I’m catching up on your offerings since returning from Norway, and this one really resonates with me. It was a phenomenal trip, and it was so full there was precious little time to write -- so I carved out moments here and there to write a sort of multi-week travel journal rather than try to publish a fresh Substack each week. I really needed to give myself the space and permission to do that, and the way I came to what worked for me was looking at all the options as a spectrum. On one end was taking a whole day out of each week I was there to just write and publish as usual, and on the other was to just “be on vacation” and forget about it. I looked at a bunch of options on the spectrum and landed on the one that felt best -- and I’m so happy I did. I got to be fully present, available, and engaged in nearly every moment of this life-changing trip, and also made time here and there late at night or early in the morning to write in a stream-of-consciousness style, which I later wove into a long-form published piece. In this way, my writing became that friend you mentioned, holding my hand and underlining the parts of my life I wanted to highlight and remember in detail.
I really think that’s a beautiful way to approach writing. Thank you for that image. It’s so easy to try to turn our loves and talents into merit-based capitalized endeavors instead of just letting them be our friends.
I’m catching up on your offerings since returning from Norway, and this one really resonates with me. It was a phenomenal trip, and it was so full there was precious little time to write -- so I carved out moments here and there to write a sort of multi-week travel journal rather than try to publish a fresh Substack each week. I really needed to give myself the space and permission to do that, and the way I came to what worked for me was looking at all the options as a spectrum. On one end was taking a whole day out of each week I was there to just write and publish as usual, and on the other was to just “be on vacation” and forget about it. I looked at a bunch of options on the spectrum and landed on the one that felt best -- and I’m so happy I did. I got to be fully present, available, and engaged in nearly every moment of this life-changing trip, and also made time here and there late at night or early in the morning to write in a stream-of-consciousness style, which I later wove into a long-form published piece. In this way, my writing became that friend you mentioned, holding my hand and underlining the parts of my life I wanted to highlight and remember in detail.
I really think that’s a beautiful way to approach writing. Thank you for that image. It’s so easy to try to turn our loves and talents into merit-based capitalized endeavors instead of just letting them be our friends.
So glad you were able to do this, Eric!
Looking forward to reading your words.