a little update

Gentle reader :)

Just a note to apologize for the silence, and say there should be some exciting stories on the horizon. In less than a week, I’m meant to head to Beirut to do a writer’s residency for my film.

My dad was born and raised in Beirut. I have only been there once before. Being able to go now, to work on a project which was born on that last visit (18 years ago!), with everything that is happening in the world (and in bordering lands) feels surreal and like an incredible blessing. Obviously, I’m compensating by under-sleeping and over-planning.

Yes, Django is coming too. No, he is not impressed.

“Where did you say we’re going?”

In the meantime, I caught up with one of you today in person, and I had a thought I wanted to share.

So often, when I meet or speak to a reader of this substack, they share how they’ve reacted to some of my posts—thoughts they’ve had, ideas, conversations. I’m not sure I can convey how much that means to me. Writing is lonely work that sometimes feels like shouting into a void. To know that any of these stories have struck a chord, even if it’s a minor chord (or a diminished one… major 7th… any music nerds out there? no?), feeds me more than you could imagine.

So if anything you’ve read here strikes you, please don’t hesitate to drop a comment, or respond to the email (it’ll come straight to me). Send me a song, a DM, an instagram post, a poem, an interpretive dance, a photo of your dessert. I’d absolutely love to hear from you.

Last but not least: to those who have been able to renew paid subscriptions, thank you so very, very much.

To those who have sent a“coffee” donation, thank you so very, very much.

To those who aren’t able to financially support and are just here: really—thank you, thank you.

No platform is perfect, but I’m grateful to have this little piece of the internet where I can share these stories, and where people are able to support that sharing in whatever way they can.

With love,

Natalie (& Django)

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