Hello all! Welcome to “close but not quite,” a weekly (ish) newsletter I have started because I am bored in the house and in the house bored. This newsletter is also a promise to myself to write about things that are cute and interesting to me even if nobody else cares or would publish it, but I hope you enjoy these ideas as well!
I want this collection of writing to document this weird period of time in my life where I am living in limbo: no longer a student, no longer young, but stunted from becoming the version of myself that I had previously envisioned as an independent adult. These essays will capture my thoughts on a variety of things such as education, mental health, the internet, race and gender, and the failings of capitalism by using my own perspective and experience as a lens through which I can examine these issues on a personal level. I will also use this space to work through random, psuedo-intellectual musings and write on things that I think are fun or kooky even if they are not totally relevant to our current cultural or political moment. Down the line, I may also use this newsletter in even more casual ways such as providing music recommendations or branching out into publishing short fiction. Though I envision my inevitably angsty quarantine thoughts to be the common thread among all these pieces, I also do not want to take this project too seriously as the purpose of starting this newsletter is mainly to give myself space to write openly and creatively on issues that matter to me. In short, I want to use this space as a reminder to myself that I am twenty fuckin two, I do not need to put pressure on myself be a perfect writer, and there is room for me to explore and grow!
I do not plan on charging for this newsletter right now or in the near future because I don’t want to put up barriers to access my work, and I also recognize that a lot of people are struggling financially at the moment. However, if you do have the means and find any of these essays to be particularly interesting, feel free to support me through Venmo (@Mary-Retta) or Paypal (maryretta33@gmail.com).
That’s all for now, but stay tuned for more soon!
xoxo,
mary <3
