Answering my own questions seems a little redundant, so I'll just chat! I did want to note that even though I've been feeling exhausted by the pace of clients and childcaring (and it's not the actual people / clients / children themselves - it's the nonstop feeling of it all), writing this newsletter is a great outlet for me. I love the chance to flesh out opinions and thoughts and essays in a way I definitely don't get to do in my day job, lol. And when I hear from readers, it's such a delight!
My brother and sis-in-law are coming into the great wide world of the Midwest this upcoming week and I'm excited for family time and having them hang out with my kids - they live across the country and we see each other maybe once a year. So that's my good news of the week!
I love everything you write, Christine! Do whatever you need to do to balance your life, to whatever degree that's possible, and I'll look forward to you next writing!
Hi, I'm April, and I just moved to Seattle, WA last week for grad school (grew up in northern VA, close to the Dulles Airport/hour to two hours from DC). In September I start my classes for my MA in Theology and Culture: Community Development at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology! I love creative writing and French (what I majored in during undergrad), currently writing a memoir about my transformative college experience where I came to terms with my queer identity and left the church I grew up in.
Also writing a newsletter of the same title as the wip memoir, click the thing beside my name to read/subscribe! I also will be posting a salad of stuff too, but this week's post (Sunday) will be about my experience of religious trauma. I also like to hang out with friends in cute local cafes, going to my amazing church First UMC, and dancing (not professional but just wait til you see me bust a move).
I host a podcast called Reclaiming the Garden where I interview (mostly) LGBTQ+ folks of faith (or folks who have left faith) and with my co-host do deep dive episodes into topics like books of the Bible, purity culture, and Christian nationalism.
What drew me to subscribe to this newsletter was of course the exvangelical/religious trauma stuff and also just enjoying your comments in DL's space, but I'm looking forward to reading anything you post!
Hi April! Your degree sounds so fascinating - I just want to sit in on all the classes and soak it all in. I hope you love it and get a lot out of the experience! I'm going to sign up for your newsletter.
I love the comment section of DL's newsletter! I feel like these spaces can be such an amazing place to grow community.
Hooray for finding amazing churches after experiences of religious trauma! My options in this small town I'm living in are rather limited, but I've also gotten to experience some really great spiritual / religious spaces that I find so healing for religious trauma. And also hooray for writing memoirs about leaving faith and finding a new one - we share that in common too!
Hi, I am Nera, and I live in Northern Europe. I am here mostly for the mental health stuff, but I like reading it all, and I enjoy the resulting fruit salat. Thanks for writing!
I have during the last few years had both the "I have big trauma?!" and the "trauma can do WHAT, now?!" revelations, and so I just started a newsletter where I explore how a DID diagnosis changes the landscape of how we can know what we know about ourselves and our surroundings, and how we can approach truth to the best of our abilities anyway.
When I got diagnosed I felt like that was the information I wanted the most, and I couldn't find it - almost all of the media I could find was awareness raising of very varying quality and accuracy, and stabilization tips. And we need more than that, or at least I did. So that's what I am aiming to do.
Haha now I see why you're so early to read and comment - you're several time zones in front of us USA folks!
Your newsletter sounds great (I'm diving in already) and such a fascinating niche. Once you realize your view of reality is subjective, and you're not even conscious of it all (especially literally with DID parts holding different memories / perspectives) ... I think it can really shake up the "landscape" as you said of what and how we know things about our reality! I'm excited to read more. I'd love to learn more about DID in depth once I've got more bandwidth for such things. I'm glad it seems like you've got a therapist with an understanding of DID (from what I read in your posts!).
Haha, yup, it was a late morning here when I replied!
Thank you! I can only hope to do the topic some justice - it's such a mix between the universal and the extremely narrow. It's surely a wild turn in perspective. And yes, I have been so very lucky to find a good therapist!
Hi, Christine. I had to use my husband's email to sign in, so, just so you know, my name is not Don, but Pamela Urfer.
I'm glad of this opportunity to say how your posts have helped me. The day I see your name in the inbox is a cheery day.
I am an author - poet and novelist. I don't have a newsletter but I do have an Author's Page on Amazon. Look me up there.
