Hi! I’m Jordan, and Shade Cactus is where being a cozy homebody and always planning your next travel adventure come to meet. Here, you’ll marvel the mundane and wish for your wild, while reveling in rest.
You’ll learn about how to support your habitual travel adventures alongside your happy home base (even the one inside your own head). Cool kids subscribe. I appreciate you!
Each month, I share a recap of what I was viewing, doing, and creating! These take a generous amount of time to put together, and I hope they are full of lovely goodies for you.
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“I feel like I’m dating my essays.”
Does anything beat a day full of 10+ minute voice notes sent back and forth with a fellow writer friend?
(Or, they may not be a writer, but just someone who gets you and what you’re into, and you can talk and talk and talk about that thing that you both get and want to get more of.)
Substack is starting to become rote for me. As in, it’s not something I have to remind myself to do or tempt myself to start. I do it. (Like, yay! Consistency!)
I’ve also found in this rote season of Substack… I’m proud I’m doing it, but I’m not completely in love with everything I’m publishing. There’s a part of me that feels I’ve pigeon-holed myself a bit into writing travel itineraries and these monthly scrolls, and while I do enjoy putting them together, I’m not as lit up by them as I was before.
Also important: I wonder if you, the reader, is lit up by it?
While sending voicenotes back and forth with
last week, I said the above quote about “dating my essays” while trying to uncover what it is that turns me on when it comes to my writing.And it’s poetry, ya’ll! Poetry. Poetry gets me going, in all its various forms, including lyrical prose and goofy self-deprecating humor. Poetry is where I find myself smiling as I type. And I’m considering if/how this Substack shifts with that in mind.
For now, I’m still here delivering on the promise of book recs, habitual travel inspo, and other earnest lovelies. Comment below if you love them!
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Inside:
📚 Books
🔖 Bookmarks
📖 TBR (To-Be-Read)
🌈 TV
🍂 Activities
⛰️ Travel
🕸️ Writing
🔮 (My) Poetry
✨ Viewing
📚 Books
Spotting the bright yellow SALE sign outside my local bookstore, I swerved the Jeep into a quick U-turn to head inside. (At 40% off — they’re practically giving them away!) While there, I had to pick up a few goodies that caught my eye.
What is it about bookstores? I walk inside, and stress decomposes into book pages, feeding me. I’m an early 19th-century heroine, taking my Elizabeth Bennet walks with a book in hand. I’m a studious gothic scholar uncovering a long-lost scroll. I’m a huge word nerd who can’t help but touch each book, feeling guilty that I can’t adopt them all.
Let’s all agree to bring back the romanticism of bookstores. (Especially locally owned independent bookstores!!!)
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