(No Time) Quite Like the Present

Or why it took me this long to start a newsletter.

Hi there,

Welcome to my newsletter! Photo by Jessica Jacobson

Thank you for subscribing to my channel!! ; )

Presently, I am on a cross-Canada flight from Vancouver, BC to St. John’s, Newfoundland (to attend the Canadian Folk Music Awards taking place this weekend.) Yes- I am thrilled just to be nominated, and yes I am attending in person because NEWFOUNDLAND, and also because it’s simply nice to be invited, but mostly because I wanted to dine at Portage.

The only thing more thrilling than being nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award is winning a Canadian Folk Music Award.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I find myself suspended in mid-air, outside of my earthly routines, I get this urge to catch up on all the things that I never seem to have the time for: Read a book! Binge that tv show everyone’s talking about! Knock everything off my TO-DO list!

One item that has sat collecting dust on my forever to-do list (going on 20 years?) is: Start a newsletter. Why have I dragged my (sparkly) heels on this for so long? Denial? Laziness? Anxiety-driven procrastination?

The intention to start a newsletter has long been entangled in the boring bureaucracy of my brain: what will my vibe be? How do I make it clever or cute or at least sort-of interesting? Will I inadvertently show my age by putting two spaces behind a period? (how embarrassing!) How will I ever maintain consistency? (I’m thinking that once-a-month is a reasonable goal?). Will I inevitably start every newsletter henceforth with an apology for months of silence? (how painful!) Will I obsessively edit/rewrite/rethink/rework everything I write? (I have, and I will.)

But there are two main reasons that I am doing this now:

My loving team at Outside Music have ever-so gently and tenderly urged me to start a direct-to-audience newsletter FOR YEARS. It just makes sense.

The other reason is that my constant negotiation and on-again/off-again relationship with an increasingly toxic and divisive social media landscape has left me depressed, dispirited, and forced me to redesign the perimeters of my online communication (I also TURNED OFF ALL e-mail and text notifications on my phone-a radical move?! More on that in my NEXT newsletter ; ) 

Maybe I’m just feeling hopeful cuz I’m on a plane, but… I feel like newsletters are the new (old?!) better “social media” for real people.

So rather than chastise my former self for throwing away years of opportunity to connect with and engage people thoughtfully and authentically via the humble newsletter, I will simply say: “you’re welcome” to my future self for getting started when I did (now.)

There’s no time like the present, and no better present than time, so it is therefore TIME TO PRESENT: A Note to Follow So (a nostalgic nod to my first-ever ep, and this musical)

A few things I’d like to share with you:

1. This song that I wish I wrote, by Barbra Lica (only listen to it if you are woman over 40)

2. This video that I made for the latest single Padam padam from my upcoming french covers album ENCORE!, directed by Michael Makaroff, where I got to let my inner french mime shine.

3. This link to preorder ENCORE! which comes out June 14th, 2024

Thank you for joining me on the maiden voyage of The SS Newsletter! 

Will there ever be another one? Only time will tell…

Most Sincerely,

Jill

Dining at Portage in St. John’s, Newfoundland- cheers!

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