Maybe Baby is a free Sunday newsletter. If you love it, consider supporting it financially. For $5/mo, you’ll gain access to my Tuesday podcast, my Friday recommendations, and my monthly Q&A column. Maybe Baby is reader-supported, hence the lack of ads and sponsors. Thank you!
Your newsletter is such a gift. I wake up every Sunday, make coffee, and sit down on the sofa to read it. Best part of my morning! I wish I could articulate what your writing means to me/gives to me.
Something in return: my favorite poem. Joel Stein’s “A Gift For You” from the Paris Review archives.
“I have a gift for you.
Please open it now
For inside you will find the words
To say when you are flustered
And stumbling around in the dark
Ruins of your confidence;
They will look like tumbled blocks
Of wood with big letters painted on.
Look further in this package
And you will find a dress
Which when you slip over your shoulders
Will fill your body with grace
And allow you to move easily
Through the party of dignitaries
And smile arrogantly but kindly
At their insipid advice;
And it will let you lounge
By the swimming pool of your heart
Where you can take a dip
And refresh yourself
Under the hard light of the world.
And there are some shoes for you
Which will make you light on your feet
And step quickly to a sudden tune
Of your own invention, run freely
Down crowded streets and catch all
The buses and taxis in the world.
And there is also a mirror for you
Which when looked into by only you
Will tell you your every mood.
How to alter slightly the afternoons
Of sudden downpours and feel better about yourself
I often feel I am not insightful enough to participate in the comment section... still the case, but popping up to say THANK YOU. Loving your work since the early MR days, and now enjoying a free subscription because #passionatebutbroke.
Your articles often help me to put words to """""strange""""" feelings, and I end up feeling less alone, which is sometehing just good to have in a regular dosis.
Haley! A pleasure as always for your newsletter to be my Sunday-morning-coffee-reading, a coveted slot in the week. Best believe I'll be in the archive for December. Thank you for your eloquence, insight, and being okay sitting in-between ideas, leaning into the grey. Your writing brings me great comfort and makes the world feel small in all the right ways. Happy hibernation <3
Hi Hayley! Your newsletters are my highlights of the week. So incredibly well written and thought through. Also love your podcasts! Haven’t listened to all of them, but last week I was deeply impressed by the one on ‘who gets to be beautiful’ which was very insightful to me. Also the one with Barry Schwarz which was so good! And lastly: big Danny fan. Love him. And you! Thanks again from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Haley, I want to write something very eloquent and wise to express how much I love your writing and appreciate all the words you have given us in 2021 <3 Your writing helps me to make sense of the world. Everything I write seems silly so I'll just say: thank you! Stay brilliant xx
I somehow always forget I subscribe to your newsletter but it pings at around 12am on Sundays in Australia before I have to wake up for Monday. And then I read it in the darkness of my bed and so happy that I do!! Thank you for tickling the folds of my brain, it makes Sunday scarier much less scary knowing I have something to think about and discuss with people in the morning!
Thank you so much for writing. I often find myself quoting your newsletters in conversation because they give me so much to think about!!!! Including this one. Have a wonderful break!
Your newsletter subscription is one of my favorite gifts I gave myself a year and a half ago. (This and therapy). I have learned so much. I'm going to miss your content over the next few weeks, but I hope you have a lovely and well deserved rest. Much love to you (and to Bug too)!
Thank you Haley!! There's so much I want to say to you but for another time. For now here's a random plug for a yearly reflection tool I've found INCREDIBLY grounding: https://yearcompass.com/
Haley, thank you so much for your newsletter! I really appreciate all the work you put into it and I'm very grateful to be able to read parts of it as a not paying subscriber as well. I love the way you think about the world and then put it into words. It inspires me and prompts me to contemplate things from a different perspective. Have a great December rest! Many greetings from Prague!
Dear Haley. I've recently read your piece about your acid experience and I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever read. I'm currently writing a novel and part of it involves a group of people in their twenties who all drop acid one night. Phil Johnson-Sydney, Australia
I needed this newsletter in my life! There is so much to take away from this and unpack but I couldn't agree more about your sentiment on writing. It is such a paradox of total catharsis when a piece is finished and doubt, if not shame, later down the line when our perspective changes. It's all definitely worth it though! Can't wait to tuck into your other essays! Thank you.
Your writing is solid and that's why I'm here. But I guess this is goodbye. My read is that you're abandoning free posts altogether for paid only subscription. Way too many folks writing to pay every substack. Won't even start on who and why "deserves" subscription $, but maybe baby?
Your newsletter is such a gift. I wake up every Sunday, make coffee, and sit down on the sofa to read it. Best part of my morning! I wish I could articulate what your writing means to me/gives to me.
Something in return: my favorite poem. Joel Stein’s “A Gift For You” from the Paris Review archives.
“I have a gift for you.
