Nu Sifagon & Substack in 2023

How Substack is easing my life while inspiring more creativity.

The 2020s are going to be an amazing smorgasbord of the unfamiliar becoming familiar. Realities will be shifting and as people understand more deeply what is within them (they will be shown in the external), new identities will emerge.

Folks of all backgrounds and skills are shifting their way of being - whether it’s relationships with their family, friends or lovers; their careers and how they express their gifts; or their location and how they live.

We are experimenting with what feels right for us, not for the institutions, society, or anything outside of us. Humanity is evolving, letting go of certain aspects of ‘relating’ while developing a stronger sense of sovereignty from within.

In addition to Nu Sifagon’s Substack, where I curate research and develop content around light language, I’m personally examining the different economic and relational models that truly recognize and acknowledge the full value that each individual brings to a relationship - primarily in a “business” relationship. When I stopped working for others to consider developing an online leadership app, I soon realized that the economic models we are accustomed to were rather extractive.

As my attunement to humans heightened, I began seeing the value of the people who were paying (or not paying) me for my services, and the services that I was paying for whilst knowing the value I brought to the company getting paid. Take that to another cognitive, expanded consciousness realm, and the commercialization and commodification of humanity start looking abysmal.

Substack came into my awareness through another New Mexico entrepreneur, and as I love learning about new platforms and technologies, I decided to dive in. In terms of integrity, I suppose it’s a mixed bag of what any startup feels it must go through; paying noted authors or artists to convert and drive the adoption of new technology platform. I did a brief read on a few articles on Substack from other artists, writers, and news outlets, and it has its ups and downs. But for now, I notice what I’m experiencing, and it’s the ease to which one can get content shared on a relatively neutral space (for now).

Although I’m in the midst of setting things up, connecting social media links, and integrating it into my website, I’m finding that, along with other platforms that support the independent lifestyle, Substack seems to hit the mark for many aspects I look for.

Everything and everyone’s actions are moving us toward exploration and finding our own sweet spot of expression and living. I find that I’m on one of those explorations with Substack, using my own work as a sample.

Here are the things I’m enjoying:

1. As a former software and website developer, I appreciate the UIX. Substack developers did a fantastic job of streamlining and simplifying its use through its thoughtful design.

2. The subscription model dovetails nicely into programs that I already had been thinking of offering, seamlessly providing strategies without asking or paying for them. And the integration with Stripe and the subscription design that shows up for readers are painless and simple, with room to edit and be creative with the offerings.

3. Content by writers is excellent across what I’ve seen so far - whether it’s clicking randomly to read why Jeff Goins left social media while I take a break from learning all the aspects of Substack editing, a teenager examining his own consciousness in relation to what he is reading in school, or an email newsletter - I think it was his first post - that arrived in my inbox at 3AM that eased my anxiety. (I’ll find the authors and link it here).

4. I had paid thousands of dollars on brand design and strategy last year, only to be disappointed in the process mid-point. I had given the team the benefit of the doubt, but I won’t be using their content once I complete the shift onto Substack. I’m really grateful that Bill* chose to go with the co-founders and the platform grew with the contribution of all the writers before me. *(See Substack posts from this morning.)

5. Folks here do seem to be genuine, even in the ranting comments by readers. It’s refreshing.

I’ll continue updating as I learn new features of this platform. It’s been great so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing how I might deliver more creative content to my community with ease.