Lemonade

Greetings from JULY! It’s high summer! It’s a revelation every time.

This is a different kind of broadcast.

It’s my one-year anniversary of doing this Substack thing. If you’re reading this, THANK YOU! Truly. I really appreciate the few people who’ve been reading and volleying ideas around with me here and there. That’s been so lovely! But to be honest, I mostly do feel like I’m singing my heart out into the void. And not to be a grump, but I’m getting a little. . . tired of the feeling.

I’ve always been die-hard about doing what I love and enthusiastic about sharing potentially helpful snips of it with people. I’ve enjoyed writing this rhapsodic broadcast all these months, and I’m proud of myself for sticking with it so consistently—historically, not one of my strengths. So that feels good. And I’m proud of what I’ve written. I hope a little bit of it has helped a little, because that’s been my intention all along, to help others by sharing some of the stuff that preoccupies me. Maybe give you some ideas, make you laugh. The mind, the imagination, emotional ninja moves, creativity, language, creative writing, books, how to bank some extra hope where we can and keep the heart’s porchlight on. ✨💛✨

There’s lots of good stuff here on Substack, and on the other socials too. People riffing and laughing and shining and sharing. I love that—but at the end of the day, competing for attention just isn’t for me. Everything feels so. . . crowded.

And not to be that guy, but screens are also so flat and inanimate and disorienting, so lacking in warmth and subtlety and texture, so removed from our natural world. The people and technology behind many of these platforms, too, are problematic at best. The internet and online culture more broadly is performative and seductive in ways that make me emotionally squirmy. And yet, in my way . . . I’ve been trying. Using it to try.

But the fact is, I am that guy! 😂 Most of me wants to opt out of all of it, most of the time. And trying takes a lot of time and energy, which is time and energy I could be using more constructively at this point on my end. Maybe we all could.

So this is the official hiatus of the weekly Star in the Margin broadcast, which was my last-ditch, hail-Mary effort to find a way to keep (sort of) teaching. I came! I experimented. I tried. I definitely did not conquer, but then again conquering isn’t my style and, for better or for worse, I’m never setting out to conquer anyway. I’m setting out to shine, when and however much I can, and to hold and illuminate a space for others to shine, too. ✨

I may be back! Who knows? But right now it’s time for me to move on to different projects and experiments that I hope can be more holistically enriching, can make more of the bigger positive, creative impact I’m after, and where all the wild stuff I catch in my big weird net has the room it needs to land.

As a parting gift, here’s a note from my creative journal that I flip past all the time:

All transitions bring with them the possibility of positive change.

And a line from my current writing project:

The thing about life's lemonade is that you have to make it yourself, and the thing about making it yourself is that you need more than lemons. If all you’ve got are the lemons then you’re just making lemon juice.

I might pop back in from time to time just because I feel like sharing something weird, or something that strikes me as too interesting or helpful or exciting to keep to myself. But I’ll be redirecting most of my creative and motivational efforts Otherwhere. Regrouping for growth. As usual, and because I already have the lemons, looking for the sugar and the light.

Becoming means blooming because it happens in a loop.

Thanks so much to everyone who’s been supportive of this space. I’ve really enjoyed tending it from week to week and it’s meant a lot to me.

✨💛✨

Love & light from the margins,

ali ✨

Star in the Margin is free and open to all, but does require lots of time, love, and energy! If you’re into the vibe and want to cheer me on. . .

Buy me a coffee! ☺️

Related reading:

STAR IN THE MARGIN: The Backstory

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July 3, 2025

Some of you know that I lost my teaching job(s) over the past several years. The work of teaching has always been a revelation for me as a person: how much I love it, how I've adored and admired my students, how exciting and interesting it is getting to plan weird capers through the shimmering forests of perception, imagination, and medium, and then set…