Hiatus

Again

Good morning, friends,

It’s 10:30 am, Pacific Standard Time, and I am once again spending my days sitting at a hospital bedside. Just like I was in Spring of 2022. Just like I was in Spring of 2023.  How many different calamities can one family bear? We are finding out the hard way. 

I haven’t wanted to drop you all a note and explain the silence, because I kept convincing myself that I should be working in between doctors and therapists and pharmacies and the dozens of other medical professionals who are currently in my daily orbit. I should be writing novels and newsletters, reading for pleasure and for the podcast, interviewing guests, keeping up on social media, all while not sleeping any hours and also still being a mom and wife and daughter and sister.

Insane, right?

About a year or so, Denise and I we were discussing that sticky, annoying topic that working moms always discuss: Work/Life Balance. And we came to this conclusion: it’s nice to talk about, but there really is no such thing. Life always wins. For me, and for the people I’ve gathered around me, and the role I want to model for my children, life always wins. People always come first. I love my work, deeply and passionately. But my people matter above anything and everything else. 

And so, I’m putting the podcast on hiatus for the time being. I’m aiming to return in the new year, but I’m not going to commit to anything right now. We don’t know what’s going to happen next with our hospital patient, and I’m not going to sacrifice a moment of real life looking at a screen. I look forward to reconnecting with you when the situation settles down a bit.

For you paid subscribers: I’ve paused all charges for the indefinite future, and you’ll get a few free months when I start up again. Thank you for your ongoing support of the Best Book Ever Podcast. You mean the world to me.

For you free subscribers: I may drop in with an update here and there, but it’s unlikely you’ll hear from me too often. Thank you for your ongoing support of the Best Book Ever Podcast. You mean the world to me.

One hospital story I want to share with you: every now and again, I hear the faint strains of Brahms Lullaby playing over the loudspeaker in the hallway. At first, I thought it was some sort of hypnotism trick - like maybe when patients get unruly, the staff plays a lullaby to calm people down? But then I learned that the music is played throughout the entire hospital whenever a baby is born in the maternity ward. Now I get weepy every time I hear it. I love to imagine the calm, wide eyes of a curious newborn, or the furious, scrunched-up eyes of a screaming newborn. (I had both kinds of babies!) I imagine the new parents kissing their baby’s head, breathing in that delicious powdery baby scent. It’s bizarre to me that babies are being born at this very moment. Intellectually, I know babies are born every minute of every day, no matter how scary the world is. And yet for some reason, every time it happens here, I am thrilled. Babies are being born! Life always wins. Hope always wins. Immense grief can be punctuated by pure joy. Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

I love you! I hope you are reading good books and loving up your people.

We’ll be in touch again soon,

OXO

Julie