What I Need Beyond Sunday

This Wednesday, I sat down at my Mac to read through your emails.

One in particular made me snort coffee out of my nose:

“Lately, you sound a bit depressed. Are you okay?”

Who, me? The Pollyanna… depressed?

Three thoughts hit me at once:

• Yikes. Was Nice vs. Kind too much?
• Crap. Did I sound like an asshole?
• What would other women do in this situation?

So I went out to my terrace, lit a cigarette, and wrote back:

“Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post this week and to check in on me. It was a difficult one.”

Then I added: “One question: what would you do in difficult situations that are personal in nature? Would you be nice, kind, both, or something else? Let me know.”

This got me thinking about all of you.

First, a heartfelt thanks to all of you — fifty women and a few men — for showing up each week.

About a third of you are here because someone forwarded this along. Women don’t forward things they don’t believe in. So this is meaningful.

And to those of you who respond — publicly or privately — your comments make this real for me.

I wanted to share a few favorites, of course, paraphrased to protect the innocent. (And the not-so-innocent.)

“Wow, I didn’t know you could actually write like this.”
This one was obviously my sister.
Gee… thanks?

“I was nodding as I read your post this week. I HATE IT because I had to confront myself with these questions. DON’T STOP.”
Yup. I hate it too sometimes.
Welcome to the party.

“You were talking AT me, like a child.”
Apparently, I wasn't being helpful.

“I forwarded this to my sister. She didn’t speak to me for a week.”
Excellent use of this newsletter.
Send it to people you might not want to talk to for a few days.

“GET THERAPY!”
She unsubscribed right after.
Maybe this was your sister?

And then these:

“Do you delete comments where the opinions differ from yours?”

“Have you thought about having other women contribute their experiences? You may learn something from it.”

It would be insightful to hear from other women about their experiences, especially if they shared different viewpoints.

Sunday stays. No change.

What if I created a separate space — a community on Substack?

A place where you can hear from other women having honest conversations.
A place where you can join those conversations — with each other and me.
And possibly a podcast — audio first — so women can actually hear each other, not just read words on a page.

A place where you can talk about a specific life interruption or contradiction.
Ask anonymously, “Is it just me, or do you also…”

Share your “lived this” experiences.
Share what actually happened.
What worked. What bombed.
What you’re still figuring out.

No judgment. No armchair advice.
Not twelve people yelling with full confidence about something they’ve never lived through.

Definitely none of the “if it were me, I would…” bullshit!

Because opinion creates noise.
Experience creates value.

Your Move?

Let me know in the comments or privately — your thoughts, your preference:

1. Definitely. I want to hear from others. Not just you. No offense.
2. Interesting. Worth exploring. But I’m still not commenting in public.
3. Nope. I’m good. Just lurking in the background.

Your feedback matters.
If I’m going to build this, I want it to be something you would find useful.

Again, thank you for opening this and for the coffee-snort moment this week.

And to answer the question:
No, I’m not depressed.
I’m uncomfortable.
And apparently, that feeling is coming through loud and clear in my Sunday posts.

Life Interrupted for a reason.
Whatever your move is… make it unapologetically yours.

JT 🤍