Write Like It’s The Mid-Nineties

Substack is my new blog.

I wrote plenty in my twenties when the Internet was a shiny new thing. Remember dial-up?

I had a Diaryland, Scribble.net, GeoCities, and LiveJournal. This was followed by multiple Blogger accounts by the 2000s.

There was one time I experimented blogging that started off with lyrics from non-mainstream music, in the theme of the subject I was writing about. Looking for those lyrics to match with my subject took a lot of time – usually coming from some European gothic or metal band, or an indie-alternative band from somewhere.

But that was kind of fun. I had a rush doing it.

I also made friends with other bloggers, writers… far and wide. Especially those kindred-spirits from my own hometown, whose friendships continued till today.

After a while, I barely blogged and in the end, I finally stopped. Probably about the same time when social media entered the picture.

I wrote bits of texts on Twitter, and then bits of texts on Facebook and Instagram. Bits here and there, and with a photo or video.

Now, most things have gone more visual than textual. Not that it’s a bad thing, because I am more of a visual person. But this past year, I’ve found myself somewhat yearning to return to those times when I really wrote a whole lot, with visual optional.

When I started online journaling back then, I saw it as an opportunity to put my writing out there. I wanted to be a writer and this was a way to practice. Every night, I turned on my big PC at home and started typing, telling stories about my day, or sharing thoughts about something I read or random musings on my mind.

The point was to keep writing as regularly as possible. When I hit Publish, it doesn’t matter if anyone reads it or not. That’s kind of freeing, I feel. I just wrote something and released it into the wild.

A part of me missed that. That sort of freedom.

Photo by Rowan Heuvel on Unsplash

I worked in social media for years (still am), and it’s about keywords, SEO, virality, monetisation, and the goddamn algorithms.

Don’t get me wrong: I would love to earn a stable income through the works my multi-passionate skills can bring me. Especially now, as I write this, my finances are kinda tight after suddenly being unemployed last year. It would be nice to have extra income flowing in.

But I would love, love, love to just write and set the words free.

So that’s how I ended up with a Substack account early this year. Then I got caught up overthinking with how I should approach it after reading what others had published. Which made me took a step back to ask myself, “Can you just fuck it and write something, anything!”

This Substack of mine is about me finding my way back to my creative self, my own journey of becoming. Allowing myself to create without thinking about audience.

I am writing for me. To hear my own thoughts, to think. To communicate with myself. To remember my own voice. To help me heal.

When I’m done writing this paragraph, I’m gonna just put it out there – doesn’t matter if anyone reads it or not – but these written words are present. Out there. Released. Done.

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Thanks for reading.

I write about the things that shape us. My essays come from lived experience, observations, and the belief that life keeps teaching us until we are ready to listen.

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With gratitude,
Andrea