Nobody has it easy. They just have different problems.

There’s always something new to worry about.

Hi guys,

Hope you are doing well. I'm okay, Alhamdulillah.

scratch that.

I'm tired, Alhamdulillah.

Yep, the correct answer is I'm tired.

My day started some 13 hours ago and I've barely caught a break. I genuinely do not even have the energy to think, let alone write.

But somehow, I'm sitting alone at the 7th floor rooftop section of a quiet restaurant, willing myself to write something.

To write anything.

Yesterday, I was on a phone call with one of my brothers I hadn’t talked to in a while. I had missed him quite a lot but didn't realize how much till then.

We talked about everything - work, school, Nigeria (smh), family, etc.

Then he said something else.

‘How are you able to keep your newsletter going?’

‘Mehn, Alhamdulillah I just dey try push am’

‘But you don dey do am steady. It must be so easy for you bro.’

‘Nah it's not my G. It’s easier with time sha but it’s still not easy at all’

I didn’t think much of it then, but it sure is relevant now. On a different day, I might have fashid the thought and just decided to write about something else entirely. But I had an interesting session on vulnerability today, so on we go.

Keeping up with this newsletter is hard.

It’s hard on like three different levels.

What to write hard

This is the most direct one. Figuring out a topic is hard. Most times (today inclusive), I have no topic and just write freely based on my recent experiences, thoughts, etc. Then I review it and try to form a topic and/or rearrange it to make sense.

But sometimes, it just doesn't make sense.

Maybe it was a week with no new experiences. Maybe I didn't listen to a single podcast. Maybe all I spent my week on was Family Guy and F1. Maybe I’m craving ice cream. Well not maybe, I am craving ice cream.

Image by The Flaming Vegan

But yeah, to pretend that I have some superpower that automatically creates ideas, interpretes them, and arranges them in an order that can be other understood by other humans will be just that, a pretense.

** Side note: My thoughts today are entirely transferrable, not just specific to me and this newsletter. For some of you, it may be keeping up with your podcast or youtube channel. Or writing your academic papers or selling shoes on IG. Everything is hard.

How to write hard

By how, I mean the logistics of writing.

Like the actual process. Creating the time to sit in a spot for hours on end, ignoring everything else that is important. And many many things are important, you know. There’s always something new to worry about. But keeping this alive means prioritizing it consistently over sleep, personal projects, other not super important projects (I am literally supposed to be in a meeting right now), and whatever else.

Sometimes, scheduling a block of a few hours on a Sunday morning will work great. Other times, I have to begin a few days in advance just to finish. Sometimes, I have the time to play around in a paint editor and create a graphic. Other times, all I can afford to do is the lazy man's work - a quick Google search of something vaguely rated and paste that instead (and credit the creator).

What to share hard

Even assuming the what and how to write were sorted, what to share is yet another challenge. The challenge for creating Hameed's Newsletter as opposed to sharing on Medium or LinkedIn or one of those random places was a strive for personalization.

Would I be more comfortable sharing in a different format?

Would I be more intentional about making it less about self-promotion and more about interesting conversations?

Would I talk more freely about learning, working, relationships, or Islam?

Also, knowing exactly what is worthy of sharing and what should be left alone is sometimes difficult.

Especially because:

1. Once something enters Obasanjo’s internet, o ti lo niyen.

2. There are many different types of people, and excellent content for person A is a huge turn off for person B.

If everything I wrote was great content worth sharing, then I would not have so many unpublished half-pieces scattered around my drafts.

So what is the point of all this story?

Onezzly, I don’t know.

Me sef still dey gauge whether I go publish am. 😂😂

If there were one thing I would like you to leave with, it would be this.

Imagine all of us - you, me, our friends, our stans, everybody - were sitting around a round table facing each other. If we were each to bring all our life problems and put them on the table looking for who to swap with, we would all look at everybody else’s wahala, tell them sorry, and quickly pick back our own.

Nobody has it easy. They just have different problems.

Hameed