Substacks recommended by Joy V. | The Shrieking Cactus

Recommended by Joy V.

For the outsider in all of us. 🏝️ Welcome to finding freedom in the fringes and wholeness through stories, one quirky essay (and newsletter) at a time. Because fitting in is overrated.

A Reader's Compendium

By Sarah Orman

a newsletter for people who consider reading and writing a way of life

She reads way more than me, and it shows. Thoughtful takes on writing as an identity.

- Joy V.

Kathy MacKay On Writing and Thriving After 50

"It's never too late" is more than a cliché, it can be a way of life. Join me as I share stories about later-life evolution and reinvention, including my own path to becoming a writer. All are welcome!

After He Said Cancer

By Kristina Adams Waldorf

Personal essays about the emotional highs and lows of cancer, finding hope, cultivating joy, and learning how to truly live.

The Body Is A Trailhead by Lissa Rankin, MD

By Lissa Rankin

Psycho-education about boundaries, trauma recovery, off-ramping from spiritual bypassing, IFS, and how relationships impact your health.

My personal Substack

I'm a psychoanalyst and entrepreneur interested in uncovering insights into our shared experiences that we may struggle to name. I’m on a mission to find nuggets of meaning that make for a richer and fuller life.

Insightful posts on understanding and accepting the more challenging parts of our personalities and motivations.

- Joy V.

Almost Sated

By Kristi Koeter

Real conversations and empowering guidance to help midlife women redefine health beyond restriction and find liberation through radical self-love.

Writing with Nina

By Nina Barufaldi

Fiction, Poetry, Podcast, and Personal Essays from Bar Harbor, Maine.

All Parts by Eliza Butler, MA, MA

By Eliza B.

All Parts is for overwhelmed deep-feelers exhausted from our over-intellectualized world.Join me, a somatic psychotherapist & breathworker with a low BS tolerance, for educational and personal stories of healing, reconnecting to joy, and living more alive

Weeds, Wolves & Wild Women

By Vanessa Chakour

Exploring outer and inner wilds — from the wisdom of other animals, the healing power of so-called weeds and foraging local medicine, to trusting creative instincts and surrendering to the power of pleasure.

A deep dive into the power of nature, herbalism, folklore, and pleasure.

- Joy V.

Happy Asian Woman

By Alice Chen

Helping Asian-American Women Find More Joy in Love, Work and Life

Thoughtful and well-written essays on how to live happier in midlife.

- Joy V.

Beyond Survival with Clare Egan

Weekly essays written with “authenticity, vulnerability and insight” about grief, healing, and recovery. By Clare Egan, a queer Irish writer on a mission to change how we think about life after trauma.

Old Mom Things

By Jen Hubley Luckwaldt

I had a baby and then turned 42 about half an hour later. Here are some things I've learned about being an Old Mom.

Jenny walks the perfect line between self-deprecation and heartwarming insights exploring the exhilarations and challenges of being a new mom in your 40s.

- Joy V.