🌱 Growing into my Identity as a Writer

Four years of writing later… (Letter 203)

Aloha fellow learn-it-all 👋

Greetings from Honolulu, Hawaii

Here’s a shot from a fun sunset stroll the other day. Flowers bloom here year round, and it’s magical.

I hope everyone is having a joyous end to March and Q1 of 2024.

I’m excited to share this week’s letter, so we’re going to jump into letter 203. Enjoy!

---

If you are new here or missed last week's edition, you can catch up on the past letters here. If you are reading this for the first time, I’d love you to sign up below to join the other learn-it-alls:

---

🖊️Writing

Oh, the irony—facing writer's block while attempting to pen a piece on the art of writing. Yet, here we are, four years from the day I courageously hit the "publish" button on my first Letter from a learn-it-all. This journey, rich with triumphs and trials, has unfolded in ways I never could have predicted.

There’s this pressure from society that four years is usually a symbolic time to accept some fancy diploma to frame on a wall. That comes with an expectation that a new challenge needs to come with a drastic change, like attending graduate school.

You know what? I'm four years deep into this voyage without a master plan, only a profound desire to continue sharing my personal stories, adventures, philosophical musings on a well-lived life, and poetic reflections on nature and life.

This newsletter didn't just begin four years ago; it's the culmination of a lifetime of experiences, each chapter contributing to the growth of my identity as a writer:

1. April 2006 - My first time journaling on holiday in Key West, Florida, and after my Dziadzia passed away

2. Spring 2011 - I wrote my first research paper and song lyrics and produced my first music video. These were all assignments for my freshman year of high school. The music video was for extra credit. 

3. March 2015 - The first time I wrote a letter to my future self.

4. June 2016 - I was diagnosed with dyslexia and gave up the idea of any dream of ever becoming a writer.

5. Fall 2016 - I signed up for my first creative writing elective. I launched a WordPress account to share photos of my writing as homework submissions. I discovered the writers Julia Cameron, Lynda Barry, and Joe Brainard.

6. January 2017 - Moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands for the semester. Toured the most beautiful gezellig (Dutch for ~cozy~) house on the Herengracht (gentleman’s canal) and wrote a paper in Dutch. I did not have a consistent journaling practice. Since it was my first time living alone without roommates, much of the first month of my study abroad was not what I dreamed of. I was depressed after being bullied, without sunlight, biking in the snow, and barely passing in school. I didn’t want to remember much of these dark times, so I didn’t journal much during my stay, and regret not journaling.

7. May 2018 - I graduated from college with a business degree in finance and was not content with how my career started without inspiring leaders to look up to. I wanted to start reading for fun for the first time, so I sought out a reading tutor to assist with my comprehension.

8. October 2018 - The decision to write a book, and it marked a pivotal moment in embracing my writer identity by signing up for Eric Koestor’s book writing online program.

9. April 2019 - Daily journaling became an AM and PM ritual, anchoring my days in reflection and creativity.

10. June 2019 - I flew to NYC for a conference and felt like a fraud. I had a business card with my book’s title, declaring myself an author with an unfinished 30,000-word manuscript. I successfully launched an IndieGoGo marketing campaign for Be a Learn-it-all to fund my book with $4K. The book's conclusion was never completed, and the book was never published. 

11. November 2019 - I signed up for cohort three of Write of Passage. I never completed the course assignments because my grandma passed away. A mixture of fear, my move to Chicago, my new management consulting job, and grief consumed my energy so I signed up to take the course again.

12. March 30, 2020—Two weeks into the pandemic's start, I finally published my first newsletter online. I felt like a lemming jumping off a cliff without a parachute, but I trusted the community of other writers to support me as needed. My Letters from a Learn-it-All became my main creative outlet during the pandemic after my management consulting job was eliminated. 

13. August 3, 2020 - I declared myself a writer verbally, with tears streaming down my cheeks, in the last Zoom live session of Write of Passage cohort 5. I actually believed it that time. 

