42 Comments
User's avatar
Jane Trombley's avatar

Every. Single. Word. Is true. HRC is the best US export we’ve had in some time, and you, my dear Canadians, have demonstrated what friendship and integrity mean. Do you need one more very large northeastern province?

Joanna Lawson's avatar

Oh this is very familiar. I got on here to write and then quickly became an addict of everyone else’s stuff. I have a book here that I borrowed from the library 3 weeks ago only half read and hardly anything written because I am on here. I haven’t yet learned how to manage to flow.

Kevin Ferguson's avatar

Always interesting to read people's origin story. Cheers to you Alice!

Mary Anne Ferguson's avatar

well Alice getting up at 3am to check if your drug supply has arrived is a tad much!!. I am now feeling kinda guilty being quite "clean" with my basic Alice and Heather 2 dose drug supply which does the trick and happily fuels me for the week . Any cessation from either of you would cause deterioration however!

Mary Anne

Ms. Writer's avatar

At least the Substack habit won't add to the numbers on my scale, like the ice cream would!

I could spend all day, every day, reading and NEVER miss housework, laundry, and the mundane parts of living. However, I've also started enjoying other things, such as a flower garden, dabbling in art, and finally going through/organizing hundreds of family photos. It means spending less time on Substack, but that's okay. Variety is the spice of life, and who can't appreciate a bit of spice!!

Lynne Tanner's avatar

Alice! You go girl. I have missed you terribly. Hopefully someday the mess we are in in America will end.

Yours with love, Lynne

Katie Kinnear's avatar

Exciting to be part of such a distinguished group! I start my day with Heather and enjoy A Considerable Age on the weekend.

Thank you

Karen Rand Anderson's avatar

Brilliant description of my own growing Substack experience , tho I’m nowhere near as deep into the “addiction” as I’ve only been “using” for a little over a year. There is so much value and meaning and knowledge to drink in (including cooking stuff and Tasmanian travels ) that I have to curate and edit which subscriptions I actually have time to read, no easy task. I’m so grateful for them all. Thanks for sharing your insight and brilliance , Alice 🇨🇦

Prajna O'Hara's avatar

This was a lot of fun to read. Thank you. Love, Heather Cox and I also don’t need menopause advice but I’m sure many women do.

Enjoy your addiction

Sue Fleck's avatar

Totally get this!!

Sue Fleck's avatar

Totally get this!!

Peter Frood's avatar

I am stumped. For some reason my MAC wants me to download yet another app in order to download the Substack app. I will not do that so I am stuck providing comments to posts on my IPad. I am not sharing stuff that I have written but that is ok and perhaps it provides a certain discipline.

jen parker's avatar

I’m a junkie too, Alice! Fully relate here. But must make one correction: Heather teaches at Boston College, my alma mater. I don’t want BU getting any credit for her brilliance ;)

Lin Morency Buckland's avatar

Dear Alice. I'm addicted to Heather Cox Richardson too, though mercifully not at 3 a.m. But there she is in my inbox when I have my morning coffee. The trouble is, her excellent analysis notwithstanding, the subject of her pieces these days is often a pretty discouraging way to start the day. And the news pages that are my other usual morning read are often even worse. As Substack colleagues have reminded us, gardens, books, family, friends all help to provide a positive balance. Still, these are not easy times to be observing or reflecting on, either for HCR or for us. Thank you for sharing your experience so thoughtfully - and wittily.

Jinks Hoffmann's avatar

So you write. So you subscribe. As my mother used to say when, as a child I ran to her for comfort after falling, may that be the worst thing that ever happens to you.

Frankly, your "addiction" is our blessing!

Bryan Demchinsky's avatar

Never stop, Alice. Just manage your addiction and don’t let it manage you, and you’ll be okay. (There’s probably a column to be written about managing information overload, and if I could come out from my own, I’d write it.)