Migration – On the Move

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Barack Obama

Elephants cross the Amboseli Plain in search of water during the 2022 drought. ©kathykarn

I’ve been part of an online writing community since Feb. 2020. This international group has been the wind beneath my writing wings. We have a subgroup of 8 women (including me) called the Crows. Like those wily birds, my Crow sisters are smart, creative and constantly learning. And, like a murder of Crows, they can be insistent when they have something that has caught their attention.

We meet once a week for 90 minutes on zoom: 5 Americans, 2 Canadians, and one Irish. Over the past five years we’ve celebrated publishing successes and awards and commiserated over rejections and dead ends. In the process our bond deepened as we navigated and supported each other through life events such as grief and loss, marriage, divorce, health crises, financial challenges, and more. No topic is taboo, we know we can count on one another. We have each other’s backs.

Crow Sisters on Zoom

We met in person for the first time in June 2023 at our summer cottage. It was seamless and fun, a heartfelt reunion where we finally had time to hang out around the table and carry on conversations without a time limit.

Crows meet in person June 2023

Like life, change is constantly happening in the Crows’ nest. Every woman in our group is a published author, three publish blogs or newsletters. My blogging Crow sisters encouraged me to extend my reach and post my stories on Substack, an online platform that enables writers, journalists, and other content creators to publish and distribute newsletters, podcasts, and videos directly to subscribers. Substack emphasizes direct connection between creators and their audience without ads or algorithms interfering. It supports community-building around content.

A matriarch leads her clan across the the Amboseli Plain ©kathykarn

I resisted the shiny Substack thing for months. Learn a new platform? All my excuse demons were ignited! Last week one of my local Crow sisters, Karena de Souza, came to visit and walked me through how to upload a post. As an experiential learner, her guidance was exactly what I needed. I launched my first post, a repost of my Four Rules for Going on Safari.

I’m slowly learning my way around the Substack dashboard. In the process I’m meeting aa interesting community of writers. My goal is to share my work and connect with a broader audience. Substack is set up on a subscription basis. My blogs have always been FREE and will continue to be so. Like my teachers the elephants, I’m on the move. You can subscribe to my Heartfelt Stories @kathykarnphotography in the Substack app or stay a subscriber via my website www.kathykarn.com.

As always, I love to hear from you.

The red elephants of Tsavo homeward bound ©Kathy Karn

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Want to explore Substack? Check my amazing Crow sisters’ writing on Substack:

Karena de Souza, a strategist, speaker, coach and parent with a futurist mindset, writes about shifts in technology, outliers, patterns, and anomalies in her fascinating blog Tilt the Future.

Cindy Villanueva romance author, speaker, marketer, educator and 8th degree black belt master instructor invites readers to consider how to think well and how to communicate well to build better community in her weekly blog Because Words Matter. Bonus: Cindy just launched her 2nd book in The Blooming Series; Something Will Sing to Your Heart.

Margaret O’Brien, our Irish Crow and author of Weather Report: A 90-day journal for reflection and well-being, with the aid of the Beaufort Wind Scale, reviews books that inspire her writing in Weather Report: On Beauty.