it’s time to call it quits 😭

summer is all about slowing down, so why do i feel like a psychotic headless chicken rn?

Hello everyone, it is with sadness (but honestly some relief) that I am bringing you the news today that I am going to be taking an indefinite sabbatical from this Substack newsletter. I was thinking about doing an Irish goodbye and deleting this account without telling anyone, but I didn’t think that would be fair to my faithful readers. I’ll be keeping posts up here for free for a while, but no new content is coming out. So take your screen shots now! Ultimately, I need to cut ties with this endeavor because it’s what’s best for me right now.

I actually really do love writing and developing recipes, but it’s been a combination of a lot of things that have led me to this decision:

• My life as a mom requires more hands-on engagement these days. And I hear that these days are fleeting, so I’m going to look up from my phone/computer and watch my son grow up fast.

• My other life as a freelance violinist picked up 1000% more than I was expecting it to. It’s incredibly difficult to do both things well, and I feel as if I have been constantly scrambling to pull this newsletter together every Saturday. Don’t get me wrong, I have delivered a decent newsletter to you every week since June 25, 2024, but there’s so much more unseen effort and labor that goes into writing a newsletter. Those parts need a lot more attention and care, and I just don’t have the bandwidth for it.

• The ways that Substack has changed in the last year since I started have only made me feel like I am drowning to keep up with the status quo. It seemed like a much simpler platform, more honest and earnest. The current social media aspect, especially, just does not align with who I am as a person. The constant posting and drawing attention to myself in this way does not come naturally to me, and I have been feeling a need to disconnect from all the noise anyway. There’s a lot going on in the world, am I right?

  • I’m not trying to knock the other great writers here on Substack, but it’s a full-time gig to do this part of the newsletter as a one-person operation and try to have the same kind of presence as someone with thousands upon thousands of subscribers and somehow have a life?? How does one do it? IDFK

This has been a difficult decision to make — I’m just balancing too many plates, and I’m willing and ready to drop this one for the time being. So I’m out, y’all. It’s been a pleasure to write for you, and I deeply appreciate all the support while I had it.

Again, Lovingly Made will still exist on Substack for the next month, and I am making every post free to everyone to see what they might have missed out on while I was experimenting with getting paid for my work. As of today, all paywalls are removed, so you can all rejoice! If nothing changes with my current position, I will be deleting this newsletter from Substack entirely.

I’ll still keep developing recipes, researching food and food industry literature, and writing an essay here and there. On my own time, just for me and my family.

And for the last time:

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here.

❤️ Sarah