Good morning beautiful souls.

A new week is upon us and we are now in the final few days of September. This month came and gone like a whispering wind and I am kinda flabbergasted to say the least. However, I am looking forward to October more than anything right now. Me and October go together real bad, okay!? The smell in the air is different, the wind is cooler, the pumpkin spice is heavy, and everything starts feeling a little lighter — for me at least. I hope it feels the same way for you, too. We are in this together! Now grab your coffee or vodka (JK! — I meant to say whiskey) and pull up a chair. <3

The Sunday Essay

Love Within Community & the Importance of Its Duality

I am a lover girl down to my socks and shoe laces whether you’re my man or my friend and if there is one thing that I know all too well it’s this — we need love and community to thrive.

Now — hear me out — I understand there are situations where a person may not have community. They may not have a partner or children. I understand these things and I am not diminishing their feelings when I say what I’m going to say. However, I am speaking to the masses here and if you find yourself not being able to relate — that is okay. I am speaking from experience because in this world when I die that’s all I will have — the experience life gave me and the legacy that I left behind.

So let’s get into it, shall we?

Coming from a recovering people pleaser, an introvert, and someone who thought she didn’t like people (ironic because I used to be a people pleaser… JESUS, I need therapy, but anyway…), I am saying this — love and community is so important.

There was a point in my life where I wasn’t too fond of the thought of having “community”. Having to converse with others, be completely and utterly vulnerable, connect with new people, ask for help or need help, and accept criticism when needed from people outside of my parents? YUCK.

I also truly did not want to have to be a person that was a part of anything that was something I had to consistently show up for. I think I was protecting my peace a little too hard and going through the loneliness epidemic before it was a trend on TikTok.

Some would call it selfish and honestly? They’d be correct. As I’m getting older and more in tune with myself, taking accountability, realizing where I may not have all the right answers — I can say that I have lived a very selfish life. There was a wall that I had up with people that probably caused me to miss out on a community that could’ve benefited me and vice versa. I used to scream about not having a community, but I wasn’t allowing the community to enter into my space. I had a bubble around my “peace” and choosing to be lonely for all of the wrong reasons.

But here’s the thing — isolation sometimes can trick you into thinking you’re safe when really, you’re just starving yourself of connection. I thought I was “protecting my peace”, but peace without people? It’s just empty honestly. Don’t get me wrong — I love my silence and my days where I can just be without needing to show up for others. But I’ve grown accustom to allowing myself to partake in the community and be an active participant. It took me a while to realize that community wasn’t just another “annoying distraction” and obligation or something that I “didn’t need” — but it became almost like a lifeline for me.

Back when I was super active on social media, I would stupidly say I had a ton of friends. Maybe the numbers were true — but the connections weren’t. I had to learn that being truly vulnerable, showing up for people and allowing them to show up for me, built a love and a community that will never die. This didn’t happen until I removed the noise of notifications on apps and traded it for connecting with my small group of people that I have in my corner now. I have been able to build, pour into, and cultivate a love and community that I have not felt before because I removed distractions that didn’t give me the time or space to pour into the connections that I had been longing for, but never really gave a fair chance to out of selfishness and fear.

As I began to pour into those connections, I started to feel a love that was undeniably solid. Not the kind of burning passion love I feel for my husband, but a different kind of love.

The kind of love that comes from people who decided, you know what, I want this person to be in my life because of who they are and that’s it. No romantic involvement or anything like that. Solely because of who they are. They are a part of my community. I can count on them. I can call them and know they’d show up for me. I can lean on them. I can be honest with them even when it hurts and they can do the same for me. That kind of love is sacred. Because there’s a different kind of work that goes into the type of love that community brings. My husband and I can have an argument right now and then go in the bedroom, light some candles, work through things, and pillow talk our way into a beautiful love making session and wake up tomorrow like it never happened.

You can’t do that with your community.

Your community and the type of work you have to put into it is different. But that’s what makes it so beautiful. Your community chooses you — simply because you are who you are. Not because of a pillow talk session. Not because you made vows before God and you’re doing your part in upholding them. They choose you because of you. And for them, that’s enough. Do you understand how beautiful that is?

But don’t get me wrong — community love isn’t always rainbows and sunshine. There will be uncomfortable conversations and realizations within your community. There will be times where you are being challenged and a pillow talk session isn’t going to make it any easier to face.

However, having those people around you who love you enough to be there when you need comfort, hold you up in times of need, but also love you enough to tell you the truth? That’s community. It isn’t always soft or easy. Sometimes it’s messy and sometimes it stings.

That’s the duality of love and community: it’s both the lifeline and the lesson. The place you run to for safety, and the place that challenges you in the best way. Community is selfless. You continue to choose these people because you love them and you want them with you in this journey of life. There are things in a romantic relationship that make choosing that person every single day easier. But when we are dealing with community… it’s a different ball game. But that’s also what makes it so special and a key factor in the way that we thrive and become better people.

