Reflections on Two Years of The Sunday Morning Snuggle

Six things I learned, popular posts vs. favourites, and an announcement

Hey friend,

I’ve been writing The Sunday Morning Snuggle for two years this month. Thank you so, so much for reading! I am amazed that I get to do this. I am blown away that women actually read this stuff. I had 157 subscribers this time last year, and now I have 419. Praise God!

On my two year anniversary I’m telling you my most popular pieces in 2024 (and the ones I liked the most), six things I learned this year, and an announcement.

My most popular essay this year by sheer views was A Brush with Instagram. Women resonated with the themes of comparison and hustle so strongly—I was shocked. I thought it was just me! But my favourite essay was Throwing the Bat. It was satisfying to clarify my thoughts about learning, perfectionism, rage-quitting, limits, creativity and AI, after such a long wrestle. (And, because I’m not a minimalist, I also loved On Socks and Spider Orchids).

My most popular poetry collection was A Prayer for Words—which I suspect is due to the themes of worry, pride, and giving up control—but my favourite collection was Postpartum Nightmares. I think it’s because I wrote three villanelles—a form poem—and I would not have been able to do that last year. I’m learning slowly, but I am learning! My favourite poem at Part Time Poets was In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Weak. Fitting for a postpartum year.

I wrote nine essays and 27 poems across The Snuggle and

Part-Time Poets

. I had two articles featured on The Gospel Coalition Australia (bringing my grand total of published pieces to three!) But most thrilling to me, I commissioned seven pieces for The Snuggle, including the Christ and Creativity profiles of local Christian artists and the guest essay series when I had a baby.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Six Things I Learned in 2024

1. Tiny little steps feel pointless, but they keep you moving forwards, like jotting lines of a poem in the car before school pick up, or fiddling with lines in an essay while feeding my baby. The first six months of this year I worked two days a week, ran a ministry and a bible study, plus all the day in and day out of parenting, growing a baby and trying to get to antenatal appointments. I had a baby in July! I am as surprised as anyone at my creative output in 2024. If I told myself in January that I had to write 27 poems this year, I would have cried, but I’ve done it day by day, line by line.

2. Collaboration is FUN. My year was insane, but asking for help from

   Lindsay Sledge
   ,
   Lorren Lemmons
   ,
   Joy Nicholas
   ,
   Annelise Roberts
   , and
   Amy’s Substack
   resulted in some beautiful essays. I am as happy these words are in the world as I would have been if I wrote them myself. I was delighted to share them on The Snuggle. Asking for and receiving help in my creative projects has bought unexpected joy.

3. Limits enhance creativity. I would not have written so much if it had not been for the looming deadline of a fortnightly post. Or the limits of a villanelle!

4. Feedback will make you a better writer. ✍️

5. The simple practice of taking a moment, whenever you open an email notification that someone has subscribed, to thank God for that person, ask for His help to serve them well, and point them to Him is incredibly helpful when you’re struggling with comparison over numbers. Every good gift comes from His hand. Thanks

   Annelise Roberts
   for this tip. It has been incredibly life-giving.

6. Contributing to other publications is FUN. I contribute to Part Time Poets once a month and The Gospel Coalition Australia. It breaks it up and stops it being lonely or repetitive.

The Announcement 📣

The

Part-Time Poets

ladies and I released our first book! In Which I Try to Save the World is a collection of poems from our first eighteen issues and some new ones. It explores the themes of how we try to save the world; by mothering, raging, grieving, hoping, and being.

The internet is sometimes terrifying, sometimes annoying, but sometimes delightful that women scattered across the globe (or, really, a lone Aussie and Americans from all over the country) can write poems together and publish a collection.

I’ve wanted to write since I could read. So this is pure joy 🎉

In Which I Try to Save the World: Part-Time Poets Collection 1 is Available Now!

(If you’re in Australia, you can buy it here).

Next time

There are two types of people in the world: those who write New Year’s resolutions and those who live cheerfully in the present.

If you’re in the former camp, you’re in good company. Next fortnight I’m talking about what worked this year, what didn’t work, and my dreams and schemes for 2025.

Tell me in the comments (or hit reply to this email):

1. What is something you achieved this year in tiny little steps, line by line, that you would not have thought possible?

2. How do you fight comparison?

3. What is something you can do this year that you could not do last year?

4. What did you learn this year?

Look forward to hearing your answers!