On eating that frog đ¸
Welcome to Hopefully Devoted (no animals were harmed in the making of this newsletter)
Eat that frog. Bite the bullet. Dive in headfirst. All of these phrases for just ripping the plaster off and starting something revolve around your head; and with good reason, because thatâs exactly where I find my momentum hitting a wall and coming to a standstill. My heart is all guns blazing, ready and raring, but my head is yelling âHOLD UPâ, Dr Dre/Snoop Dogg/Nate Dogg style.
Itâs a tale as old as time: Iâm Zac Efron in HSM3. (and 1. And 2. It was kind of the recurring theme.) Do I follow my head or my heart? In an ideal world, it would be a fine blend of the both. The heart, for obvious reasons (my business is called The Enthusiast, for goodnessâ sake.) But also, the head, for clarity and intention.
When I was younger, I was all heart. When I moved schools at the end of the academic year in Year 3, my teacher (both form and favourite) gave me a copy of Goodnight, Mister Tom. On the inside cover, sheâd written me a lovely note, and inscribed the words âmore haste, less speedâ there. I think she meant to write the more common âLess haste, more speedâ in there, but I very much took her literal, not intended, message forward with me. In my new school, my maths teacher started calling me Arthur: as in, Only doing âar(f)-thurâ job (half the! Get it? Ok, it doesnât work as well written down, I see that now.)
As Iâve gotten older (and yes, thatâs intentional avoidance of the term âgrown upâ) Iâve moved to listening to my head too much. Itâs the classic: responsibilities, expectations, real-life consequences if you donât do things right. That doesnât mean I want to do them any less; it means I just feel less capable of giving them a try.
All of this is to say that switching my newsletter to Substack has been on my to-do list for ages, but I kept finding ways to put it off. I didnât have enough time to do it properly (a.k.a. I hadnât made the time). At any rate, it never felt like the right time (yeah, because the first priority people will have when we reverse the climate disaster, get rid of the current government and solve all structural inequalities will be to sign up to my Substack, wonât it?) I was scared (that still stands, tbf.)
But this week, I decided that today was the day. Iâm still finetuning the details, but hopefully this lands in your inbox fairly stressfree! Whether youâre a subscriber of yore and have come over from my mailing list or new around these parts (howdy, partner!) a huge welcome. And a special shoutout to Mark, who signed up to my Substack before Iâd even announced it, off the back of a recommendations thread a couple of weeks ago (such is the lovely community feel of Substack, one I hope to contribute to and foster.)
If thereâs anything youâd like to see covered here, or youâve got any questions, please do let me know â Iâll be working on the paid tiers and stuff the next couple of weeks, but rest assured: there will always be some part of Hopefully Devoted thatâs totally free!
If you loved the recommendations format in my old newsletter, donât worry! Theyâre sticking around, albeit in a slightly less aesthetically appealing format.
Hereâs a little window into what Iâm enthusiastic about at the moâŚ
01 lusting after
Having my colours done. Yes, the damn clock app has reeled me in AGAIN! I want to know whether Iâm a cool autumn or a warm summer or whatever else the options are; not because Iâd then follow it to the letter, but just because Iâm interested.
02 currently reading
The Split by Laura Kay. I devoured Little Gods by Meng Jin and it was glorious but heavy so I needed something a little lighter: The Split was (and is) perfect. [affiliate link]
03 wishing I wrote
The Stranger Things subtitles. I loved this interview with the subtitlers via Vulture.
04 whipping up
Ed Smithâs tomato tonnato. The power this tonnato has over me is such that during a 15 hour powercut, I went to the support vehicle on the street to ask if I could use the charging port for a handblender.
05 listening to
George Ezra, on repeat. I saw his Finsbury Park show on Sunday, and itâs maybe the 5th or 6th time Iâve seen him life but the love was anew - there was a (very drunk, very English) man behind me who just kept bellowing âHeâs just one of Britainâs best isnât he!â and Iâm inclined to agree. Plus, his visuals for âSaviourâ (underrated GE song, by the way) matched my new cap!
sign up for an email alert for when pre-orders for these open, next Tuesday :)
And thus concludes my first foray into Substack! Thanks so much for hanging out with me here; I hope you liked it. Speak soon!
Ellie xxx