A Year of Integrated Prayer
A look back
Dear esteemed readers of Integrated Prayer,
A year ago today, I ended up with an afternoon of downtime while visiting friends in Calgary. Armed with this unexpected opening in my schedule, I went to my favorite restaurant from my time living there, an old fashioned English pub called The Dog and Duck. I fired up my laptop, ordered a Guinness, and began attacking the process of finally setting up my Substack page. By the end of this impromptu work session, I had a page and a post.
I had sworn off social media entirely four years earlier, and decided my old blog had run its course around the same time. But over those years I continued to write, and a passion for photography began to blossom. I enjoyed having no public online presence, but I had work I was eager to share, and I was brimming with new ideas. Every once and awhile, I’d consider, and even start planning a new blog. But nothing materialized.
When I discovered Substack in 2021, the platform immediately impressed me; it was simple, easy to use, and it looked great. Best of all, it prioritized thoughtful and high quality writing. No lowest common denominator SEO fluff to be found. Over time I realized it would be the perfect place to showcase my photography and get publishing again. But it took over a year for me to turn my daydreaming into a reality. A year and eighteen posts later, I’m happy with how things have gone, and I’m excited for the future.
The journey hasn’t been without speed bumps. I fell off the wagon for nearly five months, and growing my audience has proven to be a slow and difficult process. But this summer I’ve made up for lost time, managing to publish eleven posts in under three months. And what you, my readers (a modest band of 21 subscribers) may lack in numbers, you’ve more than made up for in your enthusiastic reception of this newsletter.
For me, the best compliment someone can give my writing is to read it. That someone would choose to spend their time reading my work in the midst of their busy schedule, and when they have access to unlimited alternatives, is a tremendous honor. That some of you have chosen to sign up as paid subscribers has also been humbling and validating. I greatly appreciate your financial support for the hard work I put into these pieces.
As I look ahead to the second year of this publication, I can see that one area I’d like to grow is reader engagement. I’ve received ample direct and offline feedback which I greatly appreciate. I’d love to see this translate to high quality discussions in the comment sections of my pieces. For this same reason, I’d love to see Integrated Prayer reach more people. I don’t write these for recreation or therapy. I write because I feel I have ideas worth sharing and discussing. The more people who see my writing, the more likely someone who could really connect with it will come across it.
This is where you come in: I can’t grow Integrated Prayer alone. The biggest jumps in views and subscriptions (not to mention some of my most avid readers) have come from other people sharing my page with their friends and on their social media. If you can think of a way to spread the word about Integrated Prayer in a way that feels comfortable to you, I would greatly appreciate it. I especially encourage you to share this if you can think of someone in your life who might resonate with what I have to say. I’d take one of these readers over a hundred marginally interested ones any day.
I’m at the halfway mark of my weekly series on the rosary. When that’s finished, I have several ideas I’m excited to dive into. I’m looking forward to continuing on with you. Thank you for your readership and your support, and may God bless you!
All the best,
John