Time to Focus

Hello Chroniclers,

A lot has changed for me in the past two weeks. As some of you know, I will transition back into employment and genuinely look forward to it.

That change also means I’ll have less time to devote to other pursuits. So I had to ask myself where my energy is best spent in the ongoing fight to protect our democratic republic.

Citizen Chronicles began as an ambitious project with many ideas in the pipeline. But the reality of living in a country where repression has become part of daily life—and, more troublingly, a factor in how people make decisions—forced me and those around me to reassess. Suddenly, my choices didn’t just affect me; they had the potential to impact others, perhaps more seriously than myself.

Meanwhile, the broader resistance movement has matured. Substack, BlueSky, and other platforms have grown in strength and quality. It’s been remarkable to witness—and to be part of—a wave of thoughtful, urgent, and well-crafted independent content. Substack has become home to a thriving network of journalists, authors, scholars, and everyday citizens who offer crowd-sourced, wide-ranging, and refreshingly grounded commentary.

In that landscape, my voice has felt less visible and less impactful. The kind of exchange I hoped to foster here only emerged sporadically. That’s okay. In the early days of this regime, the flood of news and the thoughts constantly swirling in my head became all-consuming, even overwhelming.

But I had to ask: beyond the personal benefit of writing down my thoughts and yelling into the void, is this still the best use of my energy?

The answer, I believe, is no. Over the past month, I have given a public presentation, participated in marches and standouts with friends, spoken to the media before and during our events, written news releases for our group, and am currently helping with the setup and design of our group’s website.

I am a people person. I thrive in interaction with others. It motivates me, energizes me, and keeps me going. Writing a newsletter started to feel more like a chore.

So yes, you already know where this is going. While I do not wish to discontinue Citizen Chronicles entirely, I will scale it back. I may share my thoughts and opinions occasionally rather than regularly. I will also remove the donation function (to the extent Substack allows) and maintain this space for the foreseeable future.

I hope you’ll stick around. I’m grateful for your interest, and I ask for your understanding. I’m not a journalist or a full-time writer—I need to focus on work that pays the bills. And when it comes to defending democracy, I’ve decided my greatest impact is right here, locally, in Western Massachusetts, shoulder to shoulder with friends who care as deeply as I do.

See you out there,

Tom

Photo by Seb Atkinson on Unsplash