Howdy!
I’m Wendy, aka the resident oddball.
Here you’ll find the oddball musings of the eclectic life I’ve lived so far mashed up with the wandering middle-life journey currently in motion.
I’m a recovering professional, cynical optimist, chronic thinker, and word maker-upper. I’m the annual ugly holiday sweater party reigning champion, and I believe a hot dog is a taco. I’m a mom, a wife, and a Louise to a Thelma (for the most part).
By my stride
…is a weekly-ish newsletter filled with stories, observations, and curiosities. Sometimes about physical step-taking, more often about mental and emotional journeys. I share my personal reflections with occasional non-me worldly stuff mixed in (quotes, books, notable “walks”, inspiration, humor…). It’s a living journal, an oddball creation, taking shape one step at a time.
Someone once advised me to “just have the conversation”. Here we go!
All in stride
When I was about 9 years old, a homework assignment required me to personify an inanimate object. On my finest sheet of loose-leaf paper I scribbled in glorious detail the short life and ultimate horrific death of a paper “Dixie” cup — its naive excitement stacked up with its buddies, the gloppy human slobber that eroded its dignity, and its desperate final plea for mercy before succumbing to a violent crush and irreverent toss into the trash. It was epic. And I was hooked on writing.
Then music came along. I wrote lyrics, studied liner notes, and analyzed productions. I wanted to make records. I found my way to Nashville where I engineered on Music Row for a decade and worked with ridiculously talented people. It’s been an eclectic career since then, but one threaded by a need to be creative. For the most part. Even during my stints in technology, teaching, and managing, you could find me finding creative ways to scratch the itch to make.
But then that searching stopped satisfying. The well ran dry. It bared no fruit. Etc., etc.. It was time to do something different.
When I finally decided to stop fence-sitting and start Substacking, I knew I wanted to build a newsletter that centered on a theme but was also flexible enough to include anything that suited my fancy. (Ask my husband — I like options.)
I found the focus of a narrow niche very alluring but I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick to just one topic. And if I did, what was I so obsessed with that I’d want to write a lot about it? A more all-purpose newsletter seemed a better fit, but what was my common thread tying all the “randomness” together? (I like to connect as much as I like options.)
Solvitur Ambulando: It is solved by walking.
I eventually settled on walking and all the things walking could mean. Googling other words for “walk”, I found “stride”. I was sold by all the dimensions of its meaning, and how well it aligned to where I am in my journey.
stride /strīd/
verb
walk with long, decisive steps in a specified direction.
cross (an obstacle) with one long step.
noun
a long, decisive step.
a step or stage in progress toward an aim; a good or regular rate of progress, especially after a slow or hesitant start.
denoting or relating to a rhythmic style of jazz piano playing in which the left hand alternately plays single bass notes on the downbeat and chords an octave higher on the upbeat.
Never passing up an opportunity to be punny, and aware this Substack is its own journey alongside my own, it felt fitting to launch by my stride.
I invite you to walk and wander along side me, and allow me to walk with you — in this space where we (re)discover and celebrate our individual and collective free-spirits, in a world that tries diligently (and effortlessly) to squash them.
All kind souls from all walks of life are welcome here. Pun intended.
Free, for now.
So what are you waiting for? Hit that cute little subscribe button and get in on the next coolest thing nobody’s ever heard of!
Questions? Send me a note at bymystride@substack.com. Cheers!
