YOU: I wish you could see what I see

You're invited to the Quiet Life community…and our first candlelit Ask Me Anything!

Hello! This is Susan Cain, author of the #1 bestselling books, QUIET and BITTERSWEET. For the past twenty years, I’ve been exploring a particular realm of human nature: the quiet, the sensitive, the thoughtful, the bittersweet. Welcome to the Quiet Life community - for kindred spirits drawn to quiet, depth, and beauty.

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So my husband Ken and the kids and I have been binge-watching The Sopranos. (Yes, we know we’re 25 years late.) Recently, we’d just finished Season 4, Episode 2. The kids went up to sleep. Idly, I opened my phone, and read one of the letters that readers have been sending me for the last decade.

Like so many of your notes, it was wonderful and fascinating and heartfelt.

“Holy shit,” I said to Ken.

I’m not much of a curser, so that got his attention.

“I love the people who send these letters,” I said. “I really love them. They’re just so extraordinary.”

And you really are.

But the crazy thing is: until now, I’ve been the only one who got to see this. Because you were writing your letters only to me.

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So today I am thrilled to announce the creation of the Quiet Life: a place you can go, when you want to connect with other people (including me) who share your frequency.

A place that’s attuned to your love of quiet, depth, and beauty.

A place where you can make progress on your creative dreams and projects; learn to use your own unique powers as a quiet-thoughtful type; and add more art, poetry, beauty, ideas, psychology, and well-being to your life.

Join now, and participate in our first candlelit Sunday Chat/AMA with me, Sunday Dec 17! YOU WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO DO ANYTHING GROUPY.:) It’s fine to just watch/listen/write in the chat, as you prefer. This is just a place for you to BE in a kindred setting, and to enjoy some music, ideas, candlelight, and simpatico company.

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There are three different kinds of memberships to the Quiet Life:

FREE MEMBERS: With a free subscription, you’ll receive two or three of my Kindred Letters newsletters per month. You’ll also have the occasional ability to comment on these letters.

PAID MEMBERS: $10 a month/$99 a year

The Quiet Life is purely reader-sustained. As a paid subscriber, you’ll be able to support our project, join next Sunday’s candlelight AMA, and enjoy: 

• A bonus, more personal, Kindred Letter each month (plus all the other letters I send, of course)

• Ability to comment on my letters, posts, chats, threads, voicemails, and prompts, interacting with me and with other members of the Quiet Life

• Candlelit Sunday chats, featuring AMAs (Ask Me Anything) and Diving Deep/Journaling zoom sessions with me, and my interviews with some of my favorite authors and thinkers (you’ll be able to ask questions, if you like)

• “Voicemails” from me, in which I’ll share thoughts (in audio form), read poetry to you, and encourage you to adopt life-nourishing habits

• Practices designed to elevate your mood, improve your health, & help you tune into joy and beauty

• Share your own creative work and writings 

• Whatever else we dream up! We will no doubt evolve, as we figure out, together, what works best. 

My aim is for you to come away from your first year experiencing the richer, deeper form of happiness that often comes from a quiet, reflective approach to the world.

FOUNDING MEMBERS: $300/year

If you’d like to support my work, AND to fund three scholarship memberships for others, please consider a founding membership! You’ll receive everything that paid members do, plus the great satisfaction of supporting those without means.

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS

If you’d like to give a membership to your friends and family members who are also lovers of quiet, depth, and beauty, as a holiday gift, you can do that, too!

SCHOLARSHIPS

If you can’t afford the above, WE WANT YOU TO JOIN ANYWAY. Really, really, really. No one should decline to participate for lack of funds. We’re offering partial and full scholarships – please email us at hello@thequietlife.net, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

SHARE

If you think your friends or family would like to know about all this, you can easily share this post with them:

What happens once I’ve signed up for a paid or founding membership?

*As soon as you join, you’ll get access to the first voicemail I’ve recorded for you. You can also join a written chat, right now, with me and others. And you can browse through some of the Kindred Letters that are archived on the membership site. Just go here to access everything. And, please look out for your first full Kindred Letter, coming very soon.

***And, of course, you’ll be able to join our first candlelit Sunday Chat/AMA (Ask Me Anything), which will be a week from Sunday, December 17, at 12 pm Eastern/9 am Pacific/5 pm UK /10:30 pm India, on Zoom.  

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Oh, that weird “putting yourself out there” feeling. With every new book or talk I’ve done, there’s always that uncomfortable feeling of exposure, when things go live. And so I close this letter with a (manageable) knot in my stomach. 

But many of the most rewarding things I’ve done involve such knots. And I think that this Quiet Life community is one of them.

So here goes. If you’ve appreciated my work, this is a great way to support it…and to dive deep into what I hope will be a life-changing realm for you. 

As always, I am very glad that you’re here, and do not take it lightly.

I hope to see you today in our written chat, and next Sunday on Zoom! And you can also drop a comment below.

Love,

P.S. Here’s what subscribers are saying

"It’s like free therapy.  You guys are the guiding light."  

“Receiving the Kindred emails feels as if an old friend is reaching out to ask about how I am doing. I know it will arrive, but when I see it in the inbox, it still spreads warmth in my heart. “

“Receiving something in my inbox from you is like curling up on a rainy afternoon and breathing out a sigh...bliss.” 

“Receiving this beautiful newsletter in my inbox is like receiving a huge dose of recognition, permission and nurturing love. I can't recommend it highly enough.” 

“Reading Kindred Letters is one of the highlights of my week. This is coming from a person who subscribes to newsletters then proceeds to never read even one of them.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for doing these letters, Susan. They mean everything to me. I am so grateful for you and all of your light you give out to us in the world.”