So here it is, the start of something new that really is not. Yes, the substack format is new. Yes, I will only share completely new writing and not re-post previous bits. And yet, me writing directly to you, that’s not new at all. I have been consistently writing “on the internet” for at least five years now, definitely much longer if I fully take into account everything I ever put out into this wild world web of wonder.
Why am I here now then and how am I changing the narrative of my story? Simple: I am fed up with a lot of things. Fed up with algorithms, gatekeeping, “personal branding”, advertisements, mind numbing and increasingly repetitive sameness. And that’s just some of it, as far as the online world is concerned. There’s much more, in real life, too. Really, come to think, I am now as close as possible to my “angry young woman self” (hello to Alanis Morissette and Ani Di Franco, I guess?) as I have been in quite some time. I simply can’t stomach another attempt at making me jump through this hoop or that in order to be someone I am just not.
Since I am done playing the part or, rather, trying to because I never really got there anyway, I feel free and relieved. A lot of headspace is now freed up for a new project. This project, right here. I am not convincing anyone as the meek, subservient type. Nor do I want to. It’s about high time that I wrote down and shared some of my thoughts simply for what they are, my own. Unencumbered by the restraints of platforms that are trying to push their own agenda, unbothered by people who live in the kind of reality I do not want to be a part of either. I want to just be and create and write and share, describing the honest ups and downs (and everything in between) of my creative life.
Maybe some of this makes sense to you, as a reader. Maybe you can even relate. Maybe you will find that I hit the nail on the head real hard. Maybe my words hit in other places, too. Possibly even harder. I don’t mind either way. I care about writing for real people, with real thoughts and emotions, who want to engage with the world around them in a real way. I am not afraid to not be palatable or accommodating enough for everyone, I am not a people pleaser. Nor am I a polemic writer, I have absolutely no interest in cantankerous keyboard warrior brawls either.
I simply want to continue writing with my big, open heart on my sleeve, knowing that somehow somewhere someone will read it, simply because they can and they genuinely want to. No strings attached. That’s right, this is just me being a really prolific writer, wanting to sound out her words in a safe, supportive place before they may (or may not) find their way in to other places and projects.
Let’s see how this goes…
How's that I missed it! Welcome😍