There needs to be a disclaimer somewhere

· Essays

Well, this is it.

I borrowed large chunks of this list from Jordan Gonen’s Quarter Mile, where he managed to elaborate what every writer should remind their audience. Please forgive me, Jordan, and also thank you.

  1. If you have read anything I have published, here or elsewhere, and you find yourself looking up to me, don't. Also, I’m most likely below you, so you better look down.

  2. I love when people ask other people for advice, recipes, ideas and feedback. The problem is, when you read my words, you have not asked me anything. I’m not responding to you. You are absorbing what I choose to put into the world. And in the lucky chance that my ideas or advice or stories help you change the way you think about something, that is great. But don’t blindly follow what I say.

  3. It may sound like I’m very open about myself, but there’s a lot I won’t share and a lot not even I know about myself. Which means, you don’t know me. I bet there’s some weird stuff I’ve done that you would be a little repulsed by, and there’s some embarrassing things you’ve done I’d be a little freaked out to learn.

  4. You might not even like me if you met me. I probably hold at least one opinion you find completely abhorrent, and vice versa.

  5. I try my best to be self-aware in my writing, but I think it’s impossible to be completely self-aware unless you’re on some really good drugs or have ascended into non-duality. My life and my opinions are representative of my human experience, and therefore, like all creatures, I am heavily biased.

  6. You do not have to agree with me. Ten people can read the same thing and all have unique reactions to it, and yours is equally valid. There’s a good chance you aren’t even having the reaction I thought you would have! So if you find yourself disagreeing, you can tell me about it if—it if you think it will lead to a conversation worth the time—or you can look to the next thing and move on. After all, I don’t know you and you don’t know me.

  7. Anyone with internet access can publish their thoughts on some god-forsaken social media platform or on a pretentious minimalist website. The fallacy is that most people don’t, so it can seem like the words I, and people like me write, are inherently special. Or more special than, say, a Reddit post or your friend’s retelling of their summer holidays. They could be more special, but most often are not.

  8. If I write anything that leaves you dreaming about the future or implies that you could do something great, then you could just go and do it. I pronounce these words knowing I struggle “doing the thing” so myself.

  9. None of this is advice, and neither are any of my essays or guides or notes or social media posts.

  10. All the love I gave you is yours to keep.