It's Time to Get Rooted

The Cultivate Retreat with TheWayBack2Ourselves.com is back IN-PERSON for 2026 in Greenville, South Carolina, June 19-21. You don't want to miss it!

This is a cozy autumnal hello to our several hundred NEW subscribers over the past few weeks. I am so grateful you are here. I’m Kimberly Phinney, professor, poet, and counselor, and My Way Back is my weekly newsletter from the www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com, a literary journal, podcast, publisher, and creative community based on faith and belonging, which I founded in 2022. If you’re new here, WELCOME! You are warmly invited to subscribe below.

IT’S TIME TO GET ROOTED.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR... COMMUNITY & BELONGING, WRITING & PUBLISHING WORKSHOPS, SPIRITUAL DIRECTION, INSPIRATIONAL, KEYNOTE SPEAKERS, “YOU CHOOSE” BREAKOUT SESSIONS, AN ARTIST’S MARKET, WORSHIP MUSIC, ENTERTAINMENT, AND MORE?

WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED.

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I can’t believe I get to type this news. I can’t believe it’s real. TheWayBack2Ourselves.com is proud to announce that The Cultivate Retreat is BACK in person for 2026, from JUNE 19-21 in Greenville, South Carolina. We are partnering with First Presbyterian Chruch of Greenville, in historic downtown, to bring a timely and inspirational theme, ROOTED, which is inspired by Jeremiah 17:7-8:

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Downtown Greenville, South Carolina

I hope you’ll join me and TWBTO team in Greenville:

Deidre Braley

,

Matthew Nash

,

Chelsea Fraser

,

Edward Holmes

,

Heather Lobe Johnson

,

Mariana Herrera Mosli

,

Kimberly Kralovic

,

Sarah Steele

, and more. As well as TWBTO community members, like debut poets

Rosa Lía Gilbert

and

Deborah Rutherford

,

Jason Fullerton

,

Lisa M. Johnson

, and some amazing guest speakers (TBA).

EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 31st. Click on the link below to learn more and grab your ticket. More details will be coming soon about sessions, agenda, events, and speakers. SEATS ARE LIMITED. So, stay tuned!

We are so grateful to the generosity of our partner, First Presbyterian Church, and their fine arts director (and our wonderful friend),

Chelsea Fraser

, for helping to make this dream come true for so many.

My Way Back is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, our podcast, and our archive, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber for just $8.00 a month. In addition to my writing and archives, paid subscribers get to attend POETRY UNIVERSITY for FREE, which is a Zoom learning community (80 strong!) that meets each month to learn about poetry, writing, publishing, Substack, and more! Our next meeting is on October 13, 2025. In addition, paid subscribers get my popular writing course, How to Grow Your Writing Life, for FREE. Both offerings are a $650 value a year. Let’s connect! YOU BELONG HERE.

LIT JOURNAL NEWS FOR YOU:

Before I go, here are a few important announcements about our literary journal’s Fall Collection: To the Mountains and the Storyteller Poetry Contest:

• Our submissions closed on Oct. 1st, 2025. We were blown away by the number of submissions that rolled in by the end of the season. The editors and I have already gotten to work, and we can’t wait to enjoy your stunning writing and art.

• We will be announcing the Storytellers Poetry Contest Winners in early November right here on Substack first, and the fall collection, TO THE MOUNTAINS, will be published on our website on November 19, 2025. While you wait for the Fall Collection, you’re welcome to read our Spring Collection for free HERE.

• We will email all entrants their submission status in the coming weeks, as we work through your submissions. There is only a digital collection this fall. Our print journal is in the spring. We are still determining if we will have our Poetry Corner Podcast this season.

• The Storytellers Poetry Contest Winners:

  • We will award first, second, and third place. All three will be awarded publication and featured in the Fall Collection. The news will be announced here first, so stay tuned!

  • First place will win $250, second place will win $100, and third place will win $50.

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I am so glad you’re here. It’s amazing to see God grow us. I hope I’ll see YOU in June at The Cultivate Retreat or maybe Oct. 13th at Poetry University! I’ll be back with the last FREE installment of my writing course, How to Grow Your Writing Life, next week for our paid subscriber community.

You belong here,

me