An American Journal

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

My name is Brie. It has been months since I’ve written on Substack.

I started The Brie-fing just before Donald Trump’s second inauguration with a dream to eventually create full-time, or at least add something factual and interesting to the internet. It was going well, and I had decent growth those first few months.

It would be so easy to blame the stagnation on Substack’s algorithm, or bad luck, or anything but myself… But there’s no growth without personal responsibility.

It was me. It was definitely me. I had not developed the skills to maintain consistency through massive personal change, and creation needed to take a back seat to survival.

Big changes were happening.

Fell in Love

He’s incredible. It’s healthy and it’s gentle, and I deadass lost faith that love like this existed, but wow, what a mistake. That knowledge has altered heavily, maybe forever, my outlook about what is possible for my life.

Estrangement

I went no contact with a parent. It never won’t hurt, this is just the least painful way forward. I am adjusting to this new way of life a little more each day.

New City

After 5 years of talking about leaving Phoenix, I followed my sexy man to Tucson at the start of 2026. True, Tucson wasn’t on my list of possible destinations for new cities, but I hadn’t grown partial to any other place anyway… I decided to let love take the wheel on this one (it helped that Phoenix and friends are only 2 hours away. I moved but I didn’t MOVE…).

It’s not that there hasn’t been stress, and growth, and tears and people I miss… but I’ve felt at home in Tucson, since Day one, in a way I can’t possibly describe with any level of adequacy.

Beauty. History. Culture. Tucson absolutely exudes all three, simultaneously, everywhere you look… but what really gets my gaze every time is the city’s seeming insistence on contradiction. Absolutely gorgeous mansions on the same streets as condos, and miles from tiny old abodes. A general feel of dilapidation in most places you look, but with all the modern amenities of a city. There are gigantic murals on buildings and walls all over the downtown area; You may see one of Tucson’s growing homeless population sleeping at the foot of one of these giant pieces of artwork.

And ALL of these contradictions were built right into the natural topography of the city; the roads are up and down, twisty turny for at least a portion of wherever I’m going, and it still has the classic big blue skies and mountains that Arizona deserts seem to come standard with.

My apartment has a dog park like 100 steps from my door that has a view like you wouldn’t believe… But my boyfriend’s condo absolutely steals the show. There’s a bit of nature near his complex, and so nearly everyday we get a show from the animals. From the car to his patio alone, I’ve seen roadrunners, quails, rabbits, snakes, toads, lizards, cardinals, and some sort of beetle that scares the hell out of me. There’s also the pack of javelinas that hang out around his complex… no. I’m not kidding.

New Job

The only way moving to Tucson was feasible was by finding a job. A very kind and well-timed reference landed me a position with an excellent company that I’m rather proud to work for. The company has deep roots in Tucson, a stable business plan, and really tries to treat its employees right.

They move fast with a small squad.

In order to become good at my job, to get out of the holy-shit-what-is-going-on phase and hopefully start moving in to the let’s-find-ways-to-make-this-manageable-before-I-lose-my-shit phase, I’ve kinda had to give it my all.

My man gets me out to restaurants and we watch movies, and his family has barbecues and dinners, so my social life is not empty, but I’m still working a lot. Work-life balance will continue to be an issue even as I insisted on writing this tonight, instead of working.

An American Journal

Life has changed considerably, no doubt about that… but I still feel this urge to write, all the time. Coming back to The Brie-fing was hard because I had a sort of niche when it started… I was documenting. I was writing out well-thought, well-sourced political opinions, even if they were expletive-laden.

I like those posts, and there will be more; I’m just realizing that a niche is not meant for me. I am an ADHD-ass super nerd whose phases of hyper focus give her a way-more-than-casual level of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects, but still in a not-remotely-an-expert kind of way.

I want to, need to write about it all. It feels like journalistic malpractice, just straight writer’s betrayal to give you a half-hearted post about something political when I’m deep into learning and making connections about another subject entirely. From the beauty of my new daily routine to my anger at Republicans to stories of falling in love to the effects of childhood trauma to the possibilities of cryptocurrency to reviews of new places I’ve been in Tucson… I have to present my complete self on Substack.

Political rants will be plentiful, rest assured… but would it be okay if I went off on some tangents?

My mistake with The Brie-fing was giving it a niche. I am not niche. I will never have a niche. I am multitudes and messiness and miraculous.

I hope you’ll follow along with me as I write about the world, and life, and people and purpose. And if I’m really lucky, I hope to be able to learn some things from all of you, too.

I’m glad to be back ❤️ If you got this far, introduce yourself in the comments… all questions and comments welcome!