It’s time to swap my shell

Hello and happy February! Wishful Working is back after a holiday hiatus, and I’m so excited to share what I’ve been up to since returning from my winter vacation.

I’m going to be 100% real with you — a few months ago, I seriously considered quitting this newsletter or taking an indefinite break. I felt burned out and uninspired, with no vision for the future. But I love this space. I love talking about work and creativity and ✨ ideas ✨

I’ve been writing Wishful Working almost weekly since December 2023. This particular issue is number 97 (omg). After two years, I’ve grown and learned a lot about myself and what I want to say. Like a snake shedding her skin or a hermit crab outgrowing her old shell, I realized I needed to leave something behind in order to move forward.

So I’m saying goodbye to the old Wishful Working website and branding and said hello to something new. Don’t worry — it’s not a massive pivot, just a few updates and a fresh focus. 

The new tagline sums it up well:

Before: A weekly newsletter exploring self-employment, anti-hustle culture, and the future of work.

After: A weekly newsletter about living, working, and thriving in a productivity-obsessed world.

Because I’m self-employed, I’m always going to write about self-employment. But the world of work is vast, and I want to investigate every corner of it. For readers seeking newsletters that are explicitly freelance-themed, I have many suggestions at the end of this post.

I still appreciate and identify with the term “anti-hustle culture,” but as my friend Stephanie pointed out in a recent guest post, there is a time and a place for hustling. I don’t want anyone to think I’m criticizing diligent and energetic workers when I’m actually criticizing endless overwork, capitalist exploitation, and our toxic cultural fixation on status and wealth. 😀

Wishful Working will still explore the future of work, always through the lens of how real, everyday humans (not robots or billionaires…) will flourish and find meaning beyond traditional notions of productivity and success.

I was (and still am) proud of my original Wishful Working designs, but the blue and green color scheme started to feel too cold and corporate. I wanted the new designs to be warm, colorful, and playful. 

Also, the original icons (clock, building, desk, calendar, dollar, earth) didn’t really mean anything beyond a vague representation of the idea of work. I chose these new icons very intentionally. Together, they represent a more holistic idea of work:

The work of sustaining daily life — household chores, cooking, errands, home upkeep, household logistics, personal admin, etc.

The work of sustaining yourself — exercise, healthcare and therapy, rest and sleep, recovery, healing, reflection, self-improvement, learning, hobbies and play, spiritual practice, etc.

The work of sustaining others and maintaining relationships — caregiving, parenting, community care, mutual aid, neighbor support, relationship upkeep, social admin, volunteering, etc.

The work of economic exchange and paid labor — salaried jobs, hourly work, self-employment, entrepreneurship, informal paid work, side hustles, etc.

The work of meaning-making and self-expression — art, writing, music, craft, design, content creation, cultural and narrative work, innovation, etc.

The work of sustaining the natural, social, and built world — environmental protection, climate work, conservation, community stewardship, civic participation, organizing and advocacy, gardening, animal care, etc.

These categories of work aren’t mutually exclusive, and they likely aren’t comprehensive. They simply serve to remind us that work includes many activities that happen outside of a traditional 9-5 job, and these activities generate value far beyond economic productivity and profits.

This revamp is a work in progress. I plan to add more pages to the Wishful Working website, including resources for freelancers and book recommendations. I’m noodling on monetization options, although I kind of hate ads and I don’t want to sell paid subscriptions, so who knows.

I’m really, really glad you’re here. And I’m so excited for what’s to come.

See you next week,

Kara

P.S. Here are my quick recs for freelance-focused newsletters. I subscribe to these myself and read every issue.

Kara Detwiller is a writer and creative based in small-town Saskatchewan. She specializes in long-form content writing for enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and manufacturing clients. She is also working on her first novel, among other creative pursuits. To connect, reply to this email or find Kara on LinkedIn.

Why Wishful Working? I want to help people thrive in a world obsessed with work and productivity. Together, we’re expanding the definition of productivity, rediscovering life balance, and exploring the many kinds of work that make life possible.