Wendy’s writing a food blog, of all things? Yep, that’s right, and thank you for stopping by. Let me tell you a little more about myself and what I’m trying to do with this newsletter.
I started this newsletter at the beginning of 2021, in an attempt to find my voice and the courage to speak.
I’ve been writing privately for some time—it’s one of my favorite hobbies and my notes are filled with a mix of fiction, essays, random musings, and journal entries. Despite the volume of words I write, however, I rarely share any of them externally. My immense fear of rejection has always left me crippled to the point of inaction.
I hate the feeling of regret, and I never want to look back on all I’ve created and think, what a shame nobody else got to see this. Sure, not everything is meant to be shared, but I would like to make that decision from a place of judgment and not fear. I decided that regularly sharing my thoughts on a lighthearted topic would be a manageable exercise to eventually build the muscle to speak on the issues I care about, and in turn, be more of the person I want to be.
Who is that, exactly?
I’m not sure I have an answer for that yet. I know the issues that I care about—healthcare, education, racial justice, among others—and I know that I want to be a person of boldness, integrity, and generosity. I’m not super committed to the route I take to get there, which allows me to experiment with my process in different ways, including starting this newsletter.
So why a newsletter, and why of all topics, food?
Aside from the occasional long social media caption and one short story I wrote when I was 10, I haven’t published any of my other writing . . . that is, aside from my Yelp reviews. That’s right, I used to be an avid Yelper and was formerly YE for almost 5 years. Food is the easiest topic I know to write about—it’s something most people are interested in and find useful, and it’s something lighthearted and relatable. I especially love sharing the neat things I discover and like to think of myself as a great appreciator of good food and anything related to it.
Moreover, in adulthood and especially during the pandemic, I’ve found it’s harder to stay connected with old friends and form new friendships. A personal goal of mine is to evolve more of my adult friendships into a stride of doing life together instead of having the biannual coffee catch up. A newsletter felt like the most efficient way to push out life updates to my closest friends while still maintaining a chatty levity. Moreover, newsletters are unfussy—I won’t be distracted by layouts, SEO optimizations, analytics, etc.
A few last notes . . .
Since this newsletter started as more of a personal exercise, it may take a while for me to figure out what structure/format/posting frequency/tone works for me. I cannot promise that this will be a quality publication as I iterate through each update, but I’d like to think that reading this is akin to sharing a meal with me—and those who know me know that I’m a quality time gal.
Thank you so much for your support again! I hope you like what I’m making here.