Welcome to the beginning
Well, if I’m being honest, this isn’t really the beginning. But you knew that, didn’t you? No, to go back to where this all started we’d have to wind the tape all the way off the reel. That could get messy and confusing, not to mention no one uses a VHS anymore. So for simplicity’s sake let’s start here, and no doubt the backstory will unfold as we get to know each other a bit better.
The long and short of it is that I always knew deep down that I was a writer. The truth is that I was writing and reading books long before I was qualified to do anything else. I was doing it long before the baggage of adulthood came in and I was weighed down by impostor syndrome, self-doubt and the belief that I’d be nothing but a starving artist if I continued down that road.
For reasons based in both pragmatism and idealism, I went and became a doctor. Suffice to say that this decision did nothing in the least to quell my creative impulse, if anything it strengthened it. For better or worse, I was what people call “an eccentric” and the fact of that being a noun rather than an adjective made it seem all the more indisputable.
Anyway, I continued to write online for years and realised eventually that I am exactly that: a writer. And if I didn’t see myself that way, the only person I had to answer to was me.
And herewith the most affirming declaration: “I am a writer; I am because I write.” Or something to that (poor Descartes is probably rolling in his grave right now).
Cogito, ergo sum
My own journey has not been an easy one (more on that in upcoming pieces) and I know somehow that I am not alone in this. We live in a world that seems to unforgiving towards creatives, to those trying to live unconventionally but authentically.
If you have ever felt like you’re looking at your life from the outside and something just doesn’t feel right, if you know you’re not living up to your creative potential, this is a space for you. If you’re already on a creative path and are looking for a community of likeminded individuals, you’re most welcome too.
This is where you get to learn how to live creatively from someone who has literally made an experiment of her own life and is implementing a new way of being in real time.
For now I will be posting a newsletter weekly and I’m hoping to turn my Substack into a blog where I discuss writing as an art form, living creatively, books and whatever happens to be on my radar at the time whether that be art, online culture, philosophy… literally all of those things are my bag so be prepared for a real smorgasbord.
Please leave a comment telling me where in the world you’re from and what kind of content you’re most excited about seeing here! If you have any specific topic requests or recommendations do let me know and I’ll do my very best to cover those topics/ check out your recommendations.
Great to see you here Ashleigh!
Welcome Ashleigh! Simon converted us both!