consider this a love letter
Hi friends,
I hope you are all doing very well.
I have a quick confession to make. I do not write as much as I ought to.
What does that mean, ought to?
I have a need to write. A calling, a universal duty, an imperative. I’ve been growing frustrated that I’m not writing and publishing, because I think I’m made for it and I’m shirking a sort of god-given responsibility.
Now I neither want to sound very self-aggrandizing nor overly dramatic. I consider this more as, as I said, a confession and a statement I need to make, so it is out there and I can free myself from it (and it from me).
Learning to be a creative is learning to be a vessel. Realizing that there is stuff in you that wants out, whether you want it or not.
Or, maybe even more precisely put, there is stuff that’s in the universe that wants to take you as a passage into the world. So it’s not in you, but it needs to move through you.
Moving this star-stuff through you into the world, turns pure potential into a form. Pure potential in form is commonly called “art”.
We also learn that it’s not necessarily obvious what that stuff is and that it’s the practice, the process that counts. We partake in the process, and the form reveals itself in the rearview mirror.
Me not writing is like a tree not partaking in photosynthesis. It’s unnatural and not healthy. And so it is my duty to write, to myself, and I hope it is good for my surroundings, too.
I need to write urgently and with little regard for quality. I need to write: Badly.
With this pressurized opening piece out of the way, some practical things and updates — I can imagine fulfilling my desire to write just by semi-journaling what happens to me in every week or so.
I have somewhat of an anniversary to celebrate. 4.5 years at Twitch and 4.5 years of a sabbatical. This is 9 defining years of a career, where the most “mature” part of it happened outside a job. I think it’s really time to share from the place I’m in now, not least because I want to get to working more regularly. Creative work and writing is part of it. Has to be! That’s what I stepped away from my desk job for! : )
Maybe you’ve seen that I published podcasts here, from the beautiful internet place also known as tpot. One with Tasshin, one with Anansi. I have another with Nibras in the pipeline (don’t these people have the coolest names??)
I am very happy to take a train to Stuttgart this weekend to speak at my old university, HdM Stuttgart, at a student-organized conference called add, about living artfully and creating a life’s work. I might also rehash the talk as a YouTube video and host an Interintellect salon on the topic.
Speaking of which, news on the Spiritual Mischief front: My brother-in-spirit Louis and I are hosting the continuation of our seasons series next week’s Tuesday. The topic is Truth, Arrogance and Dragons. It’s gonna be hot. And cool. You can click the link and get a ticket, to enjoy our lecture and partake in a conversation afterwards.
Also, shoutouts to Louis because the piece above is mostly inspired by a conversation we had today. You can read his newsletter here.
It’s a recipe for disaster for me to state an intention for some sort of publishing schedule or anything of the sort. I’m still in potential space with writing, and not in form space.
What I would like is move the practice of writing from infinite space through the worldly gate, so that it can take shape and form and is something handleable. I’ve done this with other things before, but mostly together with friends. Writing is a (mostly) lone craft so it’s a bit of a different beast.
For that we must step on the gas and go for volume, and write for writings sake, and less for quality’s sake. The idea so far is to use the occasional Friday and the occasional evening to jot down some thoughts of the day, or events of the week. I’ll try to find my way.
So, I hope you can enjoy some of these unedited tidings, and I hope you don’t regret the day that you signed up for this newsletter, and instead follow me along! May my self-referential struggle bring you unforeseen insights! You’re also warmly invited to yell at me via email when you notice that I’m slacking.
I very very much appreciate receiving comments, a tweet or just your readership. I’ve given up on being a cool guy “doing it for the process”. I’m an artist child and I need your attention. And I humbly thank you for it.
So, to sum up:
I must write or bust.
And first things first:
Let’s scratch off the crust.
Love
Simon
Go ahead! Always liked your stories. Still do. Keep going!