Thanks, darling. I agree with you, and I do want to acknowledge that though our suppositions are likely on target, part of our reaction is to project what happened, although the evidence ti support our assumptions was demonstrated by a too many people here. I commented yesterday:
"I know her name and her fame, but I’m not familiar with her work. I also don’t know for sure why she left, and projecting meaning isn’t always the best way for me to go, but the uproar had to have an effect. It had an effect on me. Substack is a microcosm of the world. Why wouldn’t there be room for her? I think people shot themselves in the foot. She brought in so many subscribers. I wonder how many people thought that maybe bringing in a whole new audience could benefit us in the long run, too. Oh, well. It’s very sad."
People tend to show their smaller selves when they feel threatened. They play it mean and act like bullies.
The most important thing to me here on Substack is the generosity I've experienced from others and the generosity I get to extend outward. Cultivating it, inspiring it in others, and reading great writing…and hopefully filling a need for the people who choose to read me. I get such a kick out of championing others. But I’ve always been that way. FB and Insta and all the others are tired and weird, and I don’t want to be in those places anymore. Substack is a microcosm of real life. If we aren’t civil with one another it just becomes another dysfunctional system. Not interested in that.
Please don't leave, Mesa. We have to stay and be the people who model what it is to be in community with others. Love you so much. XO
Thank you, Nan. I appreciate your perspective so much. I tried so hard to ignore all of the noise and just chalked it up to people peopleing and hoped it would fade, but I think we all forget that words are sticky sometimes and they have an impact. It's always interesting to me when people behave this way, and also sad. It saddens me to no end. I also love to champion others and have thoroughly enjoyed being here.
I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. My eyes are wide open now though. Seeing far bigger accounts than mine who spoke out against her being here felt jarring. People I looked up to and considered successful and inspirational. It feels disheartening.
I'm glad you're here, Nan. I appreciate you and respect you and love you so very much.
I woke up to a refund for my subscription and had to google what was going on. My heart is just broken over this. I fell in love with Glennon and her writing and her stories and her heart over the past four years and she has been such an important guiding light through a difficult time. What the fuck is wrong with people? I can imagine what this feels like from her side (sort of), and I’m just SO. SAD. she is a beautiful human who came here with an open heart and a desire to be REAL and PRESENT and fucking HUMAN. What a gift she would’ve been to this community.
Semi-related: why is it ok for Liz Gilbert to be here but not Glennon Doyle? Roxanne Gay? Why is it ok for all of the other well-published/well-known writers on Substack but not her??
Gd, at a time we all need each other so deeply, why do we turn on each other and devour? Ughhhhh.
Right there with you, Selah. The main complaint I’ve seen (which is stupid at the highest height of stupidity) is HOW she arrived.. by declaring herself as I’m Here.. that’s it. That’s what people were big mad about. She shouldn’t have been so real, so herself, so BIG. Everyone freaked out because she had 250k subscribers who followed her (she imported her email list! Let’s all clutch our pearls).
It sickens and saddens me how petty women were towards her.
Under the guise of protecting the Substack space from bigger people? Because you know this is the space for the “little” guys… I’m going to assume these other women don’t know about ALL of the super famous people here who have hundreds of thousands of subscribers.. but they’re men, so it’s acceptable.
It’s all bullshit. And we’re not better for it. We just took 100 steps backwards instead of moving forward. We alienated one of the biggest hearts and voices that is so needed right now in this moment. (I say collective we- but what I really mean is they.)
I really hope these purists take a good long look in the mirror and figure out themselves out.
This is so sad.. and so dissapointing. Even writers I know and respect wrote about her coming here and how it's "taking over the feed" like come on. There is space for everyone. Especially an LGBTQ2 woman. For real. This is tragic.
Why cant there be space for everyone. Why are we all competing for scraps when we are all medicine for someone, and our uniqueness is what makes us powerful. Sigh!
