Welcome! 🎉

Stages of life. We've all been through them: "I don't want to go to school. It's so boring!", "Mom, please, I'm old enough!", "I'll study engineering and become famous", "My first job. I'm so nervous", "Will you marry me?" I had my share of those moments too.

High school was a strange time for me. I didn't quite fit in: I didn't like parties, the school activities bored me, and I didn't stand out in any subject or sport. As you can probably guess, my circle of friends was small. But if you asked me for a story from those years that stayed with me, I'd tell you this one.

2004: the year everything was going to change

It was 2004, and I was close to finishing school. Everyone seemed to expect an answer: "Do you know what you're going to study?", "Which university are you going to?", "With those grades, you won't get in anywhere good."

As if that weren't enough, I knew the life I was used to was about to change. I'd see less of my friends, stop going to that "delightful" place called school, and soon be an adult with more responsibilities than I felt ready for.

Writing, my refuge

Somewhere in all of that, I became very sad. Back then I thought of it as depression, though that might be too strong a word for what I was feeling.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not very outgoing. My ideal day might be at home watching a series, playing a game or working on one of the ideas that keeps running through my head. Going out to unwind wasn't really my thing. Writing suited me better.

I spent my last months of high school writing whenever I had a free moment: poems, short stories and the occasional essay about something that interested me. I even kept a diary of my everyday "adventures." It helped me make sense of what I was feeling.

There's something lovely about writing just because you want to. I don't mean a paper for your Monday night class or a report for a boss who makes your life difficult. I mean putting your feelings into a poem, imagining adventures in worlds you've never seen, or recording a thought so you can return to it later.

Why I'm opening this space

That's why I want to start this blog. I'm not going through the same sadness now; I've just always enjoyed writing, and this is a good excuse to get back to it.

You might be thinking: "Good for you, but why would I read it?" If you've made it this far, maybe something sounded familiar. Maybe it brought back your own school years, or you liked part of the story. You might also be bored and looking for something to read. Whatever brought you here, I'll do my best to make the time you spend on each post worthwhile.

What is this blog going to be about?

I want to write about 3 things: what I'm learning, what I've experienced and the questions I keep coming back to. This blog will be a notebook I can return to, and a place to share those ideas with you.

What I'm learning. I enjoy learning new things. Most days I watch a tutorial or read, on topics ranging from personal growth and marketing to finance, leadership and programming. But memory is unreliable, so I want somewhere to keep the things I learn.

What I've experienced. So far, I've started 4 companies, worked remotely for US companies and led teams. I've also had businesses fail and lost money through bad decisions. Some things went well; others hurt much more than I expected. I learned from them and found a way forward. If sharing those experiences helps you avoid a mistake or make a better decision, it will have been worth it.

What I think about. Will remote work replace the office? What will learning look like 5 years from now? Will AI bring us a Terminator-style apocalypse? And is pineapple on pizza okay?

I'll leave it there for this first post. THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading this far. See you in the next one.