20,000 Subscribers!

Very grateful for you all

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to write a quick post because GIRLS hit 20,000 subscribers today. I honestly don’t know what to say or how to make sense of this. That’s 10,000 new subscribers since my last update at the end of February!

All I can say is this is the last thing I expected. I’ve always loved writing, but promoting it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m not great at putting myself out there. But I had things I wanted to say about the modern world—not just about social media and screens, but about a sense of loss and loneliness, about anxieties I felt were being amplified, and how companies were capitalising on all that. I felt one of the few things I could write about with any authority was growing up in this world and how it feels to wrestle with it. So I tried putting it into words.

Since then it’s been a crazy year. This time last year I was working in a cafe, feeling like I wasn’t really getting anywhere with my writing, and close to giving up. I was at a low point, and starting this newsletter gave me some peace. Now I’m lucky enough to be working with incredible people like Jonathan Haidt and writing my own book. GIRLS has been the foundation of all of that.

I owe a huge thank you to all of you who subscribe to, share, and support my writing. Thank you to everyone who leaves such heartfelt comments or takes the time to send me a message—there’s no better motivation to keep going. And thank you especially to those who pay for a subscription—I’ll be introducing more paywalled content very soon, but your support so far has been unbelievably generous.

Not only does your support mean I can write about the subjects I care deeply about, but it also brings me a lot of personal relief. Everything I write about— the compulsion to document life online; overthinking and overanalysing ourselves; being too risk-averse about love—these are things that I’ve felt intensely in my own life. Every GIRLS article is pretty much a note to self. So to see other people resonate with what I’m saying, to see so many of you share those same feelings of loneliness, of disconnection, of wanting more out of modern life—God, I can’t tell you what it’s done for me personally, let alone professionally. I’ve realised that I’m not alone in my anger, my despair, or my grief. Thank you for that.

There are also a few people I’d like to thank specifically: Konstantin Kisin, who first encouraged me to start a Substack, and really helped me push myself; the team at TRIGGERnometry, some of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve met; Jonathan Haidt and Zach Rausch for inviting me to join After Babel as a staff writer, and for the chance to be part of a cause that is close to my heart. And also Clyde Rathbone, Hamish McKenzie and the team at Substack, for welcoming me to the platform and supporting GIRLS. At a time when your personal brand often means more than your craft and creativity, I’m grateful to have found so many genuine and talented people on this platform.

To anyone who has read, shared or recommended GIRLS over the past year, thank you. I’ll keep trying to articulate those feelings as best I can, and write what I feel is true. We’re all trying to make sense of this world, and it’s maddening to do it alone. I’m grateful to see GIRLS become a place where we can do that together.

I’m so excited to see how GIRLS evolves, and have so many ideas for the future. Thank you for making it possible!

- Freya

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