I have been blessed with that most uncomfortable and burdensome of spiritual gifts - prophecy. Now, don't get excited; I can't fortell the future. In the words of David Gushee, I *forthtell* the Good News and attempt to open people eyes to justice and compassion. As is typical of prophets, I am not loved by the Church. They discount my words, impugn my motives and, in general, make life difficult for me. Nevertheless, I persist.
If any of you have similar problems, let me know. All of my writings have a prophetic message, in one way or another. If you're wondering what that looks like, look on Amazon.
Hi Pamela! Glad you found a workaround for the issue with signing in to Substack :) and so glad to hear about how you've enjoyed the posts.
Love "forthtelling" (and David Gushee - I've only read his book After Evangelicalism but really liked it). It is a hard and often lonely work indeed to be prophetic, and a lot of people - err, churches/ church people -- don't really appreciate it...
I actually saw one of your books come through on Mike Morrell's Speakeasy book review platform - sorry, I can't remember which one (nor, sadly, am I in the season of life when I have time to do book reviews anyway 😆), but of course I thought of our exchanges. You've written a lot! I just peeked at your Amazon page.
I will look forward to your future comments - I always enjoy hearing your perspective!
Hi Christine and friends! I discovered your writing when our mutual friend Katye suggested the three of us collaborate on some writing. I was hooked from the first article because I was rethinking and deconstructing my Christianity. You also write about other topics I’m passionate about, including mental health, patriarchy, capitalism, and social injustice. It’s all part of a monolithic cultural system that I hope is changing for the better because of writers like us and activists who want to heal the injustice so ALL can flourish!
I may not fit the demographic for most of your readers, being a retired male, but I’m here because I find much more common cause with Millennials and Gen-Z than with my own Boomer generation. You guys remind me of my generation when we were young idealistic hippies. I hope you never lose your idealism like my generation did. Hanging with you all (online anyway) and sharing in our mutual desire for social and personal growth keeps me young! Coming back to your writing, virtually every article resonates powerfully for me, and I look forward to every word!
I’m so glad for your company in this writing and advocacy journey! I appreciate your enthusiastic readership and the new insights and ideas you share in your comments. Here’s to not losing the idealism of youth!!
Answering my own questions seems a little redundant, so I'll just chat! I did want to note that even though I've been feeling exhausted by the pace of clients and childcaring (and it's not the actual people / clients / children themselves - it's the nonstop feeling of it all), writing this newsletter is a great outlet for me. I love the chance to flesh out opinions and thoughts and essays in a way I definitely don't get to do in my day job, lol. And when I hear from readers, it's such a delight!
My brother and sis-in-law are coming into the great wide world of the Midwest this upcoming week and I'm excited for family time and having them hang out with my kids - they live across the country and we see each other maybe once a year. So that's my good news of the week!
Relating to the nonstopness of it all. Glad you're getting something exciting and joyful mixed in!
I love everything you write, Christine! Do whatever you need to do to balance your life, to whatever degree that's possible, and I'll look forward to you next writing!
Thanks, Barbra! I appreciate your enthusiastic readership :)
Hi, I'm April, and I just moved to Seattle, WA last week for grad school (grew up in northern VA, close to the Dulles Airport/hour to two hours from DC). In September I start my classes for my MA in Theology and Culture: Community Development at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology! I love creative writing and French (what I majored in during undergrad), currently writing a memoir about my transformative college experience where I came to terms with my queer identity and left the church I grew up in.
Also writing a newsletter of the same title as the wip memoir, click the thing beside my name to read/subscribe! I also will be posting a salad of stuff too, but this week's post (Sunday) will be about my experience of religious trauma. I also like to hang out with friends in cute local cafes, going to my amazing church First UMC, and dancing (not professional but just wait til you see me bust a move).
I host a podcast called Reclaiming the Garden where I interview (mostly) LGBTQ+ folks of faith (or folks who have left faith) and with my co-host do deep dive episodes into topics like books of the Bible, purity culture, and Christian nationalism.
What drew me to subscribe to this newsletter was of course the exvangelical/religious trauma stuff and also just enjoying your comments in DL's space, but I'm looking forward to reading anything you post!
Hi April! Your degree sounds so fascinating - I just want to sit in on all the classes and soak it all in. I hope you love it and get a lot out of the experience! I'm going to sign up for your newsletter.
I love the comment section of DL's newsletter! I feel like these spaces can be such an amazing place to grow community.
Hooray for finding amazing churches after experiences of religious trauma! My options in this small town I'm living in are rather limited, but I've also gotten to experience some really great spiritual / religious spaces that I find so healing for religious trauma. And also hooray for writing memoirs about leaving faith and finding a new one - we share that in common too!
Hi, I am Nera, and I live in Northern Europe. I am here mostly for the mental health stuff, but I like reading it all, and I enjoy the resulting fruit salat. Thanks for writing!
I have during the last few years had both the "I have big trauma?!" and the "trauma can do WHAT, now?!" revelations, and so I just started a newsletter where I explore how a DID diagnosis changes the landscape of how we can know what we know about ourselves and our surroundings, and how we can approach truth to the best of our abilities anyway.
When I got diagnosed I felt like that was the information I wanted the most, and I couldn't find it - almost all of the media I could find was awareness raising of very varying quality and accuracy, and stabilization tips. And we need more than that, or at least I did. So that's what I am aiming to do.
Haha now I see why you're so early to read and comment - you're several time zones in front of us USA folks!
Your newsletter sounds great (I'm diving in already) and such a fascinating niche. Once you realize your view of reality is subjective, and you're not even conscious of it all (especially literally with DID parts holding different memories / perspectives) ... I think it can really shake up the "landscape" as you said of what and how we know things about our reality! I'm excited to read more. I'd love to learn more about DID in depth once I've got more bandwidth for such things. I'm glad it seems like you've got a therapist with an understanding of DID (from what I read in your posts!).
Haha, yup, it was a late morning here when I replied!
Thank you! I can only hope to do the topic some justice - it's such a mix between the universal and the extremely narrow. It's surely a wild turn in perspective. And yes, I have been so very lucky to find a good therapist!
Hi, Christine. I had to use my husband's email to sign in, so, just so you know, my name is not Don, but Pamela Urfer.
I'm glad of this opportunity to say how your posts have helped me. The day I see your name in the inbox is a cheery day.
I am an author - poet and novelist. I don't have a newsletter but I do have an Author's Page on Amazon. Look me up there.
I have been blessed with that most uncomfortable and burdensome of spiritual gifts - prophecy. Now, don't get excited; I can't fortell the future. In the words of David Gushee, I *forthtell* the Good News and attempt to open people eyes to justice and compassion. As is typical of prophets, I am not loved by the Church. They discount my words, impugn my motives and, in general, make life difficult for me. Nevertheless, I persist.
If any of you have similar problems, let me know. All of my writings have a prophetic message, in one way or another. If you're wondering what that looks like, look on Amazon.
Hi Pamela! Glad you found a workaround for the issue with signing in to Substack :) and so glad to hear about how you've enjoyed the posts.
Love "forthtelling" (and David Gushee - I've only read his book After Evangelicalism but really liked it). It is a hard and often lonely work indeed to be prophetic, and a lot of people - err, churches/ church people -- don't really appreciate it...
I actually saw one of your books come through on Mike Morrell's Speakeasy book review platform - sorry, I can't remember which one (nor, sadly, am I in the season of life when I have time to do book reviews anyway 😆), but of course I thought of our exchanges. You've written a lot! I just peeked at your Amazon page.
I will look forward to your future comments - I always enjoy hearing your perspective!
Hi Christine and friends! I discovered your writing when our mutual friend Katye suggested the three of us collaborate on some writing. I was hooked from the first article because I was rethinking and deconstructing my Christianity. You also write about other topics I’m passionate about, including mental health, patriarchy, capitalism, and social injustice. It’s all part of a monolithic cultural system that I hope is changing for the better because of writers like us and activists who want to heal the injustice so ALL can flourish!
I may not fit the demographic for most of your readers, being a retired male, but I’m here because I find much more common cause with Millennials and Gen-Z than with my own Boomer generation. You guys remind me of my generation when we were young idealistic hippies. I hope you never lose your idealism like my generation did. Hanging with you all (online anyway) and sharing in our mutual desire for social and personal growth keeps me young! Coming back to your writing, virtually every article resonates powerfully for me, and I look forward to every word!
I’m so glad for your company in this writing and advocacy journey! I appreciate your enthusiastic readership and the new insights and ideas you share in your comments. Here’s to not losing the idealism of youth!!