Ready, FIRE!, Aim
Issue #4 · Formalizing things by starting this Substack.
November 20, 2022: Greetings from the cozy living room of my brother’s apartment in the boogie down Bronx! I’m squatting in his guest bedroom for the next ten days given that the World Cup began today, and he has an 80” television in his living room (oh, and to spend some quality time with family over Thanksgiving, I guess).
At the end of the month, I’m headed down to Mexico — after living in the hectic Big Apple for the past eight weeks, I couldn’t be more ready for the chilled out pace of life in my favorite place on earth: Puerto Escondido (plus it’s cold AF here, and I decidedly don’t do winter).
So you're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here today.
During the past year, I’ve been haphazardly writing personal essays, mostly self-reflective pieces about my wacky nomadic lifestyle. I’ve since decided to formalize things by starting this newsletter as a way to [1] keep me accountable to write more often, [2] ramble and riff on less substantial topics that don’t warrant their own full-blown essay, and [3] provide answers to the “where in the world is Emily Sandiego?” question that I'm regularly asked.
This will certainly evolve over time (even the name Extracurricular Pursuits is a working title, though it's really starting to grow on me). I’m definitely taking a “ready, FIRE!, aim” approach here — I literally only thought of the idea to create a newsletter about 72 hours ago.
But that's because I’m trying to embrace the learning by doing phenomenon — rather than sitting around waiting until I feel 100% ready, I'm hitting send and figuring the rest out as I go. Ignoring the circus that has been Twitter as of late, @marc_louvion summed it up best:
So here we are. I’m cheating a bit, as this was sort of an introductory warm-up issue. But next time, I promise to share something that I’ve been ruminating on for a while and am finally putting into words: the benefit of seeking out hobbies as an adult.
Okay, I’ve already said too much — you’ll just have to wait for another love note to appear in your inbox in a few days (hooray for accountability!) 💌
Recommended related posts:
Writing is a Game — Blindly following my creative spirit that's being pulled in a new direction.
My First Month of Indie Making: An Honest Review — An update on how things are going six weeks after putting a pause on my freelance career.
PS: I’d love to hear what you thought about this issue. Email me directly at hello@emilyannhill.com and I pinky promise I’ll reply back.