What is News from Jules?
What started out in 2015 as a TinyLetter to 31 close friends became a weekly newsletter to kindred spirits—those brave souls willing to get personal about the life lessons we’re learning and reflecting on right now. As of Feb. 2022, and over 200 newsletters later, News from Jules is published from Substack so that more readers like you can accompany me on my adventurous soul searching.
Just like me, many of you write a journal to process your experiences, to pose the questions, to find the lesson, to weave meaning. My hard-bound volumes go back to when I was 15 years old.
“Every day for most of her life she was writing her struggles, trying to figure out what she was doing, what was important, and how she felt...[her correspondence] serving as witnesses to each other’s struggles to locate themselves in their own lives,” wrote Karen Karbo in How Georgia Became O’Keeffe (2011), about how and why O’Keeffe, one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, stayed closely connected to others through letter writing.
That is what I’m doing here.
Sharing my life lessons to enlighten your own.
A letter, a story, a lesson.
“Sometimes another woman’s story becomes a mirror that shows me a self I haven’t seen before,” wrote Sue Monk Kidd in The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (1991).
“When I listen to her tell it, her experience quickens and clarifies my own. Her questions rouse mine. Her conflicts illumine my conflicts. Her resolutions call forth my hope. Her strengths summon my strengths. All of this can happen even when our stories and our lives are very different.”
Barbara Kingsolver, one of my all-time favorite authors, wrote in her book of essays Small Wonder (2002): Private things like spirituality are rich ground for literature when they’re handled with care. We writers don’t avoid them on grounds of privacy; rather, we take it as our duty to draw insights from personal matters and render them universal.
“No subject is too private for good [non]fiction if it can be made beautiful and enlightening,” Kingsolver said.
If you see yourself in any of this—or even if you don’t, but just like really authentic and unfiltered stories—I hope you’ll enjoy my News from Jules.
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Why should I consider a paid subscription?
Short answer: Your paid subscription helps me write and send my newsletter—about 8 hours of work per week. And you’ll get some fancy features, like the ability to comment on or listen to each issue, plus get sneak peeks of the book I’m working on for “Founding Members.”
Long answer: My journey right now is to make a living through my calling as a writer (with multiple day jobs). Right now, if each reader paid $1 per issue, it would cover my groceries each month, for example, as I try not to be an actually starving artist.
“We live in a world where bearing witness to a stranger’s unfiltered story is an act of tremendous compassion. To listen with an open heart and an open mind and try to understand what it’s like to be with them—why they think like that, dress like that, made the choices they did—takes real courage.
And when we dare to listen, we remember that there is no “other,” there is only us, and what we have in common will always be greater than what separates us.”
— Catherine Burns, All These Wonders (2017)
Or as Hal Zina Bennett, author of Writing Spiritual Books (2004) wrote: “That is one of life's greatest contradictions, that what is the most personal can also reach into other people's lives and get them in touch with the truth of our oneness.”
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me on my journey!
Who is Jules?
I’m a nonfiction writer, avid outdoorswoman, and engaging facilitator. I write about self-leadership and spiritual development based on the experiences and books that changed my life. Currently, I’m on the wild, emotional journey of writing my first book. In 2017, I created the Everyday Integrity Credo and blog to inspire others to live life to the fullest. Currently based in Central Oregon, you’ll see on Instagram and read in my newsletter that I’m frequently adventuring and retreating in the mountains or to the coast as my source of inspiration.
How does it work?
Every newsletter goes directly to your inbox on Mondays, whether you choose the option to sign up for a paid subscription or continue for free. I deeply appreciate your support in all its forms—reading, cheerleading, sharing with other kindred spirits— and now, contributing as you're able.
Here’s what I like about Substack:
Connecting with more readers, like you!
You can comment and enjoy others’ insights and responses, instead of just replying to me. That seems fun!
And you can easily share any issues you especially enjoy with others.
Plus, you may even find more newsletters here on Substack that inspire you on your own journey, which is what really matters: Your growth, not mine.
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But, how does it really work?
If you’re new to Substack, it's a simple newsletter which I like—closer to Medium than to Patreon. Their mission is: "building a future where writers can flourish by being paid directly by readers."
As a conscious consumer, you should know that 10% of your subscription will go to Substack for the platform and payment processing costs, plus about 9% of your subscription is a credit card processing fee. So about 81% of your subscription goes directly from you to me.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
