Hey,
Thank you so much for finding your way here. It might have been by accident, it may have been by conscious effort, it may have just been that the Substack algorithm brought you here - but, in my world, everything happens for a reason. There are no coincidences. I believe you found your way here because you were meant to.
And, the most important thing is that you are here. So, let me introduce myself and then I’ll show you around.
So, who am I? Well, that is a really good question, and I’m not sure that even after 51 years of life on this planet I’m totally there yet. What I do know is that I’m always looking, searching, seeking, questioning, and surrendering to the process of discovering the answer to that question. If I was to use one word that described the pattern of my whole life, so far, it would probably be SEEKER.
I could tell you a bunch of stuff about what I do and the things I have done, and that might give you a slightly better insight into what you can expect from this Substack. I am a husband and father to two amazing daughters, aged 13 and 10. I run an online clothing business with my brother. I co-founded a radio station, The Buzz Mcr. I have recently released a book, B7965 - A boy called Szmulek, A man named Sam, about the year I inadvertently spent with a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. I wrote and published some illustrated children’s poetry books. And before all of that, I had a 12 year career working in television at one of the UK’s largest TV companies.
But, behind all of that ‘stuff’ there was a boy, and then a man, who was desperately scrambling to find his way in the world, to make some sense of things, and often struggling to do so. There were huge bouts of crippling anxiety and depression in my late teens and early twenties, and as a result of those experiences I was left with a deep and lasting drive and desire to search for happiness, peace, love and joy in my everyday.
My journey has definitely been one of seeking. Steadily finding more and more pieces of the puzzle that have gradually helped to create a picture of who I really am. And it has been a beautiful and gradual awakening for me.
And, that’s largely why I write.
I write to make sense of things. I write to share my journey. I write to connect with other people. And, I write about the pieces of the puzzle that I have found, in the hope that perhaps those pieces can help others to find theirs. And that by doing so, there’s a chance we could make the journey less lonely for one another.
There are supposedly 8 billion people on this planet right now. And every single one of us is unique and special.
Every. Single. One. Of. Us.
Wow.
But, at some points in our lives, we succumbed to societal pressure and shut down our uniqueness in order to fit in.
And, this is why I wanted to create this Substack:
I wanted to create a space where I could dare to be myself. Where I could radiate my own uniqueness and in the process inspire others to dare to be more of themselves too.
I wanted to create a community of like-hearted souls where we could all share our journeys together and share the stuff that makes us unique, and discuss the ways we got lost along the way. Point the pitfalls out for one another, so to speak.
I also wanted to create a place where I could share the bits and bobs that I have encountered on the path that had moved me, inspired me, and entertained me; in the hope that you would share with me the stuff that has done the same for you.
And, if I’m being totally honest, I aim to make writing the thing I can do ALL of the time and so I hope that the paid aspect of my Substack could become something that enables me to do that. I greatly value your time and energy and I aim to provide incredible value for the paid subscribers with the content I create. I would never take your support for granted.
And finally, I just want to have some fun. It can get a bit heavy and a bit serious on this little planet we inhabit, floating in the vastness of the cosmos; and so it would be wonderful if this could be a space where for just a few minutes each week we could all forget about the heaviness and take a few deep breaths together and let all the tensions just fall away, leaving us with a brief respite to bring our hearts together and focus on the good things in life.
Thank you, for being here. I’m truly glad you came. I believe you found your way here for a reason and I hope to make you see and, most importanly, feel the reason for that.
I look forward to spending time with you.
With love
Rik
xx
Wow you are an excellent writer. Thank you so much for sharing and I especially like the part of having fun! My mom always said if we can learn to laugh at our problems we wont go crazy and I have found this to be true.