📢 Starting a New Chapter
Goodbye and thank you for all the fish!
I am officially ten months into this creative experiment that is my Substack newsletter. Which means for ten months, I have pursued some terrifying desires and chronicled all my news and life-related adventures in your inbox.
Outside of this newsletter I pursued even more terrifying desires, primarily to build my dream career in India. In my highlight-filled Atomic Habits, I learned that designing the right environment is essential to creating a daily practice. So when I moved back to Bombay, I bought a nice, big productivity planner and kept it alongside my laptop on a table where I could see it at least 100x a day. I invested in fresh Muji pens, highlighters and post-its. I designated a chunk of time everyday where I’d put my phone on airplane mode, open my daily inrush of job alert emails from LinkedIn, BeApplied and a million other career placement service providers, put my head down and soldier on. Every one knows the drill. No one wants to be reminded of this time in their lives.
But one of my primary New Year Resolutions was to cultivate discipline. Although it was a long time coming, I was always afraid of discipline because it felt like fun’s worst enemy. The second I get out of bed in the morning, fun is exactly what I seek most. So this whole experiment with following a daily practice to look for jobs was an uphill battle in more ways than one, filled with disappointments, big and small (surprise, surprise) but I leveled with myself. On the harder days, I told myself that I’m doing everything in my capacity to fix my life and that the world (read, employers) would love me better if I stay shiny, cheerful, and truly somehow believe my best life is right around the corner.
I’m happy to report that I’ve finally had a breakthrough in this experiment. Starting next month, I will be working full-time at an organization that helps tackle ambitious, complex sustainability challenges around the world. I look forward to the next phase of my life and The Atlantic’s 7-part podcast series on How to Build a Happy Life will be my guiding light into it.
When I began writing The Grey Area, I hoped to be of help. I hoped to provide a balanced perspective on big stories making the news in India. I was not prepared for the vast influx of Internet information (not usually positive) I’d be subject to, the many interesting conversations that ensued, the emails and WhatsApp messages full of recommendations, ideas and kind words. What started as an effort for me to learn more about the pulse of my own country became a warm and inspirational pod of subscribers like you who drove daily meaning in my life.
And so, with a full and heavy heart, I am writing today to say that this is the last Grey Area newsletter you will receive. I’ve loved every minute of building this space on Substack with you. Many thanks for letting me visit your inbox over these months. You can still write to me (and I hope you will) and I’ll still read every letter sent.
Will miss this. Wish you all the best