Substack Drama and the Five of Pentacles

Decan Four Taurus I

I watched it unfold from the sidelines, like that meme of a person gobbling up popcorn while watching a drama that doesn’t involve them but is hard to ignore.

When I saw that Glennon Doyle had joined Substack I didn’t really think much of it. I signed up for her unpaid content and got on with my day. I like Glennon fine, but am not a super fan, nor do I listen to her podcast regularly or hang on her every word. I read Untamed years ago and thought it was ok, but not refined or subtle enough for me. It did not change my life. But I know she is widely respected and loved by many, and was mildly interested in what she might have to say on this platform. I respect her ability to be honest about her addictions and recovery, and think she has helped a lot of people, particularly women.

But then things got weird. A few writers I really respect wrote about feeling sad, angry, annoyed, hurt, that Glennon would arrive here in our little Substack community, with her million followers and millions of dollars, and that her presence was going to take money out of their pockets, and change the platform negatively. Substack has never been a primary source of income for me, so I tried to put myself in their place, thinking there might be a finite amount of money available to spend on paid subscriptions, and Glennon’s arrival with a giant splash, a new community, many options for engagement, was going to divert income from other writers. When I first arrived here almost three years ago Substack was actually a small community of writers. It is now a big community of writers, serious writers, marketers, just another social media platform for some. It is different for sure. But my place in the community has remained essentially unchanged. My following has slowly grown for which I am so appreciative. But again, I never saw Substack as the place where I would generate my daily bread.

A week after Glennon arrived, she decided to leave. I received an e mail saying she didn’t feel good about the space, and some other stuff. It was a retreat. And whatever. We know Glennon and her million followers and her many more millions of dollars will survive to see another day. No biggie. I was actually kind of proud of the people who called out her arrival. I thought you can actually have an impact and protect the space.

But then the backlash happened. And boy did it ever. When I logged on to Substack this morning it was ALL ABOUT GLENNON. Defending her, berating those who were unhappy about her arrival, a veritable cornucopia of livestreams, opinion pieces, ALL ABOUT GLENNON. And here I am engaging as well. But then I remembered the fourth decan, and that this was my assignment this week and it all made so much sense.

The Five of Pentacles is all about scarcity, worry that you don’t have enough, feeling less than. When this card comes up, it speaks to concern about having enough in the world, specifically money (pentacles). But also indicates an inability to see a bigger picture, focusing instead on the smallness of one’s life, what is lacking. I don’t have any idea how the Substack algorithms run, and perhaps when a big contributor lands it does take away from others. Maybe there is a finite pot of money to distribute to the different writers here. I don’t know. I do know that I specifically try not to pay to subscribe to authors who have a large presence outside of Substack. I figure they are well enough off without my help. Two exceptions are Roxanne Gay and Culture Study, both of which offer treasure troves of resources and beautiful writing. I also do not have content behind a paywall, which is how most writers here generate income. My content is available to you whether you pay or not, and if you choose to support me financially, thank you very much.

I do know that worry is a creative killer. I’ve experienced this a lot these past few months, wondering why I haven’t felt the abundance of creative energy I did last year. My therapist reminded me that worry takes a lot of energy and we do hinder ourselves creatively when we let it take over. T. Susan Chang prescribes a remedy to the worrisome Five of Pentacles: “The 5 of Pentacles points to a scarcity mentality, but I don’t think the solution is to simply meditate on abundance. I believe the solution is to use your brain, your intellect, your common sense right up to the point where they can go no further, and let faith take over from there. Perhaps that’s the only way Worry can stop grinding its gears.” (36 Secrets) Amen sister.

I hope this dies down quickly, and we can all get back to work. I’d be lying if I said I’m not at all fascinated by how a writer’s platform can morph into a social media battle in just a few days. But it has. The Five of Pentacles energy is real. As we move now to the fifth decan, the Six of Pentacles, we can look around and realize what the purpose of money really is in our lives, and open opportunities to glean it and more importantly share it with others.

xo Hanna