How many times have you thought you’ve found community, but ended up never speaking to those people again. Not because there was a break up with heavy emotions and trauma that couldn’t be undone. but simply because you… drifted apart or you unconsciously — or in some ways consciously — stopped choosing to show up for that person or group of people one day? Exactly. It’s just not the same as romantic relationships. When they say friendship break-ups hit harder than a romantic break-up, they were right about that. There is a different type of pain when your community breaks apart and goes silent. The cut is deeper.

And yet even with that risk and the ache of loss, I still believe love and community are worth it. No matter how fragile or complicated it gets, the community of people willing to choose you daily with no obligation — just the simple fact that they love you and want you in their lives — is worth it.

So if you have a community… cherish it. Pour into it. Your community, believe it or not, loves you in a way that saves you in ways you didn’t even know you needed.

With all my love,

Soul <3

☕ The Sunday Sip

This week’s sip: A Love Inventory
This week instead of just sipping your coffee, I want you to pause and do a little love inventory. Write down the people in your corner — the ones you can call, lean on, laugh with and be honest with. Then ask yourself: when was the last time you poured into them the way they’ve poured into you? Sometimes the sip we need isn’t just caffeine, but also gratitude and accountability. If you’re surprised by your answer to yourself, don’t beat yourself up. Things happen. Reach out to them and be genuine about it. Apologize if need be. And set up a time to reconnect. <3

📝 The Margin Notes

Mark these notes down in your planner for the week or wherever you write down important things:

• Protecting your peace is good — but don’t let it become a prison. Okay!? Okay. :)
• What’s the real flex? Having people who love you enough to tell you the truth instead of feeding into your delusions. (This is coming from the queen of delusions.) 😭
• Friendship breakups hurt harder than romantic ones… and that’s okay to admit.
• Community is both comfort and accountability — don’t run from either.

📓 This Week’s Journal Prompt

When has love (romantic love or community love) kept you afloat in a season you thought would drown you? Write about what it felt like — and how it changed the way you see connection and the way you see the world.

✨ Coming Soon: A New Course!

I’ve been quietly working on something special behind the scenes — a course designed for writers. It will be available for purchase on October 31st! And when I say quietly working, I mean crying out loud and trying to perfect it for you all because I care so very much!

With the purchase you will get:

• Daily Lessons (30 Days): “Bite-sized” guidance + writing prompts to keep you moving.
• Weekly Deep-Dive Modules (4 Total)Week 1: Spark – grow your idea into a strong conceptWeek 2: Structure – build your outline + charactersWeek 3: Style – find your voice and flowWeek 4: Strength – push through blocks and finish strong. YOU CAN DO THIS.
• Writer’s Journal Templates: Downloadable PDFs for brainstorming + reflection
• “Soul Sessions” Checkpoints: Motivational notes to keep you inspired
• End-of-Course Celebration!!!!: A reflection exercise + optional certificate

Bonus Goodies for my author guys and galssss:

• A curated Writer’s Playlist to set the mood
• A mini ebook: 10 Lessons I Learned Writing My First Book
• Access to a private writer’s thread for encouragement + community.
• By the end of 30 days, you’ll hold your first draft in your hands!
• 30-page PDF workbook (daily content).
• Weekly slides (recaps + encouragement).
  Bonus worksheets/checklists (outline templates, character sheets, etc).

Want me as your editor/publisher when you’re done?

Check out my Fiverr for pricing/booking, or email authorswmarie@gmail.com for questions + a free five-page edit/consult to see if we vibe.

Fiverr Profile

✨ What’s New on the Blog

• 📰 Vieux Carré Press: Episode 2 is live! Step deeper into the Nolaverse and follow Julien Lattimore as he chases the shadows in the streets of New Orleans in a post Katrina world.

Inside the Heart of Nolaverse — Vieux Carré Press

Vieux Carré Press

Letters from the Bayou Soul x SWMarie ✨

• 💍 Wives of Blue: The series that is also a part of Nolaverse is launching THIS WEEK! Behind every badge lies a secret… come meet the wives who know it all — or think they do.

• 🐊 The Bayou Journal: More reflections from Louisiana + its history. For my paid subs every Friday! Here is the most recent post.

  The Bayou Journal ✨

  If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know the city carries music in its bones. Brass bands on the street and trumpets on Frenchmen. But how did jazz — this music often referred to as “America’s music” — really come about?

  Letters from the Bayou Soul x SWMarie ✨

  

• 🌱 Curriculum Notes: New Fall notes dropping soon — everything I learned in the month of September. If you haven’t had the chance to check out my Fall Curriculum — click the link below!

Fall Curriculum 🌱

Apparently there is a trend going around about building a personal curriculum and I am here for it. The funny thing about this is — I had no idea this was an actual trend until today. It’s going around on the clock app and I was completely unaware since I am not on social media other than Substack. I just decided last month that I wanted to start learni…

Letters from the Bayou Soul x SWMarie ✨

📚 Book News

Scandal in the Dark: Part Two hits Amazon & Kindle Unlimited on Oct 3.
I pushed the date to the 3rd instead of the 1st — thank you for the grace. Mark your calendars and set those reminders!