¿Porque No?

A mindset, not an invitation for excuses.

There was a period of time when one of my besties and I constantly said to each other “porque no?” or “why not?” (hi, D!). It was a rhetorical question, asked with a tone of mischief, chaos, and courage. There was an unspoken “might as well!” that followed. It was our way of egging each other on, for things as trivial as ordering an extra side of fries or as meaningful as starting a new venture.

It’s way easier to follow through on the things that are relatively inconsequential. Why not have both flavors of ice cream? Why not go to that happy hour? Why not dye your hair red-violet? Why not take a pottery class to see if you like it?

It’s also easier to hype your friend up than it is to hype yourself up. So when it comes to something that is bigger and scarier, and something that requires you to find the courage in yourself, it can be so difficult to do The Thing.

… Which brings us here.

I have thought about starting a blog, newsletter, mailing list, substack, whatever you want to call this thing, for years. And I never got around to it… until now. Here are 20 excuses I’ve made for “why not” — for some reason, interpreting it as a question to answer and not as a “screw it, let’s do it!” attitude:

1. I don’t know what to write about
2. I don’t think anyone would read it
3. I don’t have the time (classic excuse)
4. I don’t know what I’m doing (another classic excuse)
5. I don’t have a niche or an area of expertise
6. I don’t have enough content
7. I don’t know what to call it
8. I don’t want to have to explain it to anyone
9. I don’t want to be judged harshly for my opinions
10. I don’t want to reread my posts and judge myself
11. I don’t want to be too vulnerable on the internet
12. I don’t want to be cringe
13. I don’t want to be annoying
14. I don’t want people to think I’m trying too hard
15. I don’t want people to think I’m not trying hard enough
16. I don’t know what platform to use
17. I don’t know how to promote it
18. I don’t think I’m ready
19. I don’t want to fail
20. I don’t want to fail in public

All of those reasons and feelings are valid. But today is the day I take a big step in my practice of my preaching.

I don’t have a niche, and I’ve accepted that that’s ok. I am a whole human being, with thoughts and ideas that span many topics. I virtually jot down the most random things in my Notes app. I keep browser tabs open for years because I found something interesting and want to deep dive into it at some point (the count on my phone browser is currently 80, and that’s after some pruning). Many of my favorite accounts on the internet are people who post about whatever. So why can’t that be me?

If you know me personally and follow me on social media, you know that what I share ranges from dog photos to dinner recipes to everyday ordinary observations to unhinged takes. I’d like to think of this newsletter as an extension of my instagram stories: showing you the different facets of myself that make up the wonderfully weird person I am. And I hope to build a community here, in my own little corner of the internet, of beautiful multi-faceted human beings like you.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks! I hope you’ll stay awhile.

And I hope this inspires you to throw some caution to the wind, ask yourself “porque no?”, and get started on whatever you’re stuck on.