Love Letter to My Life #62: Solving an old question: mastery of what?

A New Apprenticeship at 77

Snuggles, our community cat

Raised on the outskirts of a small town in the flatlands of Kansas, I had a quiet, lonely childhood … some might say boring. Long, slow years of wandering in woods and books, marking time till life began, I remember urging Dorothy not to go home when it was time to leave Oz. 

Some of the stories that drew me in during those hot, endless years, were the ones about apprentices who grew into mastery. The pattern was fixed: hard work, suffering, and a gradual fascination with and understanding of the art or craft before reaping the rewards of success. 

Those stories weren’t always about great artists or explorers. One of my teachers loaned me a series that started when Cherry Ames was a student nurse and went on through many of her life adventures. 

Wikipedia tells me:

Cherry Ames is the central character in a series of 27 mystery novels with hospital settings published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1943 and 1968. 

Funny that I don’t remember the books being a mystery. All I remember that slow summer was connecting with a young woman who progressed from student to master. Perhaps that’s when my passion for being on a learning curve began.

However, that objective evaded me throughout the years of high school and through college as each semester left only empty promises. The passion never appeared and at the end of my junior year, I dropped out and went to work. It was a starter job, not at all glamorous or well-paid, but I felt the stirring. It was a mail-order business (ahead of the technology curve in those long ago days). I was learning the ins and outs of copywriting and direct mail principles. 

Finally, I was an apprentice! 

My friends didn’t understand why I was bringing manuals home at night for such a menial job. They thought it odd when I leaped at the chance to take a night course called “Applied Imagination” based on a book by the great creative problem solving genius, Alex Osborn. When I could have been partying, I was spending time exploring the ideas of creativity and brainstorming.

That apprenticeship lasted almost thirty years …

Then a series of circumstances created an idea I couldn’t walk away from. When I looked around, I couldn’t find a place that offered me the next step on the learning curve of creativity and innovation in business organizations. So, I decided to step into the void and created the conference I wanted to attend and the network I wanted to be part of … the InnovationNetwork.

It worked, mainly because it was the right idea at the right time. Fourteen annual conferences later, just as I was beginning to feel some mastery developing, 2008 ended the party and, suddenly I was retired. That loss happened shortly after my husband died and I wound up grabbing onto the learning curve of art as a life-raft in a sea of grief.

While I am grateful for the saving grace of finding digital art, it never felt like a purpose, never seemed like my life calling. Then, at age 77, apprenticeship tapped me on the shoulder once again.

Substack said: Why don’t you try this?

I barely knew the word Substack… only that it was the home of my favorite columnist, Professor Heather Cox Richardson. Prompted by a desire to market a new, gratitude workbook my friend Lynne Snead and I had developed, and a recognition of the short comings of both websites and blogs, I decided to try the newsletter platform Professor Richardson was using.

It was easy to get started, so I began with little understanding of what to do, how to do it, and, even worse, why to do it. With a lot of confusion and a bushel of questions, I blundered into something called Substack Office Hours, and found a welcoming community offering generous support and camaraderie.

I’ve tried to build online communities … and failed. Immediately I recognized that there was something different here. Somehow, Substack had found the keys to creating a space that was both generous and supportive to other writers but also self-serving to individual needs. So, I jumped in, determined to figure out how to effectively use this new platform for newsletters.

However, there was one last mystery … what do I want to be a master of?

Substack seemed different but I wasn’t sure why. Beyond being a new learning curve, why was this place calling me so insistently? Why did I feel like a convert to a new religion? Why did I feel called? Those answers came slowly.

At first I thought it was just an inviting place to put my writings. Then, I started meeting and reading fascinating writers and my time on other social media platforms began to plummet. I noticed some writers doing really amazing jobs of inviting and connecting to readers while others were not using the elements and features of Substack in an equally inviting manner. I knew I could help them write about themselves and their work in a way that would connect better with readers.

That’s when the idea of becoming a Substack apprentice began to present itself. I could learn more, go deeper into the inner workings of Substack and help other writers understand how to use the platform to achieve their objectives. That idea turned into the Substack Field Guide, a periodic series linking Substack elements to a sound, simple marketing process.

That understanding and the development of the first two Guides, revealed what I really want to be a master of. I don’t want to be the biggest, most profitable Substack around. I don’t need to be a “big dog” or count my subscribers in the tens of thousands. 

What I do want, what I thrive on, is seeing people embrace their own creative natures and bring themselves fully to whatever they do. There are so many amazing writers here … I want their voices to be heard. To twist a song lyric, “I want to be the wind beneath their wings.”

It has taken a long road and a lot of years, but I finally feel like I’m where I want to be, doing what I came here to do. No wonder I’ve never known quite where I fit … Substack hadn’t come along yet.

Celebrating this new found piece of myself, I’m offering a free 30-day free trial of my Substack, including everything that will be reserved for paid subscribers after this trial. This will be the only free trial offered.