OMG Brother Ben, you're like the godfather of Substack for me and so many others. The inspiration behind Same Walk, Different Shoes was brilliant, and the results were profoundly kind and empathetic and just bloody entertaining. Thank you for the call-out, and thank you for your friendship. 💛⭐💛
Ah, I’m blushing, Troy. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement this year. You were one of the first complete strangers I met here to validate my work with your wonderful feedback. Can’t wait to read the latest installment of Lamb!
You had your ❤️ at friggin’ 10,000 views. 🙇 And then to see my own work cited, well, Happy Friday indeed. What a generous labor of love, Ben. You’ve inspired many both writers and readers. Thank you. You’re going to need a staff for Round 2.
Thanks, Kate. I just realized I did not include a link to your story here even though I loved and and meant to. I will do that now! Thank you for being a part of the project. Your presence elevated the collection.
Aw thanks so much Ben 🙏🏽 I appreciate that but you really don’t have to do that! I’ve gained so much from this. I’m still going back to about half the stories I only had a chance to look at quickly. Family time 😅 just back off the plane and hoping to rally for tomorrow’s meet-up! 🙌🏽
Seriously inspiring words today. Very useful for me as well.
So incredibly honored to be among the handful you shared, especially considering how truly great those other stories are. Wonderful project. Thank you so much for all the tireless effort you poured into it.
That was a great little piece. I wanted to participate in your project, but I felt the life changing event that affected me was too traumatic to share under these circumstances -- not for any reader, or writer, but for myself. I wrote about my own story as as exercise in therapy, but I think I still need time to heal before I'm able to hand that off to someone else. I've been reading the stories a few at a time, and will continue to. I have made a promise to myself that if you do this again I AM going to throw my hat into the ring. The most recent and tragic event in my life is not necessarily the only event that shaped my life, and I have to go back and look at that. I need to flex my writerly muscles and see where I can go with them. I look forward to Round 2.
Oh Ben, I'm sorry to hear that you've suffered and I totally understand not being ready/able to share it even anonymously. I will say here (and I'll make it clear for the next round) that a transformative event doesn't always have to be traumatic. I found some beautiful stories came out of quiet and subtle events that shaped the contributors' lives. I do hope you'll join us next time around. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
I totally agree. I discovered that when I started reading through the stories. I suppose it was just where my headspace was when I first read what you were planning.
"Lifting others is the best way to grow" = words to live by. Thank you for this beautiful reminder and for being setting such a fine example through your writing and actions. I'm so glad we've connected here and will always be grateful to you for reading and sharing my work - and especially for enJOYing it, which is what I'm here for! So excited to see what emerges for all of us in 2024.
This was a wonderful way to spend 12 minutes, Ben. Thank you for sharing my story among your standouts. 💜 I'm about halfway through the collection now, and it's been amazing to meet with so many new voices.
With regard to lifting up other writers, I can think of no other person in my Substack circle who practices that with more generosity than you. I'm so grateful our creative paths have crossed, and I look forward to continuing to build up this community with you in the coming year. 🥂
P.S. I fell off the Harmony House wagon and I'm sorry. It's not for lack of genuine interest in the journey, as much as very real year end fatigue and overwhelm. I'm glad you have a stout group of supporters in that camp with you, even if I'm running late to the marshmallow roast.
I’m close to finishing all the stories in Same Walk, and have been blown away by the sheer artistry and inspiring writing. I’m so grateful for this entire experience. That being said, it’s meant that I’m three weeks behind on Harmony House! So I hope to read those soon. Thanks for all your contributions to this amazing community, Ben!
Avoiding the self-promo “river of suck” by lifting up other writers/artists was already part of my 2024 writing goals - but now I have an excellent visual for just the artistic work I want to do - thank you, for your work, your words and your wisdom!
Thanks for the shoutout, Ben. You put together an incredible project with SWDS and it's amazing how many contributions you received and the sheer quality of them. I'm still working my way through them.
Couldn't agree more on the lifting-up of others over self-promotion. It's great that Substack has such easy means of doing that.
Congratulations on the epic number of Harmony House views. What's a milestone for a fantastic story. May many more eyeballs fall across your words 🤗
Thanks so much, friend. Looking forward to another year of sharing work with each other. Hope you're able to join us tomorrow. I know it will be early your time.
Thanks Ben. I'm going to try. The time isn't too bad, it's just how the jetlag is and, ironically, whether I'll actually be up and out of the house at that time from being awake so early 😆
Ben, I love you. That’s all. Thank you for being you. I’m so happy we get to be in community together. I have HH queued up for my train journey today and I cannot wait. You’re a gift ❤️
OMG Brother Ben, you're like the godfather of Substack for me and so many others. The inspiration behind Same Walk, Different Shoes was brilliant, and the results were profoundly kind and empathetic and just bloody entertaining. Thank you for the call-out, and thank you for your friendship. 💛⭐💛
Ah, I’m blushing, Troy. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement this year. You were one of the first complete strangers I met here to validate my work with your wonderful feedback. Can’t wait to read the latest installment of Lamb!
