This is the very first post from The Nooner, a daily newsletter slash podcast that I’ve been developing for quite some time. The first post is half explanation, so read (or listen!) to learn more.
Each post in the series will be very short (~300 words or less), which is part of the point. I tend to be long-winded, so here’s my medicine.
As you might have noticed, this post is coming from a new section within Dispatches from Inner Space. The main reason for this is to make it easy to curate your subscription — you can safely unsubscribe from The Nooner without missing updates from the other sections (like By the Books).
That said, I hope you love it enough to stay.
-Jordan
I’m launching something imperfect today.
And “imperfect” is a polite word. A hedging word. The logo, the format, the plan itself — even this post! They’re…good, I think.
Not great.
Definitely not perfect.
So maybe I could have waited until it was all closer to great before slamming the go button. But the problem is the waiting. It’s a concession to the seduction of perfectionism, which always whispers that things could be better than they are. That I should be careful not to show weakness. That I’ll be judged for something less than what I could have done.
And then it’s so easy for later to become never. That’s the trap. And so, in an effort to avoid the trap, I am starting NOW, and I am committed to make all of this better as I go.
It’s true that some things need time. I spent three years working on a novel before I let anyone read a single chapter of it. Then another two before I shared the whole thing with anyone else.
But that model doesn’t work for this. It preemptively defeats it.
Because this isn’t one thing. It’s a lot of things. A collection. A practice.
Mostly, it’s a practice.
And you can’t wait to start practicing something until you’re already really good at it. You literally can’t. Just like tails can’t wag dogs, and carts don’t go before horses.
Either get started, or don’t.
So I did.
After all that abstract ranting, you might be wondering what this even is, so I’ll tell you. It’s a daily newsletter slash podcast.
About what?
Well, that’s harder. I like “open-ended ideas” because it suggests there’s a conversation to have, and I’m someone who thinks there’s always a conversation to have.
The truth is I have a digital drawer called “essay ideas” that just gets longer and longer. There are a lot of things I want to write about. Instead of picking one and worrying it to death before putting something out into the world every few weeks or months, I’m going to publish something every day.
This will be my practice: to put nebulous thoughts into concrete words worth sharing.
I know I won’t always hit the mark, but if I keep practicing, my aim is bound to improve.
Imperfect Practice