The way time passes is nuts. This week marks the third birthday of WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE! That feels so wild to write that I had to actively resist multiple exclamation points.
On one level, I cannot believe it has been three years. On another, it makes sense. This space has informed how I want to show up in the world, shaped my writing, and steered me towards divinity school, which I start next month. That is a solid three years’ worth of progress.
As OG readers know, it is also time for my annual pledge drive.
On this publication’s first birthday, I introduced paid sponsorships. At the time, I shared in detail why I did it, and offered more insight last year, on our second birthday. My thoughts about taking power back from tech bro overlords and high-fiving over women being brave enough to ask for money in exchange for their time still apply.
The time has come for me to say…
Hey, this is my annual pledge drive! If you enjoy this publication, will you consider becoming a sponsor?
Yes, a pledge drive. Just like NPR. Except I keep it to one email per year, which is partly for you and partly because my likability hangups will always be a blessing and a curse.
Forty-three original essays were published on WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE this year, and twenty-six audio essays were produced. If one added something to your life, or if you enjoyed following along, please consider becoming a sponsor.
Several tiers are available to make sponsorship accessible. They range from less than a quarter for each piece of content you receive to a dollar and a half. Here’s what they look like.
Can you become a sponsor of WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE this year?
If you’re curious, here’s a peek behind the scenes on why I ask for sponsorship, where WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE has been, and where we’re going next.
WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE is a labor of love. I spend about 15 hours on it per week, give or take, which added up to around 780 hours this past year, and something close to 2500 hours over the past three years. That doesn’t include the number of hours I spend walking and thinking while ideas coalesce in the back of my brain.
It is my honor and great pleasure to create this publication, and it remains a priority to keep it free for all. At the same time, existing in capitalism means we all need to be compensated for our time, which is why I am asking now for your contributions to make this publication possible.
To keep WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE free and honor my need for compensation, I created sponsorships. As a bonus, they protect all of us from the ad-driven and spammy content typically used to attract attention on the internet.
The tech bro overlords have conditioned us to expect free content online. Why? Because they profit from our attention. Content created for the internet attracts attention, and attention attracts money.
But in most cases the money doesn’t go to the people creating content. It goes to tech bro overlords.
In the words of the great Ann Friedman, “Writing isn’t free. Great writing isn’t free. Writing that arrives regularly isn’t free.”
Making a conscious choice to pay artists and writers for online media tips the power balance back towards the people, and away from the overlords. Here we are, creating new economies driven by something more thoughtful and meaningful than shareholder profit. Here we are, paying for things that add value that isn’t measurable to our lives. Here we are, creating a microcosm of a world we’d like to live in.
Supporting WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE helps create a visionary landscape in which artists and writers can create things that are not beholden to ads and the attention economy. On a personal level, it links my calling to my livelihood, compensates me for my time, and helps keep me afloat.
Thank you so much for your contributions!
My life is transitioning this year to include divinity school. Keeping this space vibrant, and our conversations regular and vital, is deeply important to me. No question about it. Though my publication schedule will likely shift a little to accommodate my program, I am not going anywhere.
WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE will be my primary job in graduate school, so in the future, I may consider making it a paid publication. But for now, and likely for a while, the model is staying the same. Sponsorships, baby.
Will you become a sponsor this year?
When I think about the ground we have covered together over the past three years, I feel so moved that you’ve gone down this road with me. Thank you for creating space in your hearts, minds, and inboxes for my voice. It has actually changed my life.
I just got a little choked up when I wrote that!!!!!! So I allowed myself these exclamation points to celebrate.
Know that each click of the heart, email, comment, or DM you send in return to my work means the world to me.
This year.
We realized that to create a better world, we need more than legislation. I traveled west, where I felt my heart expand and heard coyotes sing. I figured out how to make room for blessings and learned something from Daoism beside the Rio Grande.
I almost ran out of gas in the middle of Far West Texas. Then in Nashville, I remembered how to celebrate amidst a pandemic. A sore throat taught me how to slow down as we headed into Winter, and I realized that, as artists, all we really want is to look out into the audience and find someone singing along.
I saw myself mirrored in nature in Taos, and when it was time, I started a new year very, very slowly. When John’s coat was stolen during a bomb cyclone blizzard in New York, the care and keeping of friends took my breath away.
In February, my favorite piece I’ve ever written was published by Catapult. It was followed by one of my all-time favorite essays for WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE, which explores how to find answers when we need them.
As my life began to change in big ways mid-winter, I reported live from the pit of fear. Then I finally moved to New York and listened closely to its messages.
Around that time, I went nuts! I stood in awe of being married ten years, and I learned the secret to happiness. I discovered heaven all around me when I caught a glimpse of eternity. I revisited the time a friend said I just needed god when I got really sick.
When our country entered a period of despair, I found despair’s only antidote and held on tight. Then we all agreed that simply feeling okay right now, in this era, is enough.
Next, I shared some big news that started with a whisper from the universe. And at Father’s Day, a hard time for me, I learned that our brains handle grief in a way that gives me hope. I marveled at women and birthing people, who will keep sustaining life more fragile than their own no matter what. Finally I leaned into the stillness of summer, between seasons, between tragedies, and between laughs.
That was year three of WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE. Will you become a sponsor today?
If you’d like to revisit the roads we walked together in year two, you can explore them here.
I am excited about the year ahead, whatever beauty and struggle it may hold. I am so glad you are here. Thank you, as always, for reading my work.
With gratitude,
LM
The audio version of WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE is published every Wednesday. Last week’s, which was about embracing the stillness and pleasure of summer, is available on Spotify, Apple, Substack, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE is written by Lauren Maxwell. Can you help us grow? Send this to a friend and ask them to subscribe. Share it on Instagram and tag @lauren_only. If you enjoy this work become a sponsor, which makes this publication possible and keeps it free for all. Every gesture of support is appreciated!