You had your ❤️ at friggin’ 10,000 views. 🙇 And then to see my own work cited, well, Happy Friday indeed. What a generous labor of love, Ben. You’ve inspired many both writers and readers. Thank you. You’re going to need a staff for Round 2.
Thank you so much, Adam. I've learned so much from reading your work the past year. Such an important discovery for me.
Such a wonderful message yet again! Really love the whole ethos you’re channeling on your Substack in addition to the great fiction. 😃💫📚
Thanks, Kate. I just realized I did not include a link to your story here even though I loved and and meant to. I will do that now! Thank you for being a part of the project. Your presence elevated the collection.
Aw thanks so much Ben 🙏🏽 I appreciate that but you really don’t have to do that! I’ve gained so much from this. I’m still going back to about half the stories I only had a chance to look at quickly. Family time 😅 just back off the plane and hoping to rally for tomorrow’s meet-up! 🙌🏽
Seriously inspiring words today. Very useful for me as well.
So incredibly honored to be among the handful you shared, especially considering how truly great those other stories are. Wonderful project. Thank you so much for all the tireless effort you poured into it.
My pleasure, Jordan. Thanks so much for contributing a story.
That was a great little piece. I wanted to participate in your project, but I felt the life changing event that affected me was too traumatic to share under these circumstances -- not for any reader, or writer, but for myself. I wrote about my own story as as exercise in therapy, but I think I still need time to heal before I'm able to hand that off to someone else. I've been reading the stories a few at a time, and will continue to. I have made a promise to myself that if you do this again I AM going to throw my hat into the ring. The most recent and tragic event in my life is not necessarily the only event that shaped my life, and I have to go back and look at that. I need to flex my writerly muscles and see where I can go with them. I look forward to Round 2.
Oh Ben, I'm sorry to hear that you've suffered and I totally understand not being ready/able to share it even anonymously. I will say here (and I'll make it clear for the next round) that a transformative event doesn't always have to be traumatic. I found some beautiful stories came out of quiet and subtle events that shaped the contributors' lives. I do hope you'll join us next time around. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
I totally agree. I discovered that when I started reading through the stories. I suppose it was just where my headspace was when I first read what you were planning.
"Lifting others is the best way to grow" = words to live by. Thank you for this beautiful reminder and for being setting such a fine example through your writing and actions. I'm so glad we've connected here and will always be grateful to you for reading and sharing my work - and especially for enJOYing it, which is what I'm here for! So excited to see what emerges for all of us in 2024.
Thank you, Julie. It’s such a great joy to connect with you and your brilliant writing.
This was a wonderful way to spend 12 minutes, Ben. Thank you for sharing my story among your standouts. 💜 I'm about halfway through the collection now, and it's been amazing to meet with so many new voices.
With regard to lifting up other writers, I can think of no other person in my Substack circle who practices that with more generosity than you. I'm so grateful our creative paths have crossed, and I look forward to continuing to build up this community with you in the coming year. 🥂
P.S. I fell off the Harmony House wagon and I'm sorry. It's not for lack of genuine interest in the journey, as much as very real year end fatigue and overwhelm. I'm glad you have a stout group of supporters in that camp with you, even if I'm running late to the marshmallow roast.
Thanks Meg, for your friendship and for contributing to this project. Your story was a truly original standout from the pack.
I’m close to finishing all the stories in Same Walk, and have been blown away by the sheer artistry and inspiring writing. I’m so grateful for this entire experience. That being said, it’s meant that I’m three weeks behind on Harmony House! So I hope to read those soon. Thanks for all your contributions to this amazing community, Ben!
Thank you Troy for your contribution to the project and for being such a dedicated reader of my work.
Avoiding the self-promo “river of suck” by lifting up other writers/artists was already part of my 2024 writing goals - but now I have an excellent visual for just the artistic work I want to do - thank you, for your work, your words and your wisdom!
Thanks Robin!
Thanks for the shoutout, Ben. You put together an incredible project with SWDS and it's amazing how many contributions you received and the sheer quality of them. I'm still working my way through them.
Couldn't agree more on the lifting-up of others over self-promotion. It's great that Substack has such easy means of doing that.
Congratulations on the epic number of Harmony House views. What's a milestone for a fantastic story. May many more eyeballs fall across your words 🤗
Thanks so much, friend. Looking forward to another year of sharing work with each other. Hope you're able to join us tomorrow. I know it will be early your time.
Thanks Ben. I'm going to try. The time isn't too bad, it's just how the jetlag is and, ironically, whether I'll actually be up and out of the house at that time from being awake so early 😆
Ben, I love you. That’s all. Thank you for being you. I’m so happy we get to be in community together. I have HH queued up for my train journey today and I cannot wait. You’re a gift ❤️