no. 1: here's to the early birds
in pursuit of a multi-dimensional life
Hi hello! How are you??
You’re here because at one point or another you registered for the newsletter form on www.coffeewithmaggie.com, so surprise! Welcome to the first issue of early bird, an as-yet-to-be–publicly-announced newsletter from coffee with maggie. I am beyond grateful to you for your longstanding support, and I am so excited to begin this project by exclusively sharing it with you.
here’s to the early birds.
The past almost two years have been a whirlwind. As someone who has shared on the internet in varying levels of intensity since 2016, I found myself becoming extremely internal and self-reflective as I navigated the experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the first year raising my son. I feel intensely protective over those experiences, torn between wanting to share and discuss and celebrate the journey and my own growth, and holding them closely. Between digging into all the new things I’ve learned and felt and experienced as a new parent and a working parent, and not wanting to do so at the expense of all the other interests and passions and hobbies I still want to pursue.
I cherished the quiet, secluded weeks and months when only my husband and I knew I was pregnant (background: we didn’t formally announce anywhere until I was 8.5 months. It was awesome.) But one of the things that struck me during this time was the way that the *algorithms* knew. As far as I could tell, my online behavior hadn’t materially changed: I hadn’t actively sought out pregnancy specific content, hadn’t unfollowed all the food, fashion, outdoor and culture creators I had carefully cultivated over years. At most, I had saved a few posts here and there giving advice on managing morning sickness, or lingered just a bit longer than normal on videos giving tips for preparing for labor. But the effect was swift and startling: In the blink of an eye, all the content I was being shown was related to pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.
This paralleled strikingly with my experience of most conversations once people knew I was expecting: an endless, staggeringly predictable march of presumably well intentioned interactions that at best left me feeling unseen, and at worst left me holding the baggage and anxiety of the worst experiences you could possibly imagine. You’re uncomfortable? Just wait. Labor is hell. Are you going to keep working? Are you going to give up on your career? You think you’re tired now? You’ll never sleep again. But aren’t you so excited?! isn’t this great?
The more of these kinds of experiences I had, the more I held my own experiences close to my chest: the less willing I became to share them in the traditional short form content of Tiktok and Instagram. How do you share and celebrate a life with children, without exploiting that child for content? How do you compress the magnitude of the way your world expands and contracts upon meeting your child into a 10 second video? How do you explore your own complicated, evolving understanding of what it is to be a person, who is a parent, but who is still a person, goddamnit! into 3-5 instagram slides? How do you keep yourself from being algorithmically pigeonholed, sacrificing depth and complexity in favor of an arbitrary niche? How do you explain yourself in 30 second intervals?
I realize I cannot be the first person to navigate these existential challenges. They aren’t new, and I can be self-reflective enough to acknowledge that maybe they aren’t that deep. But as a creative who errs on the side of overanalyzing, and has found a community who seem to grapple with similar questions, they are challenges I feel are worth exploring. And over the past year I tried, and I tried and I tried and I tried. And at the end of the day, my attempts have been left one dimensional. The nuance that is lost when editing down to fit the algorithms is the antithesis of the kind of life I want to build, document and encourage.
All this is to say:
Having a child has only deepened my commitment to pursue a well rounded life: diving deeper into personal hobbies and interests, while exploring the adventure that is life with a small child. And today, part of that commitment means reevaluating how I create, document and share. As a writer, I’ve been looking for a platform that allows me to create longer form writing more freely and honestly – away from the pressure of changing algorithms, diminishing attention spans, and relying on sponsors for content creation to be sustainable on top of my full time job. My longer-form personal writing, obsessively researched travel guides, and curated recommendations have always been the bread and butter of my internet presence and creative work, and what I personally do best.
As a recovering perfectionist, I’ve explored a million ways to start a new creative project, many of which inevitably lead me to a place of analysis paralysis so debilitating that I don’t actually finish the thing I want to do because it’s not ready “enough”. The job expands to fit the time allowed, and as a creator with a full time job and a full time life, I just allow too. much. time.
I am the most successful creatively when I give myself the grace to just ship it. To just create, write, shoot, and let it fly— even if I haven’t told anyone that I’m doing that thing. In the past, I've found that the work of a thing itself gets buried in the complexity of promoting the thing on various social media platforms, in endless formats and at the whims of endlessly changing algorithms. I’m excited for a platform that gives me the chance to focus on writing and building things of interest and value in my own little self-selected corner of the universe. And, frees up creative energy to find satisfaction in the snackable, bite-size video and photo content too.
So, here we are.
THE BIG PICTURE:
early bird will be all the coffee with maggie content you’ve come to know and love from me, but more directly, more vulnerably, and more intentionally. I take your time and your trust so seriously, and am so looking forward to a platform where we can share and connect in a more meaningful way. I’m so glad you’re here.
Now that you’re up to date on how we got here, here’s what you can expect as a paid subscriber:
WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS: Coming in hot with weekly newsletters, always including obsessively curated recommendations, articles and experiences. Always curated with you in mind, and inviting you to pause, reflect, learn, connect, or laugh.
FULL ACCESS TO THE EARLY BIRD ARCHIVE: Y’all may or may not know this but I have literal YEARS worth of posts that never made it out into the world. Travel guides, personal essays, you name it. I’ve been working hard to update them all to load up the archive and ensure y’all have access to all the goodness!
EXCLUSIVE BONUS ARTICLES, PERSONAL ESSAYS & RECIPES: Every so often, I’ll sprinkle in a bonus edition: new articles, personal essays, recipes, interviews, spotify playlists, you name it. Always curated with you in mind, and inviting you to pause, reflect, connect, or bring joy.
I’m so excited about the work I have coming up for you, but we’ll get started today with a preview of some of my favorite recurring sections you can expect in future issues.
Some of us are early birds by nature, and some of us are here by force. I’m team no snooze button for practical purposes (I’ll fall back asleep for literally 3 hours, I’m not a monster), but sometimes you just need a few more minutes. This is a topline recommendation, resource, or review, in 5 minutes or less.
This week, almost 500 civilians were killed in a hospital in Gaza. Unfathomable losses and violence continue to mount: at the time of writing this, officials in Gaza were reporting around 3000 dead and more than 12,500 wounded, and there are reports that more than 1400 Israelis have been killed and almost 200 taken hostage. [Source: NPR, October 17, 2023]. Human rights groups around the world are calling for a ceasefire while cautioning about the devastating humanitarian impacts of continued conflict upon civilians. Specifically, experts are considering especially the forced migration and siege of the Palestinian people in Gaza to be the beginnings of genocide. [Source: UN Human Rights, Office of the high commissioner, October 14,2023]
It’s not enough for us to just get the emotional relief of reposting an infographic. We have to speak up, and we have to take action. I don’t always know the correct thing to do or say, but I do know that we cannot be silent. We cannot look away.
DO: Contact your representatives, and tell them to publicly pressure for a ceasefire, for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza, and for the release of remaining hostages. (5 minutes)
DONATE: to Doctors Without Borders relief efforts (3 minutes)
LEARN: I watched a helpful video from @ Jamesissmiling on tiktok sharing from a diverse community of creators. I am linking the list here: all creators are tagged in the video and will be easy to find and follow as a starting place for more resources(3 minutes)
The internet is a big place. Consider this the quick and dirty debrief of what the heck I’ve been up to since the last time we caught up. I’m still thinking about what my overall approach to channels will be moving forward, but at least for now this will bring everything together in a nice and neat digest.
The Coffee Date Collection is available now! A collaboration with the incomparable By Annie B., a watercolor artist from L.A. (and my best friend!). TDC includes watercolor prints in two sizes, original watercolor paintings, and the *only* Coffee with Maggie recipe booklet in existence. Holidays are coming, y’all, and these make great gifts!
5 tips for better at home coffee - you bought that fancy coffee maker, now lets get the most of it!
High protein tropical chia parfait: I am a breakfast person now, apparently, because this one is perfect. No notes.
Without any additional explanation: Q4 2023 Ins and Outs. One of my favorite running lists in my phone, and a fun personal snapshot for how things change throughout the year.
Stream of consciousness, the best things I’ve seen, read, listened to, eaten, or purchased recently: Also known as, “I enjoyed this and I think you will, too”.
We were never supposed to see our own faces this much, and it’s changing the way we think about ourselves. We’re spending countless time and money on beauty products, and it’s time to get off the hot girl hamster wheel. As someone with big sweater energy, I regret to inform you that your sweaters are garbage. A simple, sustainable clothing option for parents who aren’t sad beige, but aren’t quite ready to go full dino-truck. Speaking from experience, it’s wild to wake up one day and hate your brand. I’ve read 43 books this year and I can’t stop thinking about Sea of Tranquility. I often wonder if I am lonely, and wonder again how I’m supposed to feel about it if I am. It’s Taylor’s world, and it’s a celebration of girlhood. If you’ve been loving the y’allternative avengers, please enjoy underrated indie folk. Painting an artist in their style, delightful. Call me crazy if you want, but this is my favorite trend on the internet. Raquel Alverado’s substack is an excellent read, but her dispatches from the cancer center essay stopped me in my tracks.
SO excited about this, Maggie!! 🤍