The Analog Life Project: Let's Begin!

I'm so ready for a new vibe in 2026. Let's do this!

Welcome!

Hi friends! Happy New Year!

Just a quick note that if you’re reading this as an email it might be clipped so you might want to click “view entire message” if this happens. :)

I hope your December was more relaxing than mine! That being said, I did slow down enough to make something amazing.....

BEHOLD:

I made tiramisu.

And it was wonderful.

I didn’t get a picture of the finished product but I promise it looked fancy and everyone loved it.

I might have puffed up a bit as I served it lol.

Now Let’s Begin With A Huge THANK YOU!

I want to say thank you so much for all of your enthusiasm about The Analog Life Project! I am truly humbled.

I appreciate every single comment. Every single share. I’ve been working feverishly to get this project set up for January 1, baby!

And This is the result:

Alas, for someone trying to be offline more, my screen time has jumped up a bit lol.

Now that isn’t too surprising given that we are kicking off a new project with an online component. I get that.

But....

My goal is truly to be offline more. Especially social media. So if you found me on Instagram you’ll notice I limit my posts to updates about this project and about products I sell, and then I’ll be offline for awhile.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like about instagram. I get a lot of great inspiration and news there and I’ve met a lot of my favorite friends/artists/cool people there. But I also get a lot of other yucky stuff that takes up too much bandwidth and ends up being a giant time suck. I do appreciate all the comments, tags, shares, likes on instagram/facebook, for sure, and yet these platforms are not where I want to spend a lot of time so they’re the first to get pared back!

And so, I’m creating The Analog Life Project out of a growing dissatisfaction with the fact that my days are increasingly filtered through screens. I want to figure out more ways to slow down and pay attention to life, the way I did when I was a kid. I want to make room for curiosity and creativity, and to remember what it feels like to move at a more human pace.

What does it mean, and how does it feel, to seek presence over efficiency, quality over convenience, and to leave more of a real, lasting thumbprint on the world?

I thought it would be fun to explore this together.

On Instagram I read an excerpt from The Atlantic that said we’re getting this screen time thing all wrong, that basically it’s impossible to lessen our screentime because screens are so ubiquitous. That’s kind of demoralizing. But I get it. I tried to get an actual newspaper delivered to my house like we did in the “old days,” and it turns out they don’t serve our area. Seriously?

But regardless of what anyone says, I know we are on to something, here. What does it say that this was our most shared image ever on instagram (I see the irony!)

And this is now our best selling sticker ever:

I’m feeling a shift away from algorithms and a turn toward other humans too, and this is the whole reason for The Analog Life Project.

So This Was My Way of Kicking Off The Project at Home, Just For The Fun Of It

We dragged this shelving unit out of the basement and then dug around in the garage until I found my old magazines (Mary Engelbreit!) and my mom’s VHS exercise tapes (Richard Simmons!). My dad gave me his old 35mm camera from the 90s (with film still in it, how cool will that be to develop?)

It’s a place for all of our media— young and old— to live and it makes me happy every time I pull a record or a board game off the shelf.

One of the things I look forward to the most is enjoying the FEEL of analog life, engaging my senses in ways that you just can’t experience online. All I need now is a VCR and a boom box and I’ll be set! :)

More than anything, I want this project to be FUN, and enjoyable and juicy and honestly, I want it to be a way to drop kick 2025 out the door and welcome a better vibe in 2026. :)

While rummaging through my childhood memorabilia, I found some old letters written between me and my grandmother. I used to love writing to her. And check out that stationery! It has some serious 80s vibes that have got me enamored with the word “POSTALETTES,” lol.

So many of you have messaged me about starting a snail mail / pen pal club and I’m all in. I’ll be talking more about that in upcoming posts!

Meanwhile, I’m designing some stationery / letter writing kits, inspired by this fabulous idea.

So Let’s Talk About The January Workbook!

Here is a quick overview of what’s in this month’s workbook.

• WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS PROJECT: We begin by exploring WHY this project feels important to us at this time, starting with some simple questions about what our relationship to technology is like now, and what kind of changes might feel good. What parts of your life already feel alive, grounded, meaningful and analog and how can we nurture these areas in the next year?

• MONTHLY READING LOG: A reading log will be included in each workbook and I’ll be posting about what I’m reading in upcoming posts.

• FIELD TRIP CHALLENGE: My initial idea was to visit a new bookstore every month as a way of getting out in the world more (I’m a hermit!) but I expanded that out to include any analog adjacent place you want to visit— stationery shop, record store, museum, nursery— whatever floats your boat.

• THE ANALOG DAY: Pretend the power went out and you lost your phone, how would you spend your perfect analog day?

• LETTER WRITING: What I love about letter writing is that it is a deliberate act of presence and it makes communication an intentional act of care rather than a reflex. I’m totally excited about this!

• A VISIT TO THE LIBRARY: Before everything was searchable online, the library was the place to be! If you are already a frequent flyer at the library good for you! This trip is for those of us whose cards are a little rusty.

• PHOTO CHALLENGE: I love taking photos, which might be obvious from my blog posts. I love my digital camera and am excited to try out my dad’s old 35mm. This challenge is about paying attention and capturing moments. So, any kind of camera will work great, even your phone!

Welcome Anne Butera!

My friend Anne Butera will be a regular contributor to the The Analog Life Project! And this endeavor fits beautifully with what she offers already.

We’re going to be talking a lot about creative practices in the coming year and Anne is a great resource! She is a self-taught artist, and a natural teacher who helps people nurture their own creativity and develop a sketchbook practice.

You can learn more about the classes she teaches here.

You can learn more about Anne’s art, garden and new homestead on her blog.

Anne’s newsletter The Joy Letter is gorgeous and inspiring.

Coming Up Later This Month:

• Let’s make a phenology wheel for the year

• A new blog post as I work through the January Workbook myself

• Letter Writing & Pen Pal Project- What could this look like for us here in this space?

• What are we reading?

And Just A Reminder:

This homepage is where all of the blog posts and printable workbooks will live in one place.

Our community here on Substack is where we will be able to talk about it.

The Analog Life Project is a year-long project with monthly content and is completely free.

That being said, I would love it if you would consider supporting this project and my work by visiting my shop.

Are you outside the US? My international shipping is limited but Buy Olympia sells all of our products (washi tape is on the way!) and ships worldwide!

Not ready to shop? You can Buy Me A Coffee.