Annual Appeal
Just once a year, I make an ask for your patronage...
Note: White guy in stock photo above is not me, but I am a white guy and I do busk here on Substack twice a month.
Dear reader,
I started writing here in January 2023. That’s two years of posting twice a month. Suddenly that’s a lot of content. About getting ordained. Getting married. Getting cold sores. Getting rocked by middle schoolers. Getting a goddamn job. I write these stories from the front lines of my life, loosely organized into the themes of Rogue Spirituality, Radical Masculinity, and Restorative Justice. If you read, you know.
It’s not work, for me. It’s delight. On Fridays, when I write, sometimes I wake up alarm-less at 4am, so eager am I to see what’s going to come through at my desk. Crafting these pieces brings me so much joy. Knowing that some of you enjoy reading my work as much as I enjoy writing it is an amazing feeling. I am so grateful to you for that.
During my first year here in the Courtyard, as I was getting my bearings, I realized it didn’t feel great to keep asking for your financial support, post after post. I decided it felt better to just do my work, offer it up, and let it be.
That continues to be true. And, there’s nothing like an incoming newborn to give Dad the courage to ask for support. So, with our growing family in mind, I want to start incorporating an annual appeal into the rhythms of the Little Courtyard. Just once each year will I ask you to consider throwing your weight behind me in the form of financial patronage.
Becoming a monthly subscriber ($5/month) or a founding member ($150/year) has a meaningful impact in two significant ways. One, it helps us pay the bills that have to get paid in order for me to write. Two, it inspires me, dude! It’s like, “Damn, this person is IN!” It’s powerful to receive a notification that one of you has decided, “You know what?! F**k it, I’ll send this guy a few bucks a month.”
So, if my writing has moved you. If you look forward to it. If you’ve been challenged by it. If you think it serves us. If you think it should keep coming, keep blossoming into the world. Please, consider supporting me as a patron.
There are a few ways to engage in reciprocity with my work here:
Become a monthly subscriber at $5/month, which gives you access to two posts per month (versus just one) and the key to the archives (all posts are archived behind the paywall after a year):
Become a founding member at $150/month (which gets you the same as above, plus an extra dose of my gratitude, seriously):
It’s the holidays, right? Is there someone you know who might dig this stuff? Get ’em a subscription! It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year, Clark.
Maybe there’s 1 friend you want to gift, and maybe there are 3 more friends you want to nudge, just to let them know the Little Courtyard exists. Let ’em know!
Last thought, another holiday gift idea: You want to give someone a signed paperback copy of my book, Walking to Listen (a memoir about walking across America)…You email me (andrewforsthoefel@gmail.com) with their name and a mailing address (yours or theirs)…I sign the book, mail it…I Venmo request you the cost for the book, plus shipping, packaging, and time (comes to $30 per book, and add $20 for each additional book)…you hit me back with the $$$. Taking requests till December 19th. I’ve got 30 books for sale.
So there it is. My annual appeal. Thank you so much for considering.
And for those of you who don’t feel moved or able to offer financial patronage, please know that your support in the form of just being here, just reading, really does light me up. Thanks.
And cheers,
Andrew
Do it people, it’s worth it!