Welcome to Paws and Reflect!
✨ Revamped ✨ and full of fresh enthusiasm. Here's what's new.
TLDR: I’ve decided, after oodles of thinking, to treat this more like a real newsletter. (I’m calling it a nuance-letter. 😉) Posts are now organized in four sections: Paws and Reflect (dog/animal thoughts), Write and Reflect (writing and reading thoughts), Park and Reflect (van life thoughts), and Haley’s Journal (more personal pieces). New writing will be delivered to your inbox, and you can control which categories you’re signed up for at any time in your subscription settings.
Thank you thank you thank you for being here! I’m always around for questions, rambles, or pet photos. (Seriously please send me cute creature pics.)
Do I want to have a newsletter?
Every time I make progress on my book—which I’m thrilled to say has been happening lately!—I get the urge to shout about it to my community. (I might be using “community” as a generous term for “social media void” here.)
Since we arrived in our Portland apartment, I have prioritized:
Drafting and reorganizing my manuscript.
Attending writing groups here in person.
Trying to build a stronger writing community (submitting to literary magazines and volunteering as a reader, applying to programs like the Incubator, subscribing to quality newsletters).
The last one, in particular, has made me wonder if I should more earnestly try out this Substack thing—like, as an actual newsletter delivered to your email inbox.
The WordPress version of this blog started purely as an extension of the Paws and Reflect Instagram, which in turn started purely as a place to share training updates about my sensitive blue heeler. But as Scout has progressed in her ability to navigate our modern world—and I’ve progressed with my emotions and expectations surrounding her fear reactivity—I’ve felt increasingly unsure of what I ought to (and want to) share on the internet.
Daily life? Van adventures? Sometimes the urge arises, but going full travel-vlogger never seemed like a fit. I’m less excited about real-time posting than ever and not interested in editing regular videos. (Which is funny given the whole “my only consistent online audience has been on a photo-and-now-short-video-sharing platform” thing.)
Although staying largely off social media has been pleasant for my mental health, I continue to miss the genuine connections I made on Instagram. Drifting away from a community that felt especially close a couple years back has left a void. (I also can’t ignore that keeping a “platform” is helpful for aspiring debut authors, particularly those writing nonfiction and especially those writing memoir-ish nonfiction. People disagree about how much it matters… but it definitely doesn’t hurt.)
An email newsletter keeps sounding like a sweet option.
My hangup? It makes me uncomfortable! Sending something directly to your inbox feels more invasive than posting a version of the same thing on social media, where it may or may not even come across your feed.
What thoughts are worth sharing?
I’m realizing that despite my complaints about real conversations on Instagram slowing down, maybe part of me likes that fewer people see what I share there. It takes some of the pressure off. It dilutes my worry about how good the thing is, how much it deserves to take up someone else’s brain space, and, admittedly, how many unkind comments it might garner.
Plus changing up the way I interact with the internet yet again—I haven’t been “settled” in a routine that feels good since early 2023—brings up feelings of fickleness and associated shame. I keep getting stuck on wanting there to be One Best Path. (I might blame my background in marketing and all its talk of branding for this.) I want to think a good idea, execute the good idea, and then have everything just… feel right. Be received the way I want.
That is, of course, not how projects usually go.
Experimenting ahead
I’ve decided I need to embrace more of my partner’s energy. Sean is the “just try the thing” king: happy to experiment, willing to toss shoddy results to refocus on a new attempt, rarely discouraged by an occasional miss.
I made this plan at the end of June:
After I have accomplished the other Big Things that deserve my attention (more on this excitement soon!) I will revisit the Paws and Reflect blog. (Check.)
I will choose 3-4 sections to organize posts. (Check.)
I will actually send emails to people’s inboxes. (Eek, you’re reading one right now. Check.)
I will write interesting things. (Interesting to me. I will resist the urge to write what I think some more sophisticated audience wants, because that’s a great way to be boring and miserable.) I will also share when interesting things I’ve written get published elsewhere.
It will be casual but I will take it seriously, prioritizing conversation and community.
Also, it will be fun.
And today, on my 28th birthday (I’ve been an official adult for a decade?!), it feels right to fully lean in.
So: Welcome to the new version of the Paws and Reflect newsletter!
This is a place for sharing about animals (mostly dogs) and also writing and van life. Occasionally other thoughts will filter through—and I will allow them in without shame.
By default, you’ll receive posts from the main Paws and Reflect category (dog thoughts, life with Scout specifically and pet ownership in general, animal-related musings), Write and Reflect (writing and reading reflections), Park and Reflect (all things van life), and Haley’s Journal (personal thoughts beyond those other categories).
Some pieces will inevitably overlap sections, but I hope this organization helps those of you who are primarily here for one thing. (I see you, dog lovers who came for Scout and stayed despite my broadening interests. Thanks for sticking around. 💛)
You can change which sections you’re signed up for at any time under your subscription settings, and I’ll continue to add tags to posts so you can filter through them that way too. (Here’s a bulleted list of every tag.)
As always, say the word if you need help finding anything. Go play with your dog if you’re able. Tell someone you’re proud of them. Embrace a small joy!