Today’s Q&A is all about The Good Life. My good life, the preservation of the preciousness of it, and a nod to all the time and effort that’s already been put in. 

I could be talking about my life or the literary journal I co-founded five years ago. The Good Life review. 

To say one thing is a metaphor for the other is not right. It just doesn’t do justice to either and neither does comparing the two. But they are synonymous in so many ways. Every time I think of the good life, I can’t help but think of my own AND the journal. And not necessarily in that order. 

In truth, when the phrase comes up, as it often does because it’s also the long-lived motto of the State of Nebraska, my first thought is about the journal. Then I beam inside with pride because I did that. The journal would not exist without me. And that’s truth from the first moment until now, I’ve been at the helm. 

I have a huge distaste for titles, so I struggle with saying I’m the EIC, president, or founder (co-founder sounds better anyway, right?). 

At one point I changed my title on the Masthead to “Princess Peach” because Editor in Chief is so ick! And also hierarchy and systems developed by the patriarchy aren’t necessarily right for what’s needed going forward. I’m not saying they weren’t right in the time they were established, I’m saying changes are necessary because it’s 2024 and so many things are different now. 

I digress. My point is that The Good Life Review is my baby and I’ve put so much love into it. So much of my heart and soul, and not sure what to do now that I’m at the precipice of change. 

Like any system, procedure, or business, the landscape is ever/changing and we have to move to change with it or it may be doomed. It’s like every piece of documentation I wrote in support of the software systems I worked on—implementation guides,  architecture schematics, training manuals. When the software evolves because of new features and functions, the documentation becomes obsolete unless its updated. 

I digress again. Damn. 

The question posed is this: 

How can I change the Good Life project so that it’s less work. OR double down and really make it soar?! 

For those of you following along with this little experiment.. this is question number five from my existential musing, It’s only life after all. 

And since I’m not addressing each of the six questions in any particular order, this is the last one. It’s possibly the toughest to tackle and that’s probably why I haven’t yet. The other reason I haven’t is because I’ve been too damn busy working on stuff for the journal. 

In the last week I’ve done the following:

• Written a grant (our first) for funds to support 4 future projects that will make the journal more sustainable. It’s a grant offered by CLMP. 
• Worked on recruitment to entice two new people to join our team. 
• Followed up on dozens of emails. 
• Dealt with a technical issue with our email provider, which is still not resolved. UGH
• Managed differences of opinion among team members. 
• Posted to social media on behalf of the journal. 
• Reconciled bank records and updated our accounting spreadsheet. 

That’s a shit ton of work and adds up to a full time job. Not a part time job… a FULL TIME job. And it’s not like that’s an atypical week. Well, the grant is atypical cuz it’s our first and that took so much time. So… more than full time. 

The grant to support sustainability. Wowza.. how ironic. This level of effort is not sustainable. It’s actually not even sane. 😂 

If I had to write the grant all over again (given there was time), I would put more emphasis on ways we can get more help with existing operations. That’s a tricky thing because we don’t pay volunteers and it’s tough to make a case for stipends with “one time” funds. 

But if we could do that… pay people for doing things like grant writing or posting to social media, then that would free me up AND allow me to focus on other leadership things or just breathe. 

Breathing room and sanity are what this post is really about. I need it. I want to focus more on me. I love the journal and want to see it continue to thrive, so something has to change. But my question is so black and white, with two options: double down or quit. The answer truly doesn’t have to be so rigid. 

The answer is asking people around me for help. The answer lies is in identifying what I want to do and what I don’t want to do and how much effort is involved with all of it. It lies in balance and knowing when to say “no” and not jumping in immediately to try and make changes when someone makes suggestions or when shit goes sideways. 

I need to “sit with” new information and situations of unrest before I take action. I need time to process in order to make better decisions and be a better leader. 

This is all great, but in the context of my larger, overarching existential question, what does this mean? 

I think it means the answer is to press pause, put a pin in it, put it in the parking lot. Pick any l stupid phrase commonly used for setting something aside to concluct other business. 

What’s the other business? It probably has something to do with Substack. Good grief!!…. Another new shiny,✨

I think that’s it. Whew… based on my step count along, this is a long one. Thanks for reading. 

Peace and love, 

~Miss SugarCookie