Knocked the wind right out of me. I didn't sleep well either. But shattered illusions bring clarity, and I'm super clear now on who I can count on to cheer me on when I show up fully messy and divine. At least there's that.
People got upset because she came here with a big platform and now there’s all these “nuanced” conversations that need to take place to talk about whether or not people who are successful should be allowed here.
It’s ridiculous. No one did this to ANY of the male journalists who came over here and amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. Seems that her coming here pushed a bunch of buttons and made people mad and uncomfortable so she left.
Mesa, my heart feels very much like yours. I want to put a protective wall up around myself.
However, that goes against everything I know and have learned so far about life, recovery, healing and being fully human in this one precious life I GET to live, which really is so very short.
So many lessons to learn, what do I get to learn today?
So, instead of the protective wall I will continue to show up, as best I can, over and over and over, with a wide open heart and love, and then...I will love some more.
I believe in my marrow that love always wins and as long as I have breath in lung I will champion for that awesome power which, at the end of every road, is what we human's are searching for.
I will echo Nan, please don't leave, your goodness, your heart is needed here now more than ever.
This is one of my favorite poems ~ sending love to ALL, today and always❤️
****
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta.”
I felt shitty in the wake of what went down and began to question and worry and negative - speak myself down a rabbit hole. But then I thought about everything I’ve gained from being here, the people I have connected to, and yes, the risks I’ve taken by putting myself out there after decades of not writing, dealing with chronic illness and depression. People can be shitty, but I believe most people are good.
This is a wonderful post and I also feel like people are jealous of Glennon. My lived experience has been the bullying is a form of jealousy. I too, had to leave Instagram, not from bullying, but the relentless pressure to continuing to produce content and gain followers.
The whole thing is stupid. There are so many truly awful people on this platform who preach hate, and yet a minority of very loud voices shouted down someone who came to share love. It's beyond sickening.
I posted this because your words inspired me Mesa: People can be cruel. Hateful, resentful, envious, unkind. They can bully. I’ve lived through plenty of that.
And instead of holding on to some utopian vision of community, I’m learning—thanks in no small part to Glennon—that the real work is learning how to be in these circles. To show up, to bring love, to embody love in the midst of it all. And sometimes it’s to leave the table when love is no longer being served.
Love is not weakness. Love is a fire—and yes, it can burn when needed.
I’m learning to affirm and assert my right to be here. To decline the seat I’m offered if it comes at the cost of my dignity. And if someone shoves up next to me and tries to push me out of the seat that is mine, I will not move. I will reseat myself. Firmly.
That seat is mine. It belongs to me—not because I took it from someone else, but because I showed up and claimed my chair.
I’m so glad you took your seat @Mesa Fama — you are teaching me lessons about how to stay. Don’t stop.
Thank you Mesa. All so well said. Do people who criticized really not realize how many other established writers are here? We can all choose who to follow and subscribe to- why not just scroll on by if she’s not your cup of tea? I’m glad you’re still here. I value your voice.
Powerful! Gut wrenching. I believe that love and humanity and compassion will rise above the hate and fear. I believe in us as a community for all that is good and kind. We rise above the bullies and evil. 'Omnia Vincit Amor' Love conquers all. 💞
I’m with you, Mesa. I somehow missed it all in action. I’ve been crazy busy of late and not on notes and stuff as much as usual. But whatever it is, what is going on? The bullying is absolutely intolerable.
I still believe I have some beautiful and wonderful support and connections here, and I hope you do too.
Sending a hug. And hoping you’re as successful and your personality is as wonderfully large as can be.
Thanks, darling. I agree with you, and I do want to acknowledge that though our suppositions are likely on target, part of our reaction is to project what happened, although the evidence ti support our assumptions was demonstrated by a too many people here. I commented yesterday:
"I know her name and her fame, but I’m not familiar with her work. I also don’t know for sure why she left, and projecting meaning isn’t always the best way for me to go, but the uproar had to have an effect. It had an effect on me. Substack is a microcosm of the world. Why wouldn’t there be room for her? I think people shot themselves in the foot. She brought in so many subscribers. I wonder how many people thought that maybe bringing in a whole new audience could benefit us in the long run, too. Oh, well. It’s very sad."
