On eating that frog šø
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 thatās 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 āHOLD UPā, Dr Dre/Snoop Dogg/Nate Dogg style.
Itās a tale as old as time: Iām 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 goodnessā 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, sheād written me a lovely note, and inscribed the words āmore haste, less speedā there. I think she meant to write the more common āLess haste, more speedā 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 āar(f)-thurā job (half the! Get it? Ok, it doesnāt work as well written down, I see that now.)
As Iāve gotten older (and yes, thatās intentional avoidance of the term āgrown upā) Iāve moved to listening to my head too much. Itās the classic: responsibilities, expectations, real-life consequences if you donāt do things right. That doesnāt 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 didnāt have enough time to do it properly (a.k.a. I hadnāt 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, wonāt it?) I was scared (that still stands, tbf.)
But this week, I decided that today was the day. Iām still finetuning the details, but hopefully this lands in your inbox fairly stressfree! Whether youāre 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 Iād 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 thereās anything youād like to see covered here, or youāve got any questions, please do let me know ā Iāll 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 thatās totally free!
If you loved the recommendations format in my old newsletter, donāt worry! Theyāre sticking around, albeit in a slightly less aesthetically appealing format.
Hereās a little window into what Iām enthusiastic about at the moā¦
01 lusting after
Having my colours done. Yes, the damn clock app has reeled me in AGAIN! I want to know whether Iām a cool autumn or a warm summer or whatever else the options are; not because Iād then follow it to the letter, but just because Iām 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 Smithās 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 itās maybe the 5th or 6th time Iāve seen him life but the love was anew - there was a (very drunk, very English) man behind me who just kept bellowing āHeās just one of Britainās best isnāt he!ā and Iām inclined to agree. Plus, his visuals for āSaviourā (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