I’ve been battling imposter syndrome on calling myself a writer, which has stopped me from sharing my words. Any advice would be helpful, especially with starting a substack. Thank you <3What type of relationship future (romantically) do you hope for? Monogamy? Various interesting lovers? Whatever comes your way?
Any advice for grief? Human death grief, not ‘grief of a thing’ x
How do I get out of bed in the morning without scrolling for an hour?
Spring outfit ideas. What do you love to wear in Spring? What makes you feel alive?
What are the tools you use to journey through heartbreak and break cycles?
Hi Yrsa. I am curious about your thoughts on social media (particularly Instagram). How do you personally mediate your relationship with social media, and what are your broader/global thoughts of what social media means for us all, our relationships, our brains (our poor brains!) and our hearts?
Hi everyone. At 5 am, in what now appears as some fugue state, I responded to these in a voice note, but some 40 minutes later, realised it was too raspy and longwinded to inflict on anyone, so I took a shower, called a friend, had some coffee, and came back to these a couple of hours later, electing to write these answers down instead.
I’ve included a poll, though, as I’d love to know how you’d like to receive these answers going forward. Let’s go!!! Happy Friday!
What do you do on the days when you can’t?
I think I was having one of those days yesterday. When I Just Cant, I try to make sure that there are spaces in the day that contain pleasure (if I can get to it), aid or respite from the things that I am finding tough. I move my body (which I very much don’t want to do if I’m having a Just Can’t day, but things improve when the blood is pumping - there’s no getting past that, I guess). Oh, there’s no end to the things that I do. Saltwater baths, long walks before the day has done its work on me, lighting candles, speaking aloud with myself as the witness, saying thank you for things, asking out loud for things…surprising myself with what I am asking for - that’s always wild. Other things - new art, new poetry, new novels, artworks put together so well that you marvel at the genius behind them. I love art galleries and book shopping for this reason. But sometimes you Just Can’t. Then there’s the numbing / ever so fascinating world of reality TV (everything from the informative to the shocking/dramatic), old comedy skits you have favourited (Key and Peele - the gift that keeps giving). Of course, there are always new and well-made seasons of new shows to fall into. I’ve just done that with THE OTHER TWO, which totally served its purpose. Another thing I do on Just Can’t days is Eat Well because nutrition. And, oh. Sometimes I just sleep. I am checking my privilege here because I primarily work from home and have no dependents. But when it’s all getting too much, I set my little alarm and take a twenty-minute nap, erm…meditation. Things reconfigure a little when you are sleeping. Sometimes I emerge half an hour later, a little refreshed, a little soothed.
I used this soundtrack last week for such an endeavour, and it was amazing…
You’re welcome.
I’ve been battling imposter syndrome on calling myself a writer, which has stopped me from sharing my words. Any advice would be helpful, especially with starting a substack. Thank you <3
Forgive this (probably) annoying answer, but Just. Start. I don’t know how you get rid of imposter syndrome or perfectionism, but I have to say… don’t wait for the work to be good. That’s not how it works; you have to get there. If I worried too much about that stuff, I would have no books out there, and I definitely would never have started the utter, which is dedicated to the art of ‘getting it out.’
I urge you to gift yourself the experience of beginning. Surround yourself with materials that inspire you, and then do it. When you begin, you will see that it’s less about the work and more about the practice, the muscle that can only develop in the process. We all fail. At least allow yourself to fail wonderfully - and if you have read THE HOW, you know that I mean fail as opportunity, as springboard, as starting point, as the fork in the road.
I’m biased, but I think that Substack is great. You can keep it private for as long as you want, but I encourage you to begin before you’re ‘ready’. Let me know when you start.
What type of relationship future (romantically) do you hope for? Monogamy? Various interesting lovers? Whatever comes your way?
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