People tend to show their smaller selves when they feel threatened. They play it mean and act like bullies.
The most important thing to me here on Substack is the generosity I've experienced from others and the generosity I get to extend outward. Cultivating it, inspiring it in others, and reading great writing…and hopefully filling a need for the people who choose to read me. I get such a kick out of championing others. But I’ve always been that way. FB and Insta and all the others are tired and weird, and I don’t want to be in those places anymore. Substack is a microcosm of real life. If we aren’t civil with one another it just becomes another dysfunctional system. Not interested in that.
Please don't leave, Mesa. We have to stay and be the people who model what it is to be in community with others. Love you so much. XO
Thank you, Nan. I appreciate your perspective so much. I tried so hard to ignore all of the noise and just chalked it up to people peopleing and hoped it would fade, but I think we all forget that words are sticky sometimes and they have an impact. It's always interesting to me when people behave this way, and also sad. It saddens me to no end. I also love to champion others and have thoroughly enjoyed being here.
I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. My eyes are wide open now though. Seeing far bigger accounts than mine who spoke out against her being here felt jarring. People I looked up to and considered successful and inspirational. It feels disheartening.
I'm glad you're here, Nan. I appreciate you and respect you and love you so very much.
I woke up to a refund for my subscription and had to google what was going on. My heart is just broken over this. I fell in love with Glennon and her writing and her stories and her heart over the past four years and she has been such an important guiding light through a difficult time. What the fuck is wrong with people? I can imagine what this feels like from her side (sort of), and I’m just SO. SAD. she is a beautiful human who came here with an open heart and a desire to be REAL and PRESENT and fucking HUMAN. What a gift she would’ve been to this community.
Semi-related: why is it ok for Liz Gilbert to be here but not Glennon Doyle? Roxanne Gay? Why is it ok for all of the other well-published/well-known writers on Substack but not her??
Gd, at a time we all need each other so deeply, why do we turn on each other and devour? Ughhhhh.
Right there with you, Selah. The main complaint I’ve seen (which is stupid at the highest height of stupidity) is HOW she arrived.. by declaring herself as I’m Here.. that’s it. That’s what people were big mad about. She shouldn’t have been so real, so herself, so BIG. Everyone freaked out because she had 250k subscribers who followed her (she imported her email list! Let’s all clutch our pearls).
It sickens and saddens me how petty women were towards her.
Under the guise of protecting the Substack space from bigger people? Because you know this is the space for the “little” guys… I’m going to assume these other women don’t know about ALL of the super famous people here who have hundreds of thousands of subscribers.. but they’re men, so it’s acceptable.
It’s all bullshit. And we’re not better for it. We just took 100 steps backwards instead of moving forward. We alienated one of the biggest hearts and voices that is so needed right now in this moment. (I say collective we- but what I really mean is they.)
I really hope these purists take a good long look in the mirror and figure out themselves out.
This is so sad.. and so dissapointing. Even writers I know and respect wrote about her coming here and how it's "taking over the feed" like come on. There is space for everyone. Especially an LGBTQ2 woman. For real. This is tragic.
I think that was the hardest part for me - seeing people I genuinely respect and admire be this way.
Why cant there be space for everyone. Why are we all competing for scraps when we are all medicine for someone, and our uniqueness is what makes us powerful. Sigh!
Exactly. I’m so very much right there with you, Emily <3
Knocked the wind right out of me. I didn't sleep well either. But shattered illusions bring clarity, and I'm super clear now on who I can count on to cheer me on when I show up fully messy and divine. At least there's that.
So very true!! Thanks for being a lighthouse in my life <3
What the heck did Substack do to her? I missed it.
People got upset because she came here with a big platform and now there’s all these “nuanced” conversations that need to take place to talk about whether or not people who are successful should be allowed here.
It’s ridiculous. No one did this to ANY of the male journalists who came over here and amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. Seems that her coming here pushed a bunch of buttons and made people mad and uncomfortable so she left.
Thank you for showing up regardless of the noise that comes with success 👏🏼
Mesa, my heart feels very much like yours. I want to put a protective wall up around myself.
However, that goes against everything I know and have learned so far about life, recovery, healing and being fully human in this one precious life I GET to live, which really is so very short.
So many lessons to learn, what do I get to learn today?
So, instead of the protective wall I will continue to show up, as best I can, over and over and over, with a wide open heart and love, and then...I will love some more.
I believe in my marrow that love always wins and as long as I have breath in lung I will champion for that awesome power which, at the end of every road, is what we human's are searching for.
I will echo Nan, please don't leave, your goodness, your heart is needed here now more than ever.
This is one of my favorite poems ~ sending love to ALL, today and always❤️
****
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta.”
Thanks so much for sharing your heart and thoughts with me 🩵
I’m not going anywhere 🩵
👏❤️🔥
I felt shitty in the wake of what went down and began to question and worry and negative - speak myself down a rabbit hole. But then I thought about everything I’ve gained from being here, the people I have connected to, and yes, the risks I’ve taken by putting myself out there after decades of not writing, dealing with chronic illness and depression. People can be shitty, but I believe most people are good.
This is a wonderful post and I also feel like people are jealous of Glennon. My lived experience has been the bullying is a form of jealousy. I too, had to leave Instagram, not from bullying, but the relentless pressure to continuing to produce content and gain followers.
Absolutely beautiful Mesa...I just hate that it had to be written 💔
Thank you friend. Me too.
Beautiful and brave expression of your heart and feelings on the subject!
Thank you, Breeann!
The whole thing is stupid. There are so many truly awful people on this platform who preach hate, and yet a minority of very loud voices shouted down someone who came to share love. It's beyond sickening.
I posted this because your words inspired me Mesa: People can be cruel. Hateful, resentful, envious, unkind. They can bully. I’ve lived through plenty of that.
And instead of holding on to some utopian vision of community, I’m learning—thanks in no small part to Glennon—that the real work is learning how to be in these circles. To show up, to bring love, to embody love in the midst of it all. And sometimes it’s to leave the table when love is no longer being served.
Love is not weakness. Love is a fire—and yes, it can burn when needed.
I’m learning to affirm and assert my right to be here. To decline the seat I’m offered if it comes at the cost of my dignity. And if someone shoves up next to me and tries to push me out of the seat that is mine, I will not move. I will reseat myself. Firmly.
That seat is mine. It belongs to me—not because I took it from someone else, but because I showed up and claimed my chair.
I’m so glad you took your seat @Mesa Fama — you are teaching me lessons about how to stay. Don’t stop.
Thank you, Kelly. I appreciate you more than words can say right now 😭😭🩵
🫶
Thank you Mesa. All so well said. Do people who criticized really not realize how many other established writers are here? We can all choose who to follow and subscribe to- why not just scroll on by if she’s not your cup of tea? I’m glad you’re still here. I value your voice.
Thank you for being here too, Wendy 🩵🩵🩵
Powerful! Gut wrenching. I believe that love and humanity and compassion will rise above the hate and fear. I believe in us as a community for all that is good and kind. We rise above the bullies and evil. 'Omnia Vincit Amor' Love conquers all. 💞
I’m with you, Mesa. I somehow missed it all in action. I’ve been crazy busy of late and not on notes and stuff as much as usual. But whatever it is, what is going on? The bullying is absolutely intolerable.
I still believe I have some beautiful and wonderful support and connections here, and I hope you do too.
Sending a hug. And hoping you’re as successful and your personality is as wonderfully large as can be.
Big hugs to you, Holly 🩵🩵🩵 Thank you!