I'm John

Hello friends,

I’m John, and I’m still here.

This is the first time all year I’ve decided to hit the publish button outside my private notes, which feels wild because I’m always writing. My notebooks are full, my Obsidian drafts are overflowing, and even my Sublime app is packed with ideas. Yet, somehow, actually sitting down to shape a finished piece has slipped past me—well outside of notes.

I told my son the other day, after beating him in the father-and-son basketball world championship games, that we don’t play the game to win every time, but to grow; each time you play, you get a bit better. With that mindset, you always win. He, of course, thought that was crazy and continued to throw a fit about losing at basketball-a work in progress. As a parent, you often find yourself sharing all these wonderful things with your kids, then sitting back and wondering: does your own life mirror the advice you give your children?

Often, during those realizations, one of the worst feelings is discovering that it doesn’t. You say, “The sky is the limit,” but realize how often you keep yourself grounded. You tell them, “You have to be grateful,” but then wonder how often you actually model gratitude for them to learn from.

So, how do I stop being a parental hypocrite?

Well, in my lovely wife’s words, I’m a trash writer—but that’s the benefit: every time I come here and hit publish, I get a bit better at writing, and I love that.

I saw this the other day from Seth Rogen: “Go do something else. And if you don’t want to go through the process, you shouldn’t be a writer. The idea of a tool that makes me write less is not appealing to me, because I like writing.”

I want to go through this process, fighting with words and sentences until they say what I actually want to express, and then I want to hit publish over and over again without missing a beat unless I genuinely want to and with the added bonus of not being a parental hypocrite.

Also, changing the name of this publication to Coffee House, purely because I want to, and I’m doing the branding kit myself to play with that as a creative project - Going to complete it by end of the summer.

As always, thank you for reading.

This newsletter is brought to you by our family creative studio and children’s bookstore. Did you know we’re opening a second location? and we will be the first Black owned children’s bookstore in RVA’s modern history. I’m excited.

Tyrannosaurus Tot.

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Here are five essays that I’d bring up over coffee.

• My friend Pete hit 100 Mondays- talk about showing up!

Substack Accidentally Became My Memoir

• Max changed the name of his Substack publication to Good Enough, which feels right at home.

Welcome to Good Enough

• Robert wrote this musing that gave me a lot to think on, but as I’m coming back into my writing I know what I’m aiming for, To borrow big bros brilliant words, “I exhale with God and write.”

i speak to God in public

• I’ve been deep in thought on my career for the better part of this year; it’s hard to think outside of it when you need it for provision, but Alex’s piece gave me some ideas that I have to sit with for a bit.

You Can Always Come Home

• Jennas works have been a place of time travel for me, a resource of reflection, and this current one is no exception.

How to vanish into a journey