Happy anniversary to my new life working for me

I think it has turned out rather well.

I’ve had more time for this.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of being laid off after 18 years of writing and editing at Treehugger. I went from earning a good living writing two posts per day and editing the daily newsletter to having not much income and no job prospects. I also went from working about twelve hours a day to having a lot of time on my hands. But my biggest worry was that I would disappear into the void, no longer being part of such a big platform with so much exposure.

Today is the first anniversary of getting serious about writing on Substack. I thought the best way to avoid getting seriously depressed or drunk was to hit the ground running and fill my time with writing here. I am now up to over 2,000 subscribers, with 85 of you paying to read this. That’s not enough for me to live on, but it helps, and I hope it will grow. (Maybe I’ll just put a little button here…)

But other marvellous things have happened this year. I got the time to finish my second book, The Story of Upfront Carbon, and nervously anticipate its release in May. I did a better job teaching my Sustainable Design students at Toronto Metropolitan University.

I did not go out looking for work, but work came looking for me. I enjoy writing a bi-weekly column for Green Building Advisor. I am part of the Zero Ambitions Podcast, where I try to introduce the contents of Passive House Plus, an Irish/UK publication, to a North American audience. It’s niche, but it’s fun. I’m doing consulting about upfront carbon with the National Trust for Canada.

I did not disappear; It has been the opposite. Treehugger always had a problem being taken seriously; years ago, I attended a lecture by Paul Steiger, founding editor of ProPublica, and approached him afterwards to suggest that perhaps Treehugger could work with him to produce environmental content. He responded, “Why would I ever want to associate myself with a site named Treehugger?” Not being associated with it myself now hasn’t hurt my reputation.

Perhaps it’s why, this year, I have been honoured (and chuffed, as they say in the UK) to be invited to speak at the 27th International Passive House Conference in Innsbruck in April. This is so exciting and scary; I am sweating over my submission about retrofits now.

Most importantly, I reconnected with my family (spouse Kelly says I should lose the re, I connected!) I used to be too busy working; now, I play with my granddaughter. Kelly says I am way less tense and more fun. I am even beginning to like the dog.

I have been lucky in my layoff, having grown kids, some savings, being old enough for the Canada Pension Plan and, of course, this site. Others have found it more difficult; I asked my former Treehugger co-worker Katherine Martinko, now of the Analog Family Substack and a successful author, for her thoughts on the transition:

"Going freelance has been scary but exciting at times. I have enjoyed the wide range of assignments; my CV has become far more interesting over the past year! Freelancing has certainly changed my conception of time. With every hour now having a dollar value associated with it, I sometimes struggle to differentiate between paid work time and creative work time, which results in the former overflowing into the latter. That being said, I miss the stability of a permanent job and am continuing to look for my next role, wherever that may be. The market is a tough nut to crack, though, and after 120+ job applications over the past year, that right role has not yet materialized. I'll keep looking—and maybe write another book in the meantime." 

I do not miss the stability of a permanent job. I write what I want, run and row when I want, and play with my granddaughter when she wants. And I have all of you to thank for helping make this a wonderful year.

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