Archive - Reimagining Belonging by Julie Rodgers

The End of this Season

I am coming out of my second covid Christmas in a row to say the time has come to wind down the newsletter. I started this newsletter when I spent most…

Dec 28, 2022 •

I came up on my one-year anniversary in Brooklyn and couldn’t see a path to a life in New York where I didn’t go a little further into debt each month…

Dec 1, 2022 •

November 2022

The Influencer to Author Pipeline

When I was in high school, I told my mom I wanted to major in English in college and become a writer, and she said, “My friend Susan’s daughter Bethany…

Nov 13, 2022 •

Nothing Can Be Changed Until It Is Faced

My first job in New York was at a casual-upscale, Michelin-starred restaurant in Brooklyn called Oxalis. Oxalis had locally sourced ingredients, natural…

Nov 3, 2022 •

October 2022

I am delighted to be writing to you all today. I’m going to embarrass myself by quoting a passage from my book to frame this post, and then share a…

Oct 30, 2022 •

August 2022

We Work it Out in Community

I spent the last two weeks road-tripping around Morocco: 6 cities in 14 days with over 40 hours of driving. I spent time in two coastal cities, two…

Aug 7, 2022 •

July 2022

To love without losing ourselves

Earlier this week, I watched a gorgeous new movie called Petite Maman. It’s about an 8-year-old named Nelly who accompanies her parents to her mother’s…

Jul 15, 2022 •

Let's Refuse to Look Away

I’ve worked at a queer-leaning bar called Branded Saloon ever since the weather warmed up here in Brooklyn. And about 5 days a week, a man named Henry…

Jul 7, 2022 •

June 2022

My First Dry Pride

Up until a few years ago, the main messages I heard about alcohol were pretty black-and-white: either it’s a source of comfort and joy, or you’re a part…

Jun 29, 2022 •

April 2022

Our Work Continues, Wherever We Are

It has been too long and I’ve missed y’all. Writing here has felt like one of the few safe and nourishing places for me in my time online. We all opted…

Apr 7, 2022 •

January 2022

Notes on Inherent Dignity from the Service Industry

The last restaurant I worked at was a new oyster bar run by the group that owned several of Chicago’s most popular establishments. There’s a special…

Jan 10, 2022 •

December 2021

In Praise of Kindness

“I don’t want to raise good kids,” I remember the pastor saying. “I want to raise WARRIORS for Christ.” The pastor was in the middle of a rant about how…

Dec 21, 2021 •

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