Almost everything I’ve ever published is not written in my tone of voice.

Content and branding as a profession involves designing systems and producing output that mimic the patterns that we, as individuals, so effortlessly develop as we experience life. Somewhere in the midst of my career, I stopped writing for or about myself — besides the occasional contrived bio or cover letter where you reduce yourself to a list of domain-specific achievements that coincidentally match with the role you’re gunning for. Kismet.

I still do all that as I have bills to pay, and despite my cynicism, I do genuinely enjoy it. But it’s not comparable to the joy of seeing how the patterns of who you are emerge through strings of letters. The moving box full of diaries and poetry somewhere in my mom’s basement are a testament to the long history I have with words. But I guess I stopped when I got too busy — and when my standards for what good content should be got intimidatingly high and skewed by capitalism.

But back to what this blog is about: this collection of articles is not just an attempt to rediscover what it is I love about writing — it’s my way of becoming more comfortable with being authentic. Honest self-expression is what I admire most in art, and the one thing I value above everything. Ironically, I will borrow the words of someone else that explains why:

“Another way of feeling our shared humanity, I’ve found, is through stories. […] I’m not referring to books or novels about love, specifically, but rather to passages of writing that have the power to make you feel a little more alive. The paragraph that gives you a tingle of recognition. The lines that feel as if they are directly written for a deep, secret part of you, that you weren’t necessarily even aware of until it was woken up by words.”

— Natasha Lunn, ”Conversations on Love”

This is a form of therapy, an act of self-love, and a rebellion against the little voice that occasionally tells me what I feel and think don’t really matter. Whether it’s sharing the little projects I’ve done that I don’t feel confident about, my inner struggles, or the nuggets of professional wisdom I wish someone had shared with me before I was forced to learn them myself — this is the little corner of the web that’s mine. One where I don’t need a style guide or stakeholder approval to hit publish.

If you’re looking for a resume or portfolio, go ahead and check out my LinkedIn where they belong. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.