Edition #50: Happy Golden Jubilee, Sweet Pea

Plus, a round up of the content you've loved, a chance to share your creative endeavors and a giveaway

A Note From the Editor

I have a confession to make: whenever I get a new subscriber, I look you up. It’s usually just a quick Google search, but sometimes my digital exploring leads to a deeper dive into your life. When my subscriber list started to balloon a few months back I attempted to create a spreadsheet documenting my findings, but it began to feel creepy so I quit that in favor of living in the (virtual) moment, basking in all of the little glories I've discovered about a large handful of you. I’m curious about you all, the strangers and friends who open this email week after week, who take the time to leave eloquent comments and to send me heartfelt notes. You are artists and former CFO’s, reporters and Ph.D. candidates, yoga teachers and hedge fund managers, students and small business owners, and I’m thinking about each of you today as I write the 50th edition of this labor of love.

This newsletter started as I way for me to aggregate the things I read on the internet that set my brain on fire in attempts to give them a wider audience, as so much stellar writing gets lost in the algorithms, but it has grown to something much more precious than that. Through this medium, I have built confidence in myself as a writer. I’ve worked up the courage to admit out loud what I’ve felt inside for so long: that I am a writer, an artist, and that I have something to contribute to the world. That my words matter.

Anyone who takes the time and mental energy required to keep up with something as laughably ambitious as a weekly newsletter does so, at some level, in hopes that people will grow to love their writing, and maybe, eventually, that people will be willing to pay to read it. All that is true for me, too. I want to see my subscriber list steadily grow, I want you to love what I’m sharing and to be touched by it, to laugh about it or to feel a deep connection with it, but I also want you to know how humbled I am that you have chosen to spend your precious internet time with me all these months. You’ve been sitting in the back seat of the car as I’ve fumbled to figure out how the thing works, as I’ve grown accustomed to the touchiness of the brakes and the faultiness of the stereo, as I’ve learned how to navigate the unpredictable, winding roads. I have discovered and clarified my voice as a writer through this project and in turn, through you. So thank you, dearest readers. Thank you one million times over. I mean it when I say that I love you in the deepest way an internet stranger can love another.

I’ve written this newsletter in the midst of heartbreak, dripping fat crocodile tears onto my keyboard as the words felt like they were physically ripping their way through my body. I’ve written things that have pissed off various family members (hi, dad!) and that have caused tifts with old mentors. I’ve shared pieces that sparked impassioned debate, some of which ended badly, some of which ended with deeper mutual respect, and all that is precisely the point. That is what I’ve always wanted from this newsletter and what I want for you — to have better, more substantial conversations with one another. To think a little differently, a little deeper, to chose to walk to the other side of the room and see what things might look like from that vantage point. To challenge your views and to expand them. To embrace the notion that we should only stop growing and learning when we are dead, and not a moment sooner.

For this week’s edition, I’m rounding up some of my favorite content and yours from the last 25 editions. Pieces that are worth a second visit or perhaps ones that you missed on the first go-round. I’m also trying a few new things to celebrate our Golden Anniversary, including a giveaway (see: a bribe to grow my readership) and a chance for you to share your creative projects with me for a potential future feature. I’m thinking about all the ways I want to expand my efforts with this newsletter moving forward, and I’ve got some exciting tricks up my sleeve in the coming months that I look forward to sharing with you.

Cheers, my dears, and a very happy 50th to us. I’d love nothing more than to learn a little bit more about you on this special day, so please introduce yourself and tell me your favorite unpopular opinion in the comments below.

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Three Batches of Content Worth Consuming

1. A Few Essays Well Worth Your Time. I love the personal essay and according to my most clicked links you do, too. Here are a few favorites: Roxanne Gay making hearts melt with a doe-eye, tender reflection of getting to know her fiance more intimately during quarantine. The age-old question: when does a woman become sexy? Separating the work you do from the person you are. And not quite an essay, but 68 pieces of unsolicited advice that I revisit regularly.

2. Some Outstanding Art To Take Your Breath Away. If you’ve never been a fan of flash fiction, this super short, poignant story will change your mind. A backyard musical performance that is equal parts uncomfortable and utterly mesmerizing. Langston Hughes’ poetry withstands all tests of time; here’s proof. The photographer peeking at your phone, and the one documenting life with her daughter with Down syndrome. Somehow this incredible choreography is not the official music video for “Yummy,” but it should be.

3. On Race in a Nation Hurting, and Healing. If you don’t have a solid stance on whether or not you support reparations, educate yourself with this piece and then take a stance. Prepare to cry while reading this touching recount of Breonna Taylor’s life as told by her mother. Rising star author Britt Bennett examines the idea that she doesn’t know what to do with good white people (note, this essay is from 2015 and reads like it could’ve been written yesterday. Let that sink it). And a tool to cultivate understanding for people with differing views than your own.

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Perhaps You Should…
Enter to Win Some Books and Other Cool Stuff

meghanppalmer

A post shared by meghanppalmer (@meghanppalmer)

If you couldn’t tell from my weekly book quote, I love reading. My favorite way to read is with an extra-large mug of peppermint tea and a fragrant candle burning next to me. I also love supporting women artists and writers, and all of this came to mind when I thought about what items I should include in my first giveaway to celebrate this milestone of fifty editions. It’s running on Instagram now, and since you’re already a subscriber, here’s how you can enter:

• Send this sign up link to one friend and tell them why they should subscribe (I won’t actually know whether you did this, so we’ll call it scouts honor)

• Like the post, follow me and tag three friends. Extra entry if you share the most to your IG story!

• I’ll randomly pick a winner next Sunday, 11/29, so look out for me sliding into your DM’s

Books: Like a Bird by Fariha Róisín, Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

Art: Framed print by one of the most badass, talented artists of our time, Amber Vittoria

Candle: An overpriced candle that will make you feel like you’re at a fancy hotel. In Oud, my favorite scent that smells a lot like wood

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(A Bunch Of) **Bonus Content**

Here’s the section where I normally throw something silly and light-hearted. Your favorite link was a handy interactive piece on why time feels so weird in 2020. Personally, I still love these ones: a tone-deafness test from the Harvard music lab, a nifty trick to decipher how you perceive time, the food pyramid, reimagined (and 100% accurate), and guaranteed to make you smile; the 2020 comedy wildlife photography awards finalists.

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A Quote From A Book You Should Read:

“The last few years have taught me to suspend my desire for a conclusion, to assume that nothing is static and that renegotiation will be perpetual, to hope primarily that little truths will keep emerging in time.”

-Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

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P.s., In case you don’t know me or have recently subscribed, I’m Meghan.

Pictured: Me with a very bad student who had no interest in learning how to read

I live in Brooklyn and work full time as a marketer at a media company. When I’m not working I’m writing (short fiction, longer fiction, and this newsletter), eating, reading, or sitting at a park pretending not to watch strangers. I'm the fifth of seven children, none of whom live in New York (sad!), and when my family goes out to eat we have to rent an entire room to fit us. Unpopular opinion: mayonnaise is the best condiment.

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This newsletter is best served with a side of conversation, so drop your opinions, reflections, and thoughts in the comments below and let’s get to talking.

Or, share the most thought-provoking piece from today’s edition with someone you love, then call them up to discuss, debate, and percolate. As a wise woman once said, “Great minds discuss ideas.”