Please open it now
For inside you will find the words
To say when you are flustered
And stumbling around in the dark
Ruins of your confidence;
They will look like tumbled blocks
Of wood with big letters painted on.
Look further in this package
And you will find a dress
Which when you slip over your shoulders
Will fill your body with grace
And allow you to move easily
Through the party of dignitaries
And smile arrogantly but kindly
At their insipid advice;
And it will let you lounge
By the swimming pool of your heart
Where you can take a dip
And refresh yourself
Under the hard light of the world.
And there are some shoes for you
Which will make you light on your feet
And step quickly to a sudden tune
Of your own invention, run freely
Down crowded streets and catch all
The buses and taxis in the world.
And there is also a mirror for you
Which when looked into by only you
Will tell you your every mood.
How to alter slightly the afternoons
Of sudden downpours and feel better about yourself
When you aren't sure if you have talent or wit.
This mirror will relax all sneers
And will warn you of predators prowling
In the waters near the shore of well being.
And most of all it will always look
Back at you with more kindness
Than you can ever bestow upon the surface
Of its unfathomable world.”
Thank you Sarah 😭 I’m touched
I often feel I am not insightful enough to participate in the comment section... still the case, but popping up to say THANK YOU. Loving your work since the early MR days, and now enjoying a free subscription because #passionatebutbroke.
Your articles often help me to put words to """""strange""""" feelings, and I end up feeling less alone, which is sometehing just good to have in a regular dosis.
Enjoy the time off !
Thank you for putting strange in 5 quotes. Feels right
And thank you for reading!!
Haley! A pleasure as always for your newsletter to be my Sunday-morning-coffee-reading, a coveted slot in the week. Best believe I'll be in the archive for December. Thank you for your eloquence, insight, and being okay sitting in-between ideas, leaning into the grey. Your writing brings me great comfort and makes the world feel small in all the right ways. Happy hibernation <3
Thank you so much Danya!! Really appreciate this
Hi Hayley! Your newsletters are my highlights of the week. So incredibly well written and thought through. Also love your podcasts! Haven’t listened to all of them, but last week I was deeply impressed by the one on ‘who gets to be beautiful’ which was very insightful to me. Also the one with Barry Schwarz which was so good! And lastly: big Danny fan. Love him. And you! Thanks again from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Thank you so much for reading and listening!!
Dear Haley, thanks for all of the work you put into Maybe Baybe! I look forward to it every week!
Thank you for reading Remi!!
Haley, I want to write something very eloquent and wise to express how much I love your writing and appreciate all the words you have given us in 2021 <3 Your writing helps me to make sense of the world. Everything I write seems silly so I'll just say: thank you! Stay brilliant xx
Ah thank you so much Claire!
I somehow always forget I subscribe to your newsletter but it pings at around 12am on Sundays in Australia before I have to wake up for Monday. And then I read it in the darkness of my bed and so happy that I do!! Thank you for tickling the folds of my brain, it makes Sunday scarier much less scary knowing I have something to think about and discuss with people in the morning!
Do we need more examination marks!!!!!! Yes!
Midnight!!?! Honored
Thank you so much for writing. I often find myself quoting your newsletters in conversation because they give me so much to think about!!!! Including this one. Have a wonderful break!
love your newsletter, have a happy Dec!
Your newsletter subscription is one of my favorite gifts I gave myself a year and a half ago. (This and therapy). I have learned so much. I'm going to miss your content over the next few weeks, but I hope you have a lovely and well deserved rest. Much love to you (and to Bug too)!
Gonna make me cry 🥲 thank you!
Thank you Haley!! There's so much I want to say to you but for another time. For now here's a random plug for a yearly reflection tool I've found INCREDIBLY grounding: https://yearcompass.com/
Thank you!!
Haley, thank you so much for your newsletter! I really appreciate all the work you put into it and I'm very grateful to be able to read parts of it as a not paying subscriber as well. I love the way you think about the world and then put it into words. It inspires me and prompts me to contemplate things from a different perspective. Have a great December rest! Many greetings from Prague!
Hello to Prague! Thank you so much for reading!
Dear Haley. I've recently read your piece about your acid experience and I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever read. I'm currently writing a novel and part of it involves a group of people in their twenties who all drop acid one night. Phil Johnson-Sydney, Australia
I needed this newsletter in my life! There is so much to take away from this and unpack but I couldn't agree more about your sentiment on writing. It is such a paradox of total catharsis when a piece is finished and doubt, if not shame, later down the line when our perspective changes. It's all definitely worth it though! Can't wait to tuck into your other essays! Thank you.
Your writing is solid and that's why I'm here. But I guess this is goodbye. My read is that you're abandoning free posts altogether for paid only subscription. Way too many folks writing to pay every substack. Won't even start on who and why "deserves" subscription $, but maybe baby?
No I'm just taking a break for December—will be back with a free essay every Sunday in January!
Nothing about my offering has changed. Just taking vacation