Season 1 Recap
Reflecting on The Spoonful's First Season
When I first heard about writing consistently online, I was doubtful I could do it. Having written online in fits and starts since 2015, a smattering of Medium articles and personal blog posts, I thought it wasn’t for me. I doubted my commitment, I doubted my skill, I doubted that there would be space for me in the vast world of internet writing.
But I’m here. And with this publication on Substack, The Spoonful, I feel a freedom of expression, topic, and intellect that I’ve never felt before.
I’ve given much thought to how I’ll stay consistent with my publishing, how I can enhance my writing, and how I’ll reflect regularly on how far I’ve come.
To that end, I’ve decided to wrap every burst of publishing on The Spoonful into a “Season.”
Spoonful Seasons
I’d like for these essays to be savored, and reflecting on the effort that went into writing them is a way to share my process – creating an artifact to show how I’m evolving as a writer.
What does this mean for you, as a reader?
I still aim to publish weekly, but I may take a week or two off in between seasons. At the end of a season (like right now) I’ll be crafting these recap posts, which will briefly reflect on the past several weeks.
Season 1
I began this journey on Substack with Write of Passage, an online writing course that’s so much more than an online writing course. The six pieces of this season are some of the best writing I’ve done, and I credit the rigor and feedback of the Write of Passage community for helping me to get here. I loved the course so much, I know I’ll be back for another cohort.
In this season, I published 6 pieces. It’s a bit early to tell whether this length is typical or not. Projecting into the future, I imagine each Season of The Spoonful to have 5-7 pieces.
Let’s jump into the writing!
The Essays
Software Spellcraft
I tap out the command, check the script once more, and smash the enter key. The cursor on the screen pauses, pensively. Then, all of a sudden, it's off. With a flurry, the nondescript black screen buzzes with energy – numbers and characters fly across the terminal. Then the flurry stops, and the cursor returns to its familiar blinking. In mere seconds, …
A Surfboard for the Information Ocean - RSS
The horizon stretched out endlessly before me. I felt an almost indescribable sense of infinity. Taking a few steps forward, I dipped my toes into the foamy surf. And then I was at my keyboard, feeling the same sense of awe as I reached for the address bar and began to search the seemingly vast depths of the internet.
The Lie of Translation
Ishq عشق , Pyaar پیار , Mohabbat موحبّت Paste any of the Urdu words above into the translation engines of our age – Google Translate, GPT, and their friends. They’ll give you the same answer: “love.” They’re lying, because they fail to capture the details that matter.
When Boring is Better
Waiting for the plane to take off, my eight year old self would grab the Swiss Air magazine from the flimsy netting in front of me and open up the airline route map. I would notice the dots that represented destinations – Boston, New York, London, Karachi, Mumbai. I would trace the long lines from the dots back to Zurich.
The Nature of Gift
When I resonate with something, I have an unquenchable desire to read, listen, and share it. Such was my feeling when I first read Charles Eisenstein’s book, Sacred Economics. Although he holds a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, Eisenstein took a different path than many would with a degree from Yale. He became a Chinese translator, worked in academ…
Our Inner Poets
My inner poet is thoughtful, mystical, and deeply present. He lives within me, unlocking the connectivity between disparate objects, opening portals to understandings and realizations unknown. He is abundant. There is no end to his flow of words or to the beat of his rhythm. He is indefinitely deep.
Onwards and upwards!
It's cool to see all that work in one place like this. It's quite an achievement!
I love this idea. Are you going to post more reflections about this past season? I’d love to hear what you learned.