Dear Friends,

I’m opening the window and sweeping away the cobwebs and dust that have accumulated since I last posted here. 

Please accept my deepest apologies for being absent without leave. I can barely believe how long it has been. Almost a year! 

It wasn’t intentional. As usual, when lengthy breaks arise here, they occur due to poorer health, greater demands on my limited energy, and finding ordinary life more challenging.

It’s time to come clean, and I don’t just mean the sweeping that’s taken place. I have to admit, in company with several of my close blogging friends, I’ve finally stepped into Substack. 

Here’s a link to a new short poetry Note I wrote recently about having M.E and chronic illness. Clicking on the image below will take you there.

As a shy, curious observer and reader at first, I tentatively began to be active there in short Notes before creating a newsletter for email subscribers. 

Using some material I already had, reshaping and editing it has made things easier to get going there. Now I find myself with almost 200 subscribers and I’m in a bit of a quandary. 

I’ve been blogging for 14 years, with lots of gaps when my health has been worse. So I’m reluctant to make the move completely to Substack while I still have this blog and poetryjoy.com, a lot of content under my belt, and a growing desire to publish more books.

Please could you pray that God would show me the way ahead? It’s looking a bit blurry from my perspective. 

You are all precious to me. I value your patient perseverance in sticking with me here even when the cupboards have been bare. Thank you.

Now I’m feeling stuck because I cannot reasonably maintain 3 writing spaces (or even one regularly) so something has got to give before I burn out.

Substack appeals to me because it’s a good place to share my words, read lots of articles myself, and connect with others. It’s like a social media site, blogging platform and newsletter rolled into one.

I chose a new name to publish a newsletter there. I’m known as Sacred Echoes. Here’s a link to my Substack profile if you want to take a look. Clicking on the image below will take you there.

I would love you to read the latest post I’ve written, where I share my testimony and describe my eclectic journey of faith. I think it would interest and encourage you. If you’re already on Substack do come over and say hello to me. 

Perhaps you could consider subscribing to my Substack newsletter which is free to read. You can also access older posts in the archives. 

Here’s the latest post link. Just click on the image below and it will take you there.


My Notes are usually short poems, quotes, shared links and thoughts. The posts (newsletters) generally contain a poem, reflective thoughts and a prayer, though the content can vary. 

God has blessed me with new friendships there and given me inspiration to post something each week, which I don’t take for granted or find easy.

In due course, I need to make a decision about my writing spaces. And if I do decide to stop blogging here, I will give you plenty of prior notice and the opportunity to be automatically added to my subscriber list on Substack instead.

I’m sorry for being so slow to post here over the last few months. I hope to rectify that as I juggle my creativity, time, and available energy. 

Lots of love, blessings and grateful hugs,

Joy Xx 💜🌺