One messy year on Substack

Thank you to my readers!! We did it together <3

As of today, May 8th, my little Art Date Substack has celebrated its one-year anniversary. I am getting chills as I write that I could not have envisioned such a positive outcome from writing these rambling, TMI blog posts about my life. It has been so helpful to have an outlet to express my feels during this most challenging, but exciting first year and change in Los Angeles. But on top of that, I have felt so validated by having an audience that actually shows up to be witness to it, not just my mom (but also thanks Mom).

A few stats from the past year:

• More than 70k reads for the year, with 68k from emails alone

• An average of 45% open rate on my emails

• Email list has doubled

• January 2024 was the biggest month for me so far, with over 10k reads

• Annual subscriber contributions went from $0 to more than $2,300 annually

While this is a real boost to my writer ego, I obviously can take no credit in the fact that you, my readers, are the ones opening up your emails or Substack apps and putting in the time to consume the words that I have, at times furiously, tapped out on my laptop and sent into the ether.

It has been one hell of a messy year. Some of the major topics have included trying to carve out more equity for artists, digital detoxing for a more creative brain, personal freedom from addiction, coming out, cultivating interdependence, and what it means to be someone who channels their experiences into art for others.

As artists, or at least for myself, I believe we are given so many opportunities to feel the pains of the human experience so that we can transmute it into a light that can help lead the way for others who aren’t able to do the same, yet. But it is so easy to get bogged down in the struggle that you can forget that maybe there’s a way to use it, or that you’re not alone.

In addition to the Substack community, listening to music and storytelling on the radio, have been hugely important coping tools for me since moving to LA. It’s a city of great creative potential, but also, in my experience, of isolation. You are separated by space and time here more than in denser cities like New York or even San Francisco. Hearing someone’s story through their lyrics or their podcast coming through while you’re stuck in mind numbing traffic, or alone in the studio, has kept me going. It reminds me to reach for the spark that people come to Hollywood for.

I still get a tingly feeling when I see those letters up on the hills of Griffith Park. I hope that magic never goes away.

For those that may be newer or curious about some of the best performing posts from the past twelve months, I am listing the top 7 fan favorites below in order of page views: