As a fairly new writer, I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of writing I want to do. I’m pathologically obsessed with searching for meaning and purpose in everything I do, so a lot of that question for me revolves around what the point of my writing should be. Am I writing to inform? To raise awareness? To share stories? Why should I voice my opinions to the world, when there is already more content out there than anyone could possibly ever consume?
Like most young people who start out in the working world without a super clear sense of where they’re going, my general vision for life is to do some good in the world. Of course, I am yet to figure out exactly what that would involve. For now, it’s just this vague sense that my work in this world should somehow help people. Improve the system, help lift up those less privileged than me, and so on.
From this general do-gooder vantage point, I often feel like I should be writing about more serious topics. Why should anyone care that I’ve had a slightly sad week when there are wars and poverty and income inequality and the world is basically on fire, for goodness’ sake?
I do ultimately want my work to touch on some of those more ‘serious’ subjects. I could make excuses about how I don’t feel informed enough to write about them quite yet, or don’t feel like I’m the right person to tell those stories. But if I’m being totally honest, I just need to admit that I feel more drawn to writing about New Year’s resolutions and why it’s fun to be bad at stuff and how we should let ourselves rest more than about politics or global warming right now.
Even though I write this newsletter in my free time, my desire to write about ‘lighter’ subjects makes me feel really guilty. I also feel this way when I read novels, listen to podcasts about pop culture, or watch reality TV shows. Shouldn’t I be pushing myself to learn more or do something useful with my time? What is even the point of all this content?
I go through this mental gymnastics every time I sit down to write or read or watch Netflix. Each time it feels like a mini-battle between embracing what I want to do versus what I should be doing.
But this past year, I’ve been trying to lean out of the toxic productivity mindset that makes me think I have to be doing something useful with every second of my life. I’m trying to follow my curiosity and explore why certain things interest me, rather than immediately labeling my desires as silly and frivolous.
I do think that ‘lighter’ content has value, even in a burning world. In the first draft of this post, I wrote out an entire list in defense of ‘lighter’ content. Sometimes I learn from it, sometimes it helps me understand and process my own feelings, and sometimes it just feels like a big warm hug in the form of a book or a podcast, which is exactly what you need on certain days.
But ultimately, it comes down to the fact that I genuinely enjoy both creating and consuming such content. And that should be reason enough to continue doing it.
We have to stop feeling the need to justify every moment of our lives in terms of the impact it has. We should allow ourselves to be multifaceted individuals, who do their part in trying to alleviate the many injustices of the world, but also spend time writing silly newsletters and laughing with friends and trying recipes from Tiktok, and embrace all parts of those identities in equal measure, without shame.
Rest, joy, and comfort are absolutely fundamental parts of our lives. They are no less important than the shiny, meaningful parts that we think impress others or make us good people. There’s plenty of research about how rest and joy are crucial to maintaining our energy as activists, our productivity as workers, and our creativity as thinkers.
But even beyond this logic, which still frames rest as a means to an end, there is value in doing things just because you find them fun and interesting. We’re here for such a brief time, after all (which is probably cheugy to say, but also very true). Why not try to enjoy at least some of it?
So for now I’m going to continue writing about the petty chaos and small anxieties of being a twenty-something each week. I hope that my writing will ultimately be informative or comforting or fun to read for you. But I’m honestly just enjoying the process of writing this newsletter - and that’s reason enough for me to continue.
I am curious about how you approach the things you are naturally drawn to, particularly when social conditioning often leads us to view some interests as more valuable than others. Do you turn away from your desires because you find them silly and embarrassing? Or do you embrace your curiosity and make space for your interests?
I totally feel this! Especially as the time I have to write or consume content these days is so scant, when I do I feel like it has to be profound or life changing in some way. When, really, writing is the thing that brings me most joy, so I shouldn’t try and smother that by being hard on myself about what I write about!
Love this - but in answer to your question, I honestly just...don’t care about what other people think, or societal expectations. I’m not sure how I managed to duck out of this! I put it down to realising quite soon in life that people-pleasing wasn’t worth it, after being bullied in school. Now I’m a huge advocate of doing whatever you want and enjoying it. Even if that’s spending an entire day in bed doing absolutely nothing! It’s not wasted time if you like it