person can do to stay cool and believe me, I’ve been doing it all because strolls with my daughter are a non-negotiable of daily life. Even so, the “big walk” has become a few bite size walks, time and weather permitting. We got one of those slim walking pads to keep in the home office so that we’re at least moving when on calls or just have a little block of time to move. I am less than enthusiastic about it. Walking is one of the great pleasures in my life and when we were looking at neighborhoods to move to in Nashville, walkability was a primary concern. There is a direct correlation between how I feel about living in Nashville and when I can enjoy taking a walk, or doing any outdoor activity for that matter. So when I tell you I am genuinely ecstatic for it to be August, I mean it. Yes, it’s a month that’s still full of hot and humid days, but there’s some reprieve and the feeling of hope that comes with September starts to creep in. By the time the Autumnal equinox rolls around, that hope turns to belief. Even just writing that sentence, I get a twinge of excitement. Autumn, and all the wonderful things that come with it (the tangible and intangible) is less than two months away. Sitting here while it’s currently 95 degrees with a heat index of 111, it almost doesn’t seem possible that it’s a matter of 8 weeks until the end of “Boat Shoe Summer” and the start of “Camp Moc Fall”. Jokes aside, seeing even a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is big for me right now.

Getting some words down here and getting them published are part of that. Perhaps a bigger part than I previously realized. I’ve stutter stepped my way through Substack since Michael Williams told me I should absolutely be on the platform back in 2022. He has the annoying habit of being right about things and there’s no question that I feel more myself when I write regularly. It’s the publishing of the work that I’ve struggled with more than anything and I honestly don’t have a good reason why that is. That’s left me with an oddly stacked backlog that I don’t know how to feel about. In the digital ecosystem, can what’s old be new again? Can one dust off shelved work or work that they feel was perhaps just missed after being published? I guess the real question is, how relevant is it? I’ve never much been one for focusing on timely stories and I certainly never made a real go at keeping up with the news cycle. The churn rate turned me off when I was starting out as a writer 15-ish years ago and in hindsight it was obviously much more manageable then. It actually makes me a bit sick thinking about the state of things now. Too much information, even here on Substack, where the ecosystem is arguably much more mellow. That being said, if another platform comes along (or already exists for that matter) promising to “get back to the roots of what Substack was”, I’m gonna have to pass. I’ve joined enough platforms in my life and this is it for me. Substack is my ride-or-die for digital writing.

The question I’m now faced with is how to begin again...again. I’ve been giving this a-lot of thought over the past month and some promising answers have surfaced. There are topics I plan to explore purely for selfish reasons, but I’m also intent on giving readers more of what made them subscribe in the first place, especially those of you who have been kind enough to support This Nice Life financially. Whether you are a paid subscriber or just dropping by, you’re still allocating some of your precious resources, your time and attention. For that, I am so grateful. I am also appreciative of your patience while I’ve been finding a publishing cadence that works for me while I find my footing as a dad. I get quite a kick out of how much I thought I had writing/life balance figured out when Cordelia was a newborn. So naïve. Given everything I’ve learned about myself in the last year and a half, I’m clearer on what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it isn’t. There’s no major vibe shift coming to This Nice Life, but rather a tidying up of sorts. Rather than make grand declarations, I’m just going to go about doing the work and you’ll either notice some changes, or you won’t. If you should have some suggestions or general feedback, I am all ears, please do share.

On that note, please share This Nice Life as well, especially with friends and family who aren’t regular Substack readers. I’ve been sharing a variety of newsletters the past few months and I can’t tell you how many people have said “oh wow, I didn’t know it was like this”. As big as Substack can feel at times, as rapidly as it is growing and changing, it’s still a relatively niche community. As with any niche community it can feel a bit twee and self-indulgent at times (okay, more than a bit) but that’s just fine. I’ll take that over the rest of the digital media ecosystem that is largely cynical and restrained. I’m here to inspire and be inspired. What are you here for?

Cheers- AM