I've been struggling lately—personally and with writing. There's a piece on the commodity price of coffee sitting in my drafts since the end of February, and I just can't finish it. I don’t know why. Every time I try, I write a few words and then think, "Damn, do I even care about this?" I mean, I do. I love coffee. It’s an expensive habit of mine, so I have a genuine interest in it. But I feel mentally blocked. What do I write about? Who do I write for?
The thing is, I don’t write for people. I write for myself, and for those who might find whatever I write interesting.
So, I figured I’d just write it away—without overthinking, just putting down whatever comes to mind in an unstructured way (i.e., this). You might hate this. I might not even publish it. But if I do, and this isn’t your thing, feel free to stop reading here. The rest might just be gibberish.
I googled how to get rid of writer’s block, like I’m some kind of writer, haha. I just write because I like it. The internet has a few remedies, but my solution is to write about what I want. That’s all this Substack is anyway.
I subscribe to a bunch of newsletters, and sometimes I think about building a solid platform where I could do paid posts. But then I remember that most of these Substacks started as free, and does every single thing in life have to be paywalled now? I get it—at some point, people value your writing or insight, and they’re willing to pay. But we, as a society, need to take a step back from this subscription-heavy life we’re living.
Which makes me wonder: what was the first subscription ever invented? My guess is insurance, way back in the day. Oh no—definitely tax. Tax is basically the subscription to being a working adult. Back in the early days, you paid it to your king, pharaoh, or whatever ruler you had, so yeah, tax is definitely the first subscription. Man, I hate subscriptions (for certain things, just so we’re clear). We don’t own anything anymore.
At this rate, I probably won’t own a home either. It’s ridiculous. I saw an article today that said the average price for a second-hand home in Dublin is €600K. If you assume a 10% deposit, that’s a €540K loan, meaning you need to earn at least €135K a year just to qualify. And that doesn’t even mean you can afford the house. I need this bubble to burst—but only when I have enough money to buy, not too early. Then I’ll be sound.
Let’s hope it works out. Let’s hope life works out. And let’s hope this writer’s block clears so I can start pumping out posts for the few people who see this.
If you made it this far, thank you!
- Brandon.