A couple of months ago, my friend
from forwarded me an email from . They were promoting a new program to help writers from around the world get together in person.Russell suggested I host a meetup here in Barcelona.
And being the serendipiter that I am, I obliged…
Sure enough, a few weeks later I got an email back from
that my request to host a meetup was accepted. I threw together an event page and messaged Russell the good news.“That was made for you” - I loved hearing that. Even though we’ve only met up a handful of times, we know each other just through our writing.
More on that topic later…
Strangers and friends
There we were on a Wednesday evening, seven brave souls from different corners of the globe, bonding over our love of writing (and Barcelona of course).
A few of us had connected previously so there was a nice mix of both familiar & new faces. Russell came early, we spent a few minutes catching up. We were joined by
from , she’s been publishing daily on LinkedIn for years and more recently started experimenting with Substack.Then came
from . I’d been following his work for a while now and was looking forward to meeting him in person. He writes a newsletter on modern fatherhood and is helping build a community of dads who are trying to be a little bit better. It’s "like one big group text with other guys fumbling their way through fatherhood."Next up we had
from and from . I didn’t get to chat with Andrew as much as I would have liked but Michael and I discovered that we both share a love of ping-pong. He looks like he could be a worthy opponent. We challenged each other to a match soon.Another familiar face was
from . I’ve been part of Paul’s Find the Others community for a few months and we’ve had the chance to get together a couple of times since his arrival in Barcelona.Funny story, before we ever met in person, he messaged me one day asking if I knew of a place to record a podcast episode. He was having some electrical issues at his Airbnb and I happened to be out of town that week visiting family in Budapest.
I told him I keep a key with a neighbor in case of emergency and he was more than welcome to use my place.
Voilà, problem solved.
And that’s why I love Substack…
This platform provides a place for me to connect with other interesting people who are on my wavelength. Even though I’d never met Paul, I knew I could trust him with my apartment. Same with Russell, the first time we met, I felt like I was hanging out with an old friend.
This is a place where I find real connection.
It's different from the superficial world of social media, it’s more clean and pure. Plus it’s nice not to have a constant stream of ads and pop-ups being shoved in your face. Aside from the writing itself, no one is trying to sell you anything. It’s just a bunch of people geeking out on topics they enjoy.
I wanted to start writing online for years but always hesitated for one reason or another. Substack makes the barrier to entry easy for anyone.
As
put it:“if you want to be a part of it, the only caveat is you enter this space with a willingness to read, write, and engage with what inspires you.”
Writing online has changed my life.
I’ve become a better communicator, both at work and in my personal affairs. I listen more carefully to conversations and podcasts.
I read books and articles with more intention, highlighting quotes and clipping pieces that might come in handy later.
It’s given me more confidence in putting myself out there. It’s caused me to think deeper and has helped foster a greater sense of awareness in general.
Shoutout to my fellow Substackers for showing up, let’s do it again soon.
Until next time my friends.
<3 B