What’s Up with The Letdown?
Where have I been and what have I been doing?
Dearest Gentle Reader,
It’s been awhile since I’ve written. So many things have happened. That’s life, that’s what all the people say…
It keeps coming like waves on a beach. Sometimes I feel like I am deposited gently on shore like the conch shells in Moana. Other times I feel I’ve been dashed on the rocks like Prince Eric. Ariel is not coming to save me. And even if she did, I’d tell her, “b*tch, do NOT give up your voice for a man.”
One of the biggest things that happened is that my mom died in July 2024 after an eight-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. I wish I could tell you that I’ve been glamping in the wilderness to assuage my grief. The truth is we planned a huge funeral in a week, then school started, then it was Halloween, the holidays and now here we all are in January 2025. The grief catches me all the time. Yesterday I was driving my son home from speech therapy and we were listening to a song about body parts. We came down the hill just at the moment when the sun hit the Ohio river a certain way. The tears came - my mom would be doing this. She would be so involved with his therapies. But I have to keep my eyes on the road and moving forward.
The other big thing is the real estate company my husband and I started, EmpowerMe Living. It’s a real estate company on a mission to change the housing landscape for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Really what we’re trying to do is build places for people to belong - something we all can relate to as part of the human condition. We believe people with I/DD should have choices that best meet their needs and preferences. It’s that simple. Yet it is not because of history, society, and bureaucracy. I’m an enneagram four and sometimes it is spine-tingling how well-suited I am for this work. I am not afraid to be different, I will read, research and build relationships, and I can sit with the full gamut of feelings around these issues. Going back to the ocean metaphor, when I think about what’s possible with this work it seems as powerful, overwhelming and vast as the ocean. I had the great pleasure to do two incredible interviews about our work and I’ll share them here:
The Lucky Few Podcast Interview
Hear My Story Interview
I have a full box of Let it Flow journals sitting under my desk at home. I had a whole strategy and set of goals mapped out to sell them. Lots of competing priorities have prevented me from doing so. If I’m honest, I don’t have the energy to find the energy and time to do it right now. Which is similar to why I haven’t been writing The Letdown for awhile. I just haven’t made the time or have the energy to make the time. Substack became so much more like social media than I thought it would and I don’t like social media. I don’t want to have to work at it. It’s a lot to keep up with! And the paywalls! I feel resigned to the fact that the algo always wins and my machinations to beat it won’t amount to much. I am not in a Pitt and Clooney Ocean’s 11 mindset right now to take on the house.
Yet, I started this column to give myself a creative outlet and have fun. I love writing and I love the feeling when I am really in the zone and the words, well, flow. If only my breastmilk would have done the same…ha! If it did I wouldn’t be writing this column! So my low-key goal is to get at it once a month.
I thank you very much for your continued support. Thank you for reading.
I’d love to know what you’ve been up to - please tell me!
XOXO and Cheers!
Emily
Glad to know what you’ve been up to! And I hope you go easy on yourself about selling your lovely books! They are evergreen 💚