Fresh tracks leading across the frozen lake at 12:47 pm. 19/12/23
I’ve decided, after two inspiring, creatively fulfilling years of writing Home Comforts, that the time feels right to bring it to a close. This has been such a special place for me to explore a theme so close to my heart, and has resulted in my first completed body of creative non-fiction work. I’ve written on subjects such as homemaking, routines, political homes and pets, and have felt both motivated and challenged by the parameters of a themed, monthly writing commitment. I’m very proud of the project, and am thankful to every single one of you who subscribed, liked, commented, shared and even personally reached out when a piece had particularly resonated.
When it recently came to light that Substack is providing space for publications which express support for Nazi ideology – whose publications they do not plan to demonetize, moderate or remove as a matter of course, and from whose paid subscriptions they will take a cut – I threw myself into researching alternative platforms. However, the more time I spent looking into other options, the more I began to reflect on Home Comforts and my hopes for it as a creative project. I realised that the idea of a completed body of work felt exciting and special to me, and while I had planned to continue writing the newsletter indefinitely, it struck me that all creative ventures must at some point reach their end.
While Home Comforts ends here, this won’t be the end of my creative journey with newsletters. In due course, I’ll be creating a new newsletter to be sent out regularly (probably monthly, but possibly a little less frequently) through my website. This as-yet-unnamed newsletter will be a space for me to continue writing longish-form content on themes that intrigue me (including, I’m sure, ‘home’) along with writing updates, musings and news, and links to articles, videos, podcasts and other things I find interesting and think you might enjoy, too. I’ll be importing my subscribers from here, so there’s nothing you need to do to be included. However, if you’d prefer for our journey together to end here, that’s absolutely OK – just hit unsubscribe at the foot of this newsletter.
I’m in the process of moving Home Comforts from Substack onto my website, where the full archive will be available to read for free. I’d love for you to join me as I continue enjoying and exploring the newsletter format; you can also keep up with me on Instagram (another imperfect platform) where I share snippets of my life in Sweden along with writing and personal thoughts and updates.
Thank you so much for supporting Home Comforts.
Nadia x
ps. I’m sorry there’s no recorded version of the newsletter today - I currently have builders dismantling scaffolding from around the house so it just wasn’t feasible!
Thank you for everything you've shared here, and I look forward to seeing what you share in future :)
Farewell to Home Comforts! I look forward to reading your new newsletter when it launches, Nadia.