Dear ... , it's been a while.
I have intentions to share, though I'm still wintering a bit.
I’m sitting here, cappuccino next to me, watching the birds on my balcony searching for food, with the intent to write my next text for hills to heart, but I have trouble concentrating. Maybe it’s easier to try it differently, as it’s been such a long time.
Dear someone,
it’s been a while. With an emotion that you can’t call horror, but that for sure goes into the direction of slight shock, I had to notice last week that my last essay for hills to heart was uploaded way back in June 2025. Sorry for being so neglectful! Maybe you’ve seen me being active on Notes, every now and then, though the likes and comment section stayed silent most of the time, so I’m not sure, whether you spotted my activity over there or it went straight into the abyss.
Anyway, the past six months were a mixture of busy, exhausting, sad, unstructured, well-intended and yet always different plans and life, so that I went into a full-on break in December and did as I pleased in January. Some may call it wintering, and as my home world has been covered in cold and snow for most of January, life truly slowed down in a natural way, giving me the opportunity to dream up new ideas. Stepping away from my business to get some sort of birds-eye-view has helped me to envision new paths, entwine parts that had been separate and letting go of what hadn’t served me well. That also means, hills to heart will finally get deeper roots, will be more entwined with my art practice and will be more important in my creative business, than it has been before.
New twines for hills to heart
Since I started hills to heart, I always liked the idea of it, of substack in general, but never really had plans for it besides having it for my essay explorations, and so, because you’ve got to set priorities, it never made it onto the top of my to-do list. It’s been a nice add-on, but to be honest, I never really knew what to do with it. I already have a blog and a studio newsletter, so I never felt the need to have another one. However, substack feels so much better than any other social media that I wanted to keep it. I never expected that just ONE decision changed it all.
Last autumn I looked more at my blog stats, I learned a bit more about AI in search engines and read about what you can do, if you don’t want that your texts end up feeding big techs AI. After many a conversation with friends, silent considerations, staring at stats, and so on, I decided that my blog will get a password that only people on my studio newsletter and here on hills to heart will know.
Suddenly, new worlds for hills to heart opened as well. I’m passionate about my art and about nature, so why not share it both on here? Why not open this space up for more than nature essays? Why not making it a priority? Why not entwine it even more, than making it separate? hills to heart, my studio blog and my studio newsletter.
So, what’s changing and what stays, you may ask: Well, you’ll still get the nature essays over here (because MUCH LOVE for them) but you’ll also get texts on what inspires me and my art, “making my home a better place (think native bees and plants)” kind of essays”, highlight blog posts cross posted, you’ll get the Inside Painting Series, more art, more BTS, more knowledge about eco-friendly painting, more studio life. You’ll get the hills and the heart, metaphorically speaking. Hopefully. At least that’s what I dreamed up and aspire to do.
As it is with dreams and aspirations: Half of the time they turn out true, half of the other times they come to nothing, and most of the times they turn out differently than you’ve imagined.
Next time, I’ll write a proper introductory post, so that it’s all clear and obvious.
PS: Here’s the new logo I came up with for hills to heart, and it’s the first time ever that I like it.
About me: Hello, I’m Mareike, the writer behind hills to heart. Besides being a writer, I’m also a painter, creating landscape and floral works inspired by native wildflowers and travels. I share about my paintings on my website and also have a dedicated blog, which you are welcome to explore, but which will get a password-entry soon. Feel free to leave a heart, comment or share my writings.