14. Fall 2020: I wrote and published my Ship It project for 100 days straight. I landed my first paid gig as a ghostwriter producing a podcast. In the Spring, I landed a marketing role creating employee spotlights on LinkedIn.

15. Fall 2021 - I applied and accepted my dream role of becoming a mentor for Write of Passage cohort 6. I then mentored for cohorts 7 and 8, following as an engaged community member after, aka a WOP Groupie. 

16. April 2022 - I created my own role after receiving a direct message on Twitter from a co-founder of Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha, who wanted to hire me full-time to launch a journal and lead the mindfulness community.

17. May 2022 - I published my first poem, “Temptation of Thought,” and explored new forms of expression, including my voice.

18. January 2023 - Launched my first poetry class, Rhythm Rhythm, Repeat with my friend Ellen Fishbein.
    My writing friend

    Charlie Becker

    defined my writing better than I ever could: “Her writing strikes an excellent balance between cozy and exploratory. The fact that those things shouldn’t go together is what I think makes her newsletter so magnetic.”

19. February 2023 - Assigned the lead role in writing the co-authored HOPA Book and created a beta-cohort of readers 

20. November 2023 - Met online writing community in person

21. December 2023 - Printed and distributed over 250 advanced reader copies of the HOPA book internationally 

    

    

    

And now, as we arrive at March 30, 2024, I reflect on four years of weekly newsletters—a testament to the journey of embracing my writer's identity.

This process—transposing life into words and sharing them—is beautifully simple and intricately complex. It's a practice that has clarified my thoughts and intentions and connected me to others, making the solitary act of writing a bridge to broader conversations and feeling less alone.

I know for my future self the challenges worth solving and showing up to repeatedly face, writing, and sharing my writing are investments I will continue to pour my energy and attention into. I am devoted. Facing the fears, embracing the imperfections, and committing to this craft has taught me more about humanity and myself than I ever anticipated. 

I'd rather be a woman in the arena than the wannabe aspiring author I was in 2019. She stayed in the closet judging other’s work without having her skin in the game.

Through this weekly ritual of self-expression, I gain trust in myself, joy from sharing my thoughts not only for my eyes to see, and courage from shining a light on what I care about despite inviting judgment from others. Because sharing opens a window for other creative beings to show up, too, even if they are fallible with a faulty walnut like me. As Theodore Roosevelt said wisely, “It's not the critic who counts… [I’d rather be someone] who comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming.” As I look to the future, I'm reminded of the value of showing up, of being in the arena, striving, failing, and striving once more.

I want to continue to be someone showing my work because the effort—and imperfections that come with it—shows humanity what it means to be human.

~~~

To everyone who's been part of this journey, thank you.

Your support, engagement, and shared curiosity have been the greatest gifts of this four-year foray into writing. Here's to continuing to explore, express, and connect—through words, through life, together.

---

I appreciate you reading this!

If ideas resonated, I’d love you to press the heart button, leave a comment, reply to this email, or reach me at vermetjl@gmail.com. If you forgot who I am, I welcome you to my online home.

Keep on learning 😁

Mahalo 🌺

Jen

If you’re reading this because someone shared this newsletter with you, welcome! I’d love it if you subscribed:

---

🎧Listening

The Best Thing by JJ Heller

I have something to say
I can't keep it inside
The world needs more people who are truly alive
And I have a voice
And I have a name
This life is a gift
It's not a mistake
Oh, I have to believe I'm not a mistake

So I'll sing a song that only I can sing
A melody nobody knows but me
A million things I could pretend to be
Maybe best thing I can be is me

🌟Quote to inspire

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

📸Photos of the Week

A beautiful sunset at Ke Iki beach on the north shore of Oahu. I lost many games of corn hole and spike ball, but I walked and danced and had a dandy time celebrating my friend Anna’s birthday all day!

🙏Shoutouts

• To conversations with

  Michelle Elisabeth Varghese
  that helped this come to light!

• To Write of Passage. I had such a positive experience; the online bootcamp starts next week. I invite you to ask me more about it if you’re interested in becoming an online writer surrounded by an ambitious and supportive community (affiliate link)