Be About It

My new-old Substack and why it’s in your inbox.

Greetings all,

About five years ago I created a Substack account at the suggestion of a friend, and for five years posted exactly nothing, and in that time also, Substack took it upon themself to accumulate more than 4000 subscribers to the account.

You may have been a part of a project I started with my brother called Parallel Bible, an app aimed at bringing social imagery to scripture. Maybe we met in Africa where I lived for many years, getting married and having kids in Cape Town. I’ve been a street artist, a gallery owner, a tech startup, a translator, and given a lot of my time to the spiritual search, from high church to digging in the dirt. Maybe that rings a bell, maybe not? Regardless, I’m in your inbox now to let you know that my Substack is getting attention, and to say: read on, fellow traveller.

I aim to make this space a table. At my office on the beach here in Virginia I have a 15ft long desk where I lay things out and arrange them, to see how they might come together in new ways; to find where meaning might lie between subjects and objects. So picture a big table like that and a permanent personal invite to come have a look. Primarily I will be posting observations from my own spiritual pilgrimage as it works itself out (or fails to) as well as spiritual practices I can sink my body into. I’m still practical as hell, constantly verifying what I try out to test whether it really works. So that type of tone is bound to appear alongside field reports from the retreats that I get to lead or attend and good stories from people I lean on and learn from. There’ll be at least a few cups of what I’ve learned doing men’s work and meditation for a long time. Also I still can’t help but look at things with a graphic designer’s eye so there will no doubt be some visual material that speaks to me and might to you.

I’ll post weekly. If it’s a longer piece of writing it might hit your inbox. If it’s imagery or anything else it won’t, and you can have a look at that stuff whenever you come back.

It’s starting now because my friend Cynthia Bourgeault recently started up her own Substack and has managed a good relationship to it, posting only when and how she chooses, and all of it freely given. Her approach, and the fact that the comments exchange is so generative, has inspired me to take it up in the same way.

As for the business end of the stick. I will substantially benefit from 8 bucks or 80 or whatever you want to leave behind on the desk. And if you are reflecting, commenting on, or sharing what you find on the desk, I am well aware that this is in itself a substantive energy exchange, and I tip my hat to you.

It’s about time!

Andrew