Why I am writing a newsletter
It took me over a year to decide but am doing it now, and you should!
I’ve been inspired by many friends who have been writing their own newsletters, particularly Benjamin Joffe that I’ve known for over 10 years. I always admire Ben capability to reinvent himself and communicate his thought.
When it comes to writing down my own newsletter, it boils down to this:
Keeping in touch with you
Writing is thinking
A practice for transparency & vulnerability
A practice for questioning & dissent
Let me elaborate.
Keeping in touch with people is not easy. This newsletter have caused quite a few people to message me back for work and non-work related topics.
Writing forces me to structure thoughts and do additional research on topics that interest me (note: I only write about my interests). It’s often a first iteration. Also, I try to find ways to keep things engaging.
Transparency & vulnerability: I initially got inspired by a friend who goes into some detail about his thoughts, love life, and bowel movement. I picked a different angle, but I think sharing thoughts and some personal details—including awkward ones— is useful practice to connect with people at a deeper level (1st level: phatic communication; 2nd: facts; 3rd: opinions; 4th: vulnerability).
Questioning & dissent. Every era has its doxa, groupthink, thought police … however you want to call it. If my favorite question is “What do you mean?”,
my second favorite is “Why do I think I’m right?”. I question popular opinions, but also my own views, which are often simply inherited or passively formatted. To do this it is necessary to give a fair hearing to other perspectives (steel-manning vs. straw-manning). On non-controversial topics it barely matters, but some topics are hot potatoes, causing self-censorship and mob rule. Then, ‘thinking in public’ can be painful for the thinker … Yet: no pain, no gain?
Well, that was not as difficult as I thought. Possibly because I got so inspired by Benjamin that I might have copy paste some of his own writing here.
It is a start! And I can gladly say now that I wrote my first post.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu.