500!
Thank you
Dear Steady Community,
Thank you. Thank you for your support, encouragement, wisdom, and empathy. Thank you for challenging us, sharing your voices, and inviting others to join the conversation.
We are moved today for reflection because this newsletter is our 500th. It is a milestone that seems hard to believe. When we published our first post on January 22, 2021, we had no idea what this might become. Looking back, however, there are two things we can say with certainty: This endeavor has vastly exceeded our expectations, and it is entirely because of all of you.
Our hopes, from the beginning, were to create a community that wasn’t beholden to the tyranny of internet clickbait and social media’s opaque algorithms. We wanted to communicate directly, and Substack offered a platform to do that. So we jumped in and just started swimming. It’s all we knew how to do.
We were eager to share a sense of the world that didn’t shy away from tragedies and injustices but also celebrated the kindness, beauty, and hope that infuses the best of our human instincts. We called it Steady because we felt we all could use a bit more balance.
We had no idea how many people would care about our fledgling newsletter, let alone show up and sign up. We didn’t know whether we could make it self-sustaining. We couldn’t predict how long we could keep it going.
And yet here we all are, 499 posts later. Our gratitude is limitless.
The future remains unknowable. It always is. But our hope is that we can keep publishing Steady in some form for a long time. And we hope you continue to join us, invite others to sign up, and fill the comments with your thoughts, questions, and discourse with each other.
These are difficult times; we all have been through difficulties before.
This is a time for action; we all have seen how activism can change the world.
This is a moment to lean on each other; communities of support can forge unimaginable resilience.
Steady means we keep going, together. It means we do so while recognizing there will inevitably be more heartbreak in our future. But hopefully there will be joy as well. We will have days of tears but also perhaps some reasons to smile. We can celebrate our successes and resolve to tackle our challenges. But we don’t give up. We don’t back up; we don’t turn around. Forward is our direction, always with our eyes on the far horizon. Future generations depend on our perseverance.
So onward we go. Bolstered by each other. And steady.
Thank you all.
Please consider subscribing if you aren’t already a member. This effort is supported by the Steady community.
I don’t like to pay for shipping or tolls. But you two, that’s a different story. Times are stressful for me right now and you’re the cheapest therapy around. You keep me steady. Onward, Dan and Elliot. Sending a hug to each of you.
HI Dan,
It is us, the readers, who should be thanking you. It is so inspiring to have a "steady" voice of reason to help cut through the fog of misinformation, lies, and subterfuge. Your reportage has been part of my life for many years. I just turned 71 and every time I see your newsletter in my inbox, I still get excited.
I know I am about to learn something as well as be provoked to deeper thoughts than I thought I would still be having at this age.
I still remember your reports from the jungles of Vietnam. I was part of the protest movement in the late '60s and early '70s. Your insights into the horrors of that war, and how we were losing our sanity as well as our troops were so on the mark.
Thank you for keeping on keeping on. I look forward to many more years of engagement with your thoughts and commentary. The next 18 months will be so consequential for the future of our democracy that I pray we can both stay on this journey. The people of the United States need your voice.
And to all those who read my comments, hear me now please: become a paid subscriber. Help keep this vital resource going. It's a small price to pay for your freedom and your peace of mind.
Thanks once again Dan.