A warm welcome
Hello and welcome, dear ones!
I am so grateful you are here. I have done a bold thing! I’ve officially declared myself a writer by creating a special space dedicated to just that — writing. Something I deeply love. Something I do every day. Something that is woven into the fibers of my being, ingrained in who I am. The purpose of this first newsletter is to introduce myself, Isabel Sofia; the human being behind Starting Somewhere.
The name for this newsletter was found the evening of my twenty-seventh birthday. Ideas for names swirled in my head for weeks and kept me up at night. There is an aching in me that craves for stuff like this to come easily. Just come up with something already. As if good things don’t take time. As if I don’t believe wholeheartedly in alignment and following your life path, and when you do, things tend to fall into place. So, a name was finally born. Relieved it finally landed, I opened up my new laptop and signed up to create a Substack. And here we are. It isn't lost on me that the name might sound cliche, but so many things in life do. To tell you the truth, I will gladly join the sea of people who, in their quest to find themselves, sound a little bit cliche along the way.
Speaking of birthdays, they tend to make me nervous. With social media so prevalent in our daily lives, sometimes birthdays feel more like displays of affection than anything else. Another reason birthdays make me nervous is the keeping track of time. I’m twenty seven now and I don’t know how to feel about it. I have always felt too young for everything. That was until it was time to pick a career and then it was, You’d better hurry up, you don’t have much time left to figure it out! The clock is ticking! What will you become?
There are many things I thought I might be by now. A singer, an author, veterinarian, photographer…
At the same time, there are many wonderful things I truly never imagined I would be by this age already. An artist with my own small business, a poet, a yoga instructor, a Feng Shui consultant, a wife, a mother to name just a few.
The universe throws so many beautiful curve balls when you least expect it. Some of those titles I never pictured being and now I am so proud they are a part of my story.
You see, I am an idealistic person. I would love for things to work out just as I’ve imagined them, dreamed them, daydreamed them. When I was a child, I had it all planned out, you know? Didn’t we all? We were asked over and over again what we wanted to be when we grew up and yet, here I am all grown up, just trying to remember the things that I loved as a child and focus on those.
My mind has often told me that if the thing I am creating is not picturesque or absolutely flawless (the poetry book, the painting, the singing video, you get the idea) then it does not need to be put out there. My thought process here is that if I keep working at it long enough (and adding ten other projects to the list in the meantime) then over time, it will somehow magically become the version of itself that is finally ready to be put out into the world.
The only one who has ever needed to be ready is me.
Something that really encouraged me recently was from a book I am currently reading:
Brianna Weist writes in her book, ‘The Mountain Is You’,
“Perfectionism holds us back from showing up and trying, or really doing the important work of our lives. This happens because when we are afraid of failing, or feeling vulnerable, or not being as good as we want others to think we are, we end up avoiding the work that is required to actually become that good.
Instead of perfection, focus on progress. Instead of having something done perfectly, focus on just getting it done. From there, you can edit, build, grow, and develop it to exactly what your vision is.
If you don’t get started, you’ll never arrive.”
I guess this is me saying perfectionism doesn’t own me anymore. I will mess up, make mistakes, and do it wrong. It’s inevitable, I’m human. So beautifully human, so I will keep trying even when I fail. Especially when I fail.
“I’m no longer afraid to be seen trying” — Christina Sutra
And thank goodness for that. There has truly never been a better time than right now to do it. To look fear in the eyes and say proudly, I really am going to do it anyway this time.
So, this is me going for it. This is me declaring that yes, I am a writer. I want to be seen as one, understood as one. I want to write books. I want my words to be read. This is me diving deeper, and getting outside of my comfort zone. It's about hopping in the driver's seat of my own life for the first time. It’s about choosing to begin exactly where I am instead of waiting for “the right time”, which has never existed. I have had ideas for countless projects and given up way too soon to see them come to life. I have tried to follow my dreams and nearly every time, stopped just as it was getting good; never even allowing myself the chance to know what it feels like to start something. Creating this space is me keeping a promise to myself that I will finally see this to the very end, wherever that is.
From my experiences in life, I’ve learned that you might want to follow many paths, try new things, drive down roads you have never been before, and explore new places that entice you. Something might hold you back initially, but I dare you not to let it anymore. I invite you to investigate further, this nagging at your heart, see where it leads you and finally follow through.
We all have to start somewhere. Maybe we can start here together.
With love,
Isabel
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