When losing your routine sets you free

RTYI #14: On the creative rush of starting over

This edition of A-Mail is sponsored by:

Have you been working on a story that you think deserves to be adapted into a documentary or docu-series? Get your idea out of your notebook and onto the big screen with Prototipe. We’ll hold your hand every step of the way, from development to production. Apply on our website to join Prototipe's (free) community of journalists for a chance to be awarded a $1,000 stipend and to work with our team to develop your IP into doc/doc-series/feature film.

Welcome to Relevant To Your Interests. This edition covers:

• How an unexpected move abroad sparked a creative renewal I didn’t know I needed

• News digest of must-read stories on work, culture and power

• Fresh start toolkit: resources for navigating major change

---

I didn’t know how stuck I was until I (unexpectedly) moved countries.

This realisation hit me during a blind friend date this week. We vibed instantly. Mainly because of her warm energy, but also because she had the same mannerisms (and cigarette brand) as an old friend. So when she asked what I was finding hardest about moving to Romania, I wanted to be honest. Was it the struggle to find a new routine, she wondered?

That's when it clicked: while the drastic change has turned my world upside down, I'm actually thriving in this shake-up. Mundane tasks from my old life – grocery shopping, buying a bus pass, doing laundry – have become mini adventures here.

I’m also excited about work in a way I haven’t been for a frighteningly long time. The newsletter I write for a client just received its best feedback ever. Last week's A-Mail post (and it’s reception) surprised even me.

This is all to say that, I’m in the throes of a creative rush and it’s because I’m starting over. A displacement that could’ve been destabilising has instead grounded me. I guess sometimes you need to get lost before you can find yourself again.

---

WORK/CULTURE/POWER DIGEST

A roundup of news stories on the forces – personal and professional – shaping our lives

• The "purpose over paycheck" paradox: For the first time, work-life balance has surpassed salary as workers' top priority (Randstad). Nearly half won't take jobs at companies whose values don't align with theirs. But watch how companies use/weaponise this shift: "purpose over paycheck" rhetoric is creeping into job listings with below-market pay. While 83% prioritise balance, only 68% earn enough to live how they want. "Values alignment" isn't necessarily replacing good compensation – it's becoming another workplace perk that only the privileged can afford.

• Substack's $20 million power play: As a writer who moved to Substack after being laid off from a VC-backed media company, I’m always wary when I see the platform make any kind of Silicon Valley playbook move. That’s why the announcement of a new creator fund, to lure TikTokers over, caught my attention. While Substack enabled independent writers like me to build audiences, familiar patterns are emerging: shifting goalposts, metric pressure, and power law economics where top creators capture most value. I truly hope this latest move will actually help all creators and isn’t just VC-backed media business as usual.

• Publishing's hidden costs: Best-selling author

  Laura Jane Williams
  recently highlighted publishing's painful paradox: a €160,000 book deal that paid her exactly zero. In a raw newsletter, she describes an industry where authors get gaslighted by "smiling assassins," six-figure advances trapped in contractual limbo, and publication dates shifted without warning. And this isn't just about one frustrated writer – it’s an outdated business model that keeps even successful authors financially precarious. (Laura’s post is behind a paywall but I’m a subscriber and have some gifted subs I can give to regular readers – just reply directly to this email; first come, first served)

• Mel Robbins allegedly plagiarised her “Let Them” concept in her latest NYT-bestseller from an indie artist. In 2022, Cassie Phillips published a poem online titled "Let Them" that went viral. Last year, Robbins released "The Let Them Theory" book using similar ideas, without crediting Phillips. It shot to the top of the book charts. Robbins recently tried to trademark the phrase "Let Them," but failed when records showed Phillips had used it first.

• The struggle to save narrative audio. When Ira Glass announced a subscription model for This American Life at the end of last year to combat plummeting ad revenue, it felt like the canary in the coal mine. (As a longtime listener, I immediately took out a sub). Now the show that pioneered narrative audio journalism is cutting staff for the first time since 1995. Can labour-intensive storytelling survive in an era of celeb pods and pseudo-science shows? I pray it can.

---

✨ sOmE pErSoNaL nEwS ✨

• I contributed to the Always Take Notes pitch pack. It’s a compendium of successful pitches to major outlets including the NYT, FT, Guardian, GQ etc. I sent in the pitches that landed me this NYT commission and this Guardian one. To get access to the pack, sign up for Always Take Always on Patreon.

---

FRESH START TOOLKIT

Stuff I’ve read/watched/listened to/bought that might also help you navigate a drastic change.

• I'm embarrassed to include notebooks in a list of recs for starting afresh, but here we are. I'm loving two right now: the "official" Leuchtturm Bullet Journal (rediscovered after my freelance days – love its flexibility), and a gorgeous astrological pocket planner #gifted to me by

  Tiffany Philippou
  .

• Speaking of Tiff, her recent comeback essay "Why Am I Still Here?" is a belter. A poignant exploration of how isolation forces us to question where we belong, ultimately leading to a deeper appreciation of our chosen paths and places. Perfect companion piece for anyone navigating major life transitions.

• When I was feeling stuck, I was procrastinating like mad. If that's you right now, you might find comfort in understanding why we put things off even when it feels bad:

• On my drive across Europe, each night in my hotel room, I read Miranda July's All Fours. Perfect timing: it opens with an unnamed narrator frustrated with her life. I read it fast (for me) and loved its breeziness and shrewd observations about how we blindly follow convention to the detriment of fulfilling our truest desires.

• "No one place is going to offer you total, unmarred happiness. Is a period spent living in the 'wrong' place wasted time? Is leaving a failure or a triumph? Maybe what living in this city really prompts us to think about is how we want to live.” Loved this piece by Imogen West-Knight about what happened to the people who wrote "Why I'm Leaving London" essays.

• Sometimes a radical change of scene isn't possible and all we can do is shift our attitudes. This video essay by Dasia Sade explores how tragic optimism might be the best way to find meaning in a meaningless world.

• And lastly, I absolutely insist you listen to The Good Whale. While the latest Serial series definitely fits my theme of starting over, it's just such an incredible story, told tenderly and cinematically. Just listen to it!!