Celebrating my first 100 subscribers.

And the countless other gifts I never expected to receive from joining Substack.

Yay me! I did it.

And no…I’m not referring to the number of subs I’ve acquired since joining Substack at the end of October.

I’m celebrating something much more meaningful.

When I joined Substack, I did so out of a desire to make a contribution to the world outside of me; to offer what little I have to give in the hopes it could possibly make a difference for even one other soul.

I never expected to find so many beautiful, interesting, generous, brilliant, thoughtful and kind men and women on the other side of my screen! This has been one of the biggest surprises of discovery for me here on Substack.

The other surprise is more personal.

I also joined Substack to finally get the eff out of my own way.

For reasons I won’t get into here, I have been hiding for most of my adult life. A reclusive home-body, comfortable in my nest…thinking, writing, and creating for mostly my own benefit. But something vital was always missing from my diet of solitary bliss~ the nourishment of connection that can only come from entwining with another through sharing, and from being seen and heard.

I have finally have come out of hiding. And boy are the rewards ever worth it.

The vulnerability I feel from posting something new and exposing my true self to the potentially threatening elements of the world like judgement, comparison, disapproval, etc is overshadowed by the gratification of pushing through it and posting anyway. I am learning to choose bravery over fear, to choose free expression over self-censorship. I am learning to honour the tone of my unique voice and the content of my thoughts. I am learning to replace the confining & oppressive force of perfectionism with the raw liberation of authenticity. And I am so enjoying basking in the relief and freedom that comes from simply being me and knowing that is enough to make a difference.

What I write and what I share doesn’t need to be “earth-shatteringly amazing”.

It just needs to be shared.

From the depths of my musical magical soul…I thank each and every one of you who has met me where I’m at, has welcomed me here and invited me to keep sharing.

I can honestly say I love you. And I look forward to so much more future exploration.

be great

love Jacqueline xo

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Thank you, as always for being here on my stack and pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down.

If it moves or behooves you to donate to my cause (which is making music, by the way) then please consider buying me some time to do that here: