Hi Friends,
On Jan 19
Team announced a new tab in Stats that shows writers where subscribers are located around the world. I was truly shocked to learn that the Midweek Crisis is read across 42 countries and 27 different US states! ๐คฏWith butterflies in my stomach, I studied the map closely and many times. It honestly hadn't occurred to me before that someone in New Zealand or South Korea might be reading these things Iโve been writing in Warsaw, Poland ๐ต๐ฑ. It's so damn cool to visualize your words reaching people across the globe!
On Thinking Globally ๐
I remember all these emotional talks with my dear husband Tomek when he tried to convince me to start a newsletter in English rather than Polish. At first, I wasnโt convinced it was a good idea. Writing in a foreign language seemed scary, and too far out of my comfort zone. It seemed surreal in my mind that anybody out there in a wide wide world would be interested in music recommendations by an insignificant human being from Poland.
What really has spoken to me was this image of breaking from a tight bubble of polish-speakers and reaching a worldwide audience, thereby increasing the chances of being heard. The English language is a powerhouse, spoken by a whopping 1.5 billion people across the globe! That made me wonder, and finally after many days of overthinking, self-battles, and postponing I decided to try it out and write the very first issue of the Midweek Crisis in English.
As you can see, it clicked well, and weโre here, 45 issues later. Being able to broaden my reader base outside my circle of friends and family feels incredibly rewarding. Writing each issue is fun for me. But the best moments are when weโre connecting with each other. All your likes and comments tend to move me, motivating me to keep showing up. Thanks for being here, folks!
Appreciation Time
So today Iโm sending a special thanks and a huge dose of good energy towards:
these 4 awesome subscribers from Algeria ๐ฉ๐ฟ
these 5 amazing people from Australia ๐ฆ๐บ
that 1 great reader from Bangladesh ๐ง๐ฉ
that 1 super person from Bosnia & Herzegovina ๐ง๐ฆ
these 6 cool readers from Brazil ๐ง๐ท
these 9 marvelous people from Canada ๐จ๐ฆ
that 1 awesome person from Chile ๐จ๐ฑ
that 1 dope reader from Colombia ๐จ๐ด
that 1 cool human from the Dominican Republic ๐ฉ๐ด
these 2 fantastic people from Germany ๐ฉ๐ช
that 1 fabulous human from Hungary ๐ญ๐บ
these 16 great people from India ๐ฎ๐ณ
these 3 lovely readers from Indonesia ๐ฎ๐ฉ
these 4 exceptional subscribers from Italy ๐ฎ๐น
that 1 wonderful human from Ireland ๐ฎ๐ช
that 1 marvelous person from Jamaica ๐ฏ๐ฒ
that 1 cool reader from Malta ๐ฒ๐น
that 1 awesome subscriber from Mexico ๐ฒ๐ฝ
these 15 amazing people from Morocco ๐ฒ๐ฆ
these 4 fantastic readers from New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ
that 1 dope human from the Netherlands ๐ณ๐ฑ
that 1 fabulous person from Norway ๐ณ๐ด
that 1 exceptional reader from Pakistan ๐ต๐ฐ
these 2 wonderful subscribers from the Philippines ๐ต๐ญ
these 11 super people from Poland ๐ต๐ฑ
these 3 marvelous readers from Portugal ๐ต๐น
that 1 awesome human from Romania ๐ท๐ด
that 1 great subscriber from Serbia ๐ท๐ธ
that 1 fantastic person from South Africa ๐ฟ๐ฆ
these 2 amazing readers from South Korea ๐ฐ๐ท
these 3 lovely people from Spain ๐ช๐ธ
that 1 exceptional human from Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ
that 1 wonderful subscriber from Taiwan ๐น๐ผ
these 2 fabulous readers from Thailand ๐น๐ญ
that 1 marvelous person from Turkey ๐น๐ท
these 22 cool people from the UK ๐ฌ๐ง
that 1 great subscriber from the United Arab Emirates ๐ฆ๐ช
these 110 awesome readers from the US ๐บ๐ธ
that 1 fantastic human from Vietnam ๐ป๐ณ
and all those of you who somehow didnโt appear on my Stats - youโre also the best ๐ซถLet me know where youโre reading it from:
Also huge thanks to my husband Tomasz! I feel very lucky and grateful for having such a supportive and witty life companion as him.
Last Sunday for my bday (lvl up to 32! ๐ฅณ) he gave me this awesome book called "Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon. There was this one chapter in which the author says:
"Relationships are hard enough, but it takes a real champion of a person to be married to someone whoโs obsessed with a creative pursuit. Lots of times you have to be a maid, a cook, a motivational speaker, a mother, and an editor - all at once.
A good partner keeps you grounded.โ
With Tom, weโre in a situation in which both sides are creatively obsessed, but in slightly different areas. Stimulating and inspiring each other is a big part of our life together as well as being a rock to one another ๐ชจโจ๐ชจ. Weโre both very emotional and needy, so it leaves almost no place for boredom. Working from home, sharing a workspace, and running a business together (thecode.xyz) isn't that easy. Sure, sometimes itโs tough to function in, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Love you so much
! ๐*As it turns out is a fellow Substacker, and you can sign up for his newsletter here:
Recommendations
Ever since Substack introduced the Recommendations feature last year, the number of subscriptions to the Midweek Crisis increased significantly.
There are 259 of us here already!
Huge thanks to all the fellow authors who recommended me and this newsletter - itโs an honor to grow together with you ๐ฑ๐๐ณ
๐ Books on GIF by
๐ฟ On Repeat by Kevin Alexander by
๐ฟ Salty Popcorn by
๐ซ๏ธ Fog Chaser by
๐ง Listening Sessions by
๐ฅ VeganWeekly by
๐ฐ๏ธ Time Travel Kitchen by
๐ฅจ Snack and Destroy by
๐ฆ The Story Birds by
โบ๏ธ Three Small Smiles by
๐ป A Ghost In A Post by
โ๏ธ Ariannaโs Substack by Alex
I urge you to check out the newsletters above - theyโre all full of different flavors, and written with passion, humor, and unique style ๐
ICYMI
Thereโs no playlist made especially for today, but I can recommend you a few that you may have missed:
stimulus cumulus โ๏ธ - with stimulative music for better focus and creativity (brain power boosters)
2โบ๏ธ23 - an energetic playlist with mostly fresh, danceable tunes
Home Office Music - with non-invasive sounds to help you get your work done
All of them are being updated from time to time and will be all year round, so be sure to save them.
*Also, if you havenโt already, you can give me a follow on Spotify
**And if youโre not a Spotify user and youโd like me to start including YouTube playlists - let me know!
And thatโs all for now, folks!
Have a great start to February.
Hugs,
Stygi
So many things I want to say! First - happy belated birthday!! May the year ahead bring you everything you wish for yourself and a couple of happy surprises from life, too. :) Second - thank you SO much for the shoutout!! I really appreciate it. Third - Congratulations on your international success!! I am so happy to know that your words are reaching so many. I always look forward to seeing your newsletter pop into my inbox and wish you continued worldwide growth!!
Happy belated birthday!
Thank you for including me here. That really means a lot to me. Happy to be one of your US readers! :)