#20 Non-issue: Top 5 in Being a Person
about the top 5 so far and the ones to go (and writer's block, and London)
HEY!
I'm gonna be real with you chief, I cannot think of a single thing to write about today. I'm currently preparing for a big trip to London and thinking about where I will go, what I will see, where I will eat. If you have recommendations, please send them over. I want to see my way through that massive city and leave thinking that I've seen everything I need to see (excluding the tourist attractions, you know what I mean?)
I've been thinking about the general direction of Being a Person lately, and have been really curious to see what the most “popular” essays have been since I started writing on here last December. I have to say I didn’t really know whether I was going to stick it out for a couple of months, let alone 5 months. Going on 6! Almost (nearly) half a year of these!
To celebrate (and to tell myself I’ve at least pushed something out for you to read), here are the top 5 essays you guys have read, shared, or otherwise loved.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to them yet, now is a great time to give them a little read, and share them with someone you think might like it. Dedicate it to them, give them endless emojis with a link to this, what do I know?
Get intense about it. That’s the only way to live. #lol
Anyways… send me London recommendations and share these essays with your friends if you like them.
Hope you’re enjoying this (kind of Sunny? A bit nippy?) day in May.
1. #7 Everything I know about love
This one was an absolute banger to write. It was one of those times where I sat nearly motionless for close to two hours just typing, typing and typing about all the people I love and how their love has made me feel more accepted and more myself in the world.
Recommended for: getting emotional about how much you love your chosen family.
Best paired with Dolly Alderton’s Everything I know about love and/or a glass of *specifically* red wine.
2. #11 Breakfast for five hours
CAPITALISM! REST! FINANCIAL FREEDOM! This one is about how important it’s been for me to find ways to rest and reclaim my time since I decided to go solo in October 2021. Looking back, deciding to become self-employed had a lot to do with my need for autonomy, rest and more independence in how to work, and who to work with.
Recommended for: those of you considering your relationship to work and maybe currently overdoing it.
Best paired with a heated discussion about the importance (or lack thereof) of having a job you love vs. having a job that pays your bills.
3. #3 Everything is information
<3 This one is so <3 . I wrote this one from home, back when I was in the midst of family, overcrowded houses and a lot going on, especially when it came to understanding where I come from, and where I’m going. I think this one is a bit of a softer twist on the loaded question “How do your parents shape you?” and confronting family history with a curious eye, instead of constant shaming and judgement.
Recommended for: thinking about how the people who shaped you were doing their best, and tracing your next steps.
Best paired with calling your mom and thanking her for making you and bearing with you, or any of your family (chosen or otherwise) that helped make you into who you are today.
4. #14 The lonely city
My Amsterdam journey! The ways choices made out of fear will come back to bite us in the ass! Being 21 and confused and melodramatic! This one is about my back and forth with a city that seemed unreachable, unapproachable, and unrealistic only for it to become a home all over again at 26. And marveling at all the versions of me who needed different things, reconciling with them now.
Recommended for: those of you with complicated relationships to where you currently reside.
Best paired with a slow read and reflection about who you were at 21. Loving them and wondering how much you’ve changed since then.
5. #13 We contain multitudes
I seem to be at my best when I’m writing about love. This one wasn’t an exception. More about the discussion around the phrase “don’t settle!” or “getting the ick”, I go into how the people I love and who love me all have little things about them that sometimes piss me off, and how love is a choice we make all the same. So why is dating so loaded and different?
Recommended for: those of you who are getting too nitpicky and insufferable in your dating lives. Relax.
Best paired with a discussion with your bestie about the current dating landscape. Endless #content!
That’s all for today, loverz. I am off to think about what the hell I’m going to be doing in London in June, and praying you send me some guidance. Hopefully, next Tuesday (or any day of the week that fits) I’ll be writing the next essay from a quirky London café and extremely overpriced coffee. So don’t fail me! Send me cafés! Recommend your favorite pub Sunday Roast! I want it all.
Got any questions or topics you wanna read about? Tell me, tell me, tell me. I’ll be doing a fake (and horrible) British accent, and considering an English degree in London in the meantime. For funzies.
XXXX
Clement