Celebrating 1 Year of Framed Perspective

We did it Joe!

A year ago today, I started out on a journey to challenge myself to write more. Every like, comment, email, or text I got about some random post I wrote made this all worthwhile.

Some of you have asked me why I started writing Framed Perspective. That is what today’s post is about. It offers a glimpse into how I’m approaching life today.

Why I Started

I started writing because I needed to take some time to do something by myself, for myself. Givers often struggle with this and it is an important milestone for my life journey that I took this step. It’s allowed me to give in new ways. There are three other reasons I started writing this newsletter and all of them were selfish.

Leverage. Writing well gives you the ultimate leverage in our society. You get to connect with new people, you are seen as an expert or authority, and it is the most efficient ways to scale ideas. To take it a level deeper though, writing is something that can last 1000s of years. Starting this newsletter is a way for me to talk to future generations and share some of the things that bounced around in my mind during this time. I’m thinking of creating a short book based on the best ideas captured here. I’ve been inspired by books like Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Superhuman by Design, the Navalmanack, and Anything You Want. These are books that make timeless ideas approachable and that is something I hope to create soon.
Capture. This newsletter was started smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, a social justice movement, and one of the most important (and probably consequential) elections of our time. The year 2020 was a time unlike any other and we will probably experience nothing like this again (hopefully). Writing served as a way for me to make sense of all my thoughts and emotions during this past year. It’s been my digital time capsule and a form of therapy because I needed to write to try to make sense of everything going on all around me. Being a regular writer makes you a constant observer while also building reflection into your every day routine. These two traits of writing will make you feel alive in ways you never dreamed possible before.
Challenge. Writing is a process, but that was not the real challenge for me. The real challenge was hitting publish. It is something that has crept back into my life recently (thus the slowdown on my writing along with some other life things). Sometimes you can get caught up in your own art. You can get wrapped up in trying to make the perfect piece instead of focusing on just making. Life happens for you based on what you’ve done, not what you’ve thought. Action is how you learn. Action is how you grow. Action is how you change. Action is how you are of service to others. Just thinking about it is never enough.

Thank you for staying with me on this journey.

I hope that my writing has provided some new perspective on this thing called life for you. More to come in 2021!

My Favorite Posts From This Year (in no particular order)

What were yours?