Taylin John Simmonds

You’re supposed to outgrow them. Toxic friends. Boring cities. Easy jobs. Entire versions of yourself. But nobody tells you that. Because most people would rather stay comfortable than start over.

2-3 hours a day on social media. 900 hours a year of opinions you'll forget by dinner & arguments with keyboard warriors. Or: 900 hours of reading. 60-80 books. Enough to outgrow every room you're currently sitting in. Same hours. Completely different person on the other side.

"Just show up." That's half the answer. The other half? Actually trying. Actually giving a shit instead of half-assing it and calling it discipline.

If you have multiple interests and can't figure out how they connect, you're not writing enough. The connection was never going to appear in your head. It appears on the page or it doesn't appear at all.

Your last newsletter went to 73 people. That's a packed coffee shop, all reading your words at the same time. Three rows of a movie theater. A sold-out open mic night. Stop chasing the next thousand. Start respecting the ones who already show up.

In 5 years, you won't remember a single thing you scrolled past today. But you'll remember the books that put to words what you've been feeling for years. Social media is a conveyor belt. Books are mental architecture. Build with the material that lasts.

Your favourite author gets paid to write. Your favourite musician gets paid to play. Your favourite filmmaker gets paid to film. But for some reason people still think art loses its soul when it earns. Money doesn't corrupt art. It sustains it.

The most interesting people I know are self-educated. Degree or no degree. They followed their curiosity, studied what no one assigned, & built a body of work because they couldn’t help it. Trust your curiosity. It knows before you do.

I nap at 6pm so I can write from 10pm to 2am. Protect your strangest hours. That's where the real work lives.

Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book. Reread the book.

Stop calling yourself a content creator. Content creators chase algorithms. You're crafting a body of work.

I didn't learn the important things in a classroom. I learned them alone, at weird hours, following my curiosity. The stuff worth knowing cannot be taught. Only discovered.

Try. Try again. Try harder. Try smarter. Then try again... again.

Creative work is weird. Sometimes I'm writing at 8am. Sometimes 8pm. Sometimes at my desk. Other times, on the couch. Sometimes at my computer. Other times, on a walk. Protect your weird. That's where all the good good lives.

If you don't know what to do with your life, start by becoming the role model you wish you had when you were five years old.

I can't be the only one with the millennial urge to delete all social media, ditch my iPhone for a 2008 LG flip phone, and return to a simpler time before the internet made everyone crazy.

You must learn to enjoy writing without needing an audience to validate you.

I'm convinced everyone needs a weekly creative practice. One that isn't there to become another job. It isn't meant for anyone but you. You need to play again.