I drafted my newsletter yesterday before my bedtime which was a disciplined 9pm by the way. I had a restful sleep, and woke up energized only to wake up to the sad headlines on the internet about the young lady that was raped in Cornell university. My blood boiled, I was disgusted not just at the 7, but at the 56 that did not speak up- not speaking up cost this woman her life. I know, she's still alive; but her life will be changed by this, shaped by this. It made me think about something a lot of people on the internet were talking about. Something we hear a lot, "Not. All. Men.". People were running numbers with this as a test case... I won't bore you with the details. Still a little groggy from sleep a tiny voice in my head asked me, "Sure, you've never uttered those words, but have any of your actions affirmed those words? Listening to your guys friends say something very inappropriate/ be inappropriate and not calling them on their shit..."
So I kick off this series on a low note... but as I said on my article on Substack back in April, we can't keep living like this.
And now ladies and gentlemen, The Messy Middle…
You think of an idea in your head and the execution is seamless. Then comes implementation, and you have to use whatever you have available to push it forward – because the more you ruminate over it, the less the chance you’ll actually put it out there.
I’ve been putting off writing this newsletter because I wanted my website finished first. It isn’t. My WordPress site isn’t nearly half of what I thought it would be by now. The goals I wrote at the beginning of the year have shifted from an affirmative “You’ve got this, babe” to an inquisitive “Are you sure? do you want to revise that?”
But this isn’t really about my goals. This is about a messy Q3.
I had big plans for it – the UK, hiking in the Scottish Highlands, Albania, swimming in streams with my newly acquired swimming skills, sipping wine by myself or with strangers. Instead, I took one trip: Rwanda, then back home. In the truest sense of the phrase, this was option B – C, if you count the Albania and Montenegro visas that were also rejected.
I wrote more about how that trip actually went here → Rwanda for Hikers and Besties
Q3 was a reminder that two truths can coexist; scratch that, many can. I am privileged and blessed to be able to afford travel. I am also allowed to be sad and process that sadness when visa rejections happen especially three in one quarter. If nothing else, your pockets feel it.
Q3 wasn’t only about what fell through, though.
I picked up knitting and finished more than five projects for friends and family. (If you want a tutorial, DM me and I’ll send one over -lol, kidding.
1. There are plenty online.
2.I’m an impatient teacher and still very much a novice myself.)
I also went from not being able to complete one swimming lap to completing two without stopping. No extra classes, no tutorials; I just kept showing up. Turns out you really can’t beat someone who’s consistent.
Going into Q4:
My goal is to be consistent with one other thing- just one. Mine is video and travel guides. I’ve wanted to start making them for a while now and keep talking myself out of it. So that’s my challenge to myself this quarter: get it out of planning and into action.
Buckle up, dear reader. We’re about to have one heck of a ride in Q4.
Thank you for reading, and welcome to the beginning of once-a-quarter newsletters
– from yours truly
Leave a comment