Dear readers, friends, subscribers, living souls, carbon-based life, fellow humans,
Welcome to the first monthly ongoingboy newsletter. I don’t think it’s recommended to say it out loud. It sounds weird.
I hope this letter finds you. No, you read it right. Find you. This letter should reach the right person, at the very least. Oh, I do not hope it will find you when you are well. If you are not well, reading this may improve your well-being. If you are well, reading this also may improve your well-being.
My name is Julivius Prawira. I am the one who runs this newsletter. And that fact alone will be enough. I have the desire of explaining who am I but I personally see myself is like a river. The river is there but never exactly the same. The water will flow to the lower place and the shape will change along the centuries.
I do not have a particularly passionate interest to talk. I guess I will let it flow every month and simply just write a lot to see for myself where is my interest. That is why I name it ‘ongoingboy’.
So, why a newsletter?
It seems cool.
I do have several deliberate reasons why I want to have a newsletter. First of all, I want to leave some footprints in this world. Besides plastic bottles that will outlast me, I think curated thoughts would be nice. It can work as an inspiration because of its quality. “I want to have a newsletter too just like him,” the writer dreamt someone would think that way someday. “What kind of writing is this? I can write better than him,” the writer thought another plausible event while laughing at his own idea.
Secondly, I find newsletters and stories suit me more to share thoughts compared to common social media. I want the social aspect of sharing. Having one-to-one conversation and a more nuanced discussion with people rather than making an announcement to the public. Context is important and sometimes we lack them in discussions. Instead of intellectual discussion, some ended up as screaming competitions.
The last acceptable reason in my head would be writing skill improvement. By putting myself in here, I force myself to write something periodically. It gives me a routine to think and to reflect on my activity more explicitly. Also, this platform enables you to give me feedback. I am not looking forward to some grammatical input, but if you consider yourself a grammar-nazi, I do not mind having a proofreader for free. Some of the writings in the future might look raw or bad but as long as you understand what am I trying to say, then it will be fine.
What is the goal of my newsletter?
I am a simple boy. 12 snippet of my thoughts being send out on fourth or fifth Sunday for every month in 2021. That’s it and we’ll see what’s next.
In the short term, I plan to discuss my thesis progress. At least for six months. What kind of research do I do. How do I write the thesis. Do I have any plan to bluff to society as an expert. You get the idea.
I guess that’s all for the introduction. I will save other parts of the introduction in case of running out of things to write.
Until next month, take care!
Julivius
PS: If you cannot reply here directly, you can send an email to hi@julivius.com