I'm quitting this weekly creative practice
Letting go of the ritual that shaped this Substack
For 71 Thursdays, I’ve shown up to write together with other online writers. Now I’m about to walk away.
I started these writing sessions in November 2023 after my friend
encouraged it as a five-week experiment. It ended up becoming one of the most integral rituals in my creative life.Every Thursday for nearly a year and a half, I’ve logged into Zoom alongside a small crew of fellow Write of Passage alumni to co-host a writing gym—an hour-long session designed to help writers find clarity on whatever piece they were working on.
I’d always come out of these sessions feeling fired up for my next weekly Substack piece. If I had no ideas, someone would help pluck a seed out of me. If I had a spark, they’d help sharpen it into a flame. If I just needed to get words down, the quiet co-working time helped me focus. If I had a rough draft, someone would read it, reflect it back, and tell me what worked and what didn’t.
This gym became a safe space to stretch my creative muscles.
Sadly, it’s time to let it go.
Since my last gym session on March 13, I’ve started a new job working full-time with Ali Abdaal, a creator I’ve admired for years. It’s a completely different pace from my old corporate job, and it’s left me slightly disoriented. I now need my evenings to rest. Turns out trying to absorb everything new and fast and unfamiliar is incredibly exhausting.
Before I landed on the move to step away, I fought with myself to adjust the schedule instead. Could I shift the gym to another day? Ask for more work-from-home flexibility? I mulled over different options. But I couldn’t deny that I just needed a break.
Thankfully, the gyms will live on with my brilliant co-hosts
and taking the reins. The WOP alumni WhatsApp group chat is still buzzing with drafts, ideas, and very strong opinions (trust any critical writer to be discerning about everything).Sidebar: I’m realising just how finite creative energy is. Especially in transitional phases: new role, new routines, new rhythm. And while my reflex is to keep everything going, part of being a long-term creative is knowing when to pause, pivot, or prune.
There will be a cost to this decision. I suspect my writing might feel rambly for a while. I may struggle to publish some weeks. But writing this newsletter, this little archive of my life, is something I want to keep doing, even if just for me. (The fact that 449 of you are here reading is still wild to me.)
So I’ll take this Substack one essay at a time. Same cadence, slightly different process.
P.S. To friends who want a sounding board on writing, creativity, or anything life-related - please reach out! I’m still here, still creating, still available. Just in a different form of regularity.
If you’d like to ask me a question, you can send them here:
Update log:
🛥️ Hosted the Ali Abdaal team in HK for quarterly offsite. Highlights were taking them to The Peak, Cheung Chau, and Avenue of Stars
👭🏻 Jin got me starting a new Thai sapphic TV series, Us
📞 Called my bestie
for 2.5 hours to debrief about… life 😅📸 Borrowed a digital camera from work to learn how to shoot manual without wasting 2304983 rolls of film. I got handed a Leica Q2. My first reaction may or may not have been "holy shit" (this baby is on my vision board!)
🏋️♀️ Measured my deadlift personal record (5 rep max) = 65kg. That’s 1.3x my bodyweight. I think I might have hit 70kg maybe 7 years ago. Curious to see how this progresses.
🎧 A tell-tale sign that I'm stressed is I stop listening to podcasts and revert to songs. this past week I played a lot of Hayley Kiyoko (Feelings), Troye Sivan (Rush), and Aly & AJ (Potential Breakup Song)
Book a call: Have a bite-sized creative project you want to start? Let’s figure out the systems to get that going. I promise to be your earliest fan - https://calendly.com/beckyisj/
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There's no chance the flame goes out in your case Becky, you're just illuminating new corners of the world. I'm raising a glass to your accomplishment, acknowledging it with high praise, and excited to get to hear about your new adventure when it works.
Really loved this post. I’m a massive fan of routine but, in nature, routine gets you killed. It’s so energizing when I read about people making choices, honoring the costs. I have no doubt this will be a good thing for you and you’ll still find gym time and writing time that serves you well. Healthy change, growth, can be as good for others as it is for ourselves.