Jules John

Writer’s Note:

I have failed magnificently in month two of my 2026 writing project. I wanted to write one essay a month this year, whilst keeping the word count somewhere below 1000. That goal is now, resolutely, impossible. Especially considering that we are now truly, and irreversibly, in the month of March. A month that is, of course, the third month, and therefore leaving February, month two, sans essay. So, the time-travel dynamics here make this whole prospect a bit of a tight squeeze to rectify, but you know what? Out with arbitrary goals! In with value, creation, and meaning! 

We move on. 

Either way, I am doing a bit of a 180° this month and parking a piece that I was working on for a while. I had some issues with it,  so I am just gonna commit to a stream of consciousness bit and call it a day. It’s Sunday afternoon as I start to write this, and I might put some rice on, and that will be my de facto timer. I think I’d like to go for a stroll while the sun’s still up, and finish this off tomorrow, which is labour day here in Melbourne. A glorious long weekend which has been a much needed opportunity for me to transmute into an inanimate object for a while.

Post 2:

First and foremost, I have noticed immediately that I am inherently drawn to writing about topics that strike me as ‘pertinent’, or ‘important’ (no shite). But more specifically, I do like reflecting on my own life habits, or the likes of being happy, and living well. This has been the case since my uni days, where I was drawn to ‘the philosophy of the good life’. Either way, my reflection this month is that I have had some almost comical writing forays which essentially could be construed as me exploring my not-so-under-the-radar undiagnosed ADHD. Hence, I’m pulling some of those projects off the drawing board for this blog, and I’ll relegate them as topics of conversation for me and my therapist alone. 

Whilst writing may be therapeutic, it is not, actually, therapy. Nor should it be!

However, having a couple of false starts in my second month of this project makes me think that I do need to find my stride in the world of writing. Banging out a casual and mildly coherent set of 1000 words has proven slightly harder than expected. I’ve told a few people about this project, and of course the expected question is, ‘What will you write about?’ And my answer feels pretty true to thought, ‘I’m not really sure, but I just want to write and enjoy.’ Now, I do have a few niche topics up my sleeve that hopefully strike that perfect cross-section of ‘interesting to both myself and a broader public readership’. Namely: the world of teaching and learning. For one example, I would like to write about the upcoming strike we’re running as an AEU in Victoria – a little bit of insight into the ‘professional teacher’ world. However, I will probably return to focus on some more niche areas that I’m familiar with: the likes of language acquisition, and the likes of learning for the sake of learning. So, in short, I am learning to learn for the sake of learning, and writing for none other reason than to write. Such is!

With that being said, this is the second month in a row where I am, inextricably, ‘writing about writing’, which is fine, but it will become stale fast. Safety is boring. 

I really mean it though! I think there is so much going on in the world right now, and to  play it safe is a huge mistake. Yes, I ought to ‘stick to my lane’, but too many people right now are relinquishing autonomy and any moral standing by cowardly skirting power and blatant evil. For example, in my country our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong are seemingly bending over backwards to support and justify Israel in it’s ongoing genocide in Palestine, and, in addition, blindly running at the opportunity to support Donald Trump’s USA in its illegal belligerence and brutality in Iran. I think 2026 is the year to be vocal at any chance you get and, at the bare minimum, call out people who are responsible for the murder of innocent men, women, and children. 

Which brings me back to how to achieve 1000 words in a month – let’s be loud and proud and call it how it is. 

I’m sure it won’t always be like this, free flowing and stream of consciousness, but on that note, I do like to mix things up, so, I would like to use this form in future as a break from more structured writing. 

And