A letter to readers

Dear reader,

As we all are just getting used to “self-quarantining” and "social distancing” in an attempt to “flatten the curve”, I have been reminded of the many reasons why I started this blog a little over a year ago. I have also had to reflect on how inactive I have unfortunately been since I started “Diary of a Jawnz Enthusiast”.

There have been many reasons my lack of production here; the fact that I have never practiced the act of writing regularly is the first that comes to mind. Writing has always been something I struggled with, hung up on trying to get the wording and theory perfect. However, I am now reminding myself that this medium is not all about perfection. It is about expressing investigating the things I find interesting and expressing my thoughts about what I find. After I finish this short personal piece, I pledge to get into research and investigation and share with my readers (if I have any) what I find.

The second reason I have been inactive on here is that I have been so busy with my other jobs. This was always a poor excuse, I know. It’s not like I ever worked 80 hours a week or anything like that, but I was working 6 days a week before this pandemic hit. However, now that has all changed. I am down to just 4 hours a week unless I find alternative work, so I should have plenty of free time to work on the creative projects I have previously been too eager to procrastinate on.

This brings me to why I started this blog in the first place. This pandemic has been a reminder that, while I enjoy my work in retail, and I enjoy the money and socialization working at a restaurant brings, I do not want to spend my career in the service industry. God forbid we experience something like this again in my lifetime, I don’t want to be in the most vulnerable group. As I am stuck at home browsing the internet, I see pieces written by some of the same people that always inspired me in the fashion journalism front, and am reminded of the relative job security they have compared to myself. I know “print is dead”, and many industry writers’ first advice to people interested in entering “media” is ‘don’t do it’, but I don’t really care. Even if people stop buying clothes, or going out, people will always read about things that interest them.

So here is my pledge to whomever may be reading this. I will publish one (1) blog entry every day my life is affected by this pandemic, and then by the time everything returns to normal, hopefully, I won’t be able to stop.

I hope that everyone reading this also takes this time to reflect on how their lives are affected by this and maybe some will also be in my situation, realizing there’s more they wish they had been doing before this pandemic. Please take care of yourselves out there, and let something good come of these trying times.

I WILL ALSO TAKE THIS TIME TO EXERCISE MY PHYSICAL CREATIVE MUSCLES SO STAY TUNED FOR MERCH/ART PIECES/ETC. THAT MAY BE THE BYPRODUCT OF MY NEWFOUND FREEDOM.

Love yourself and one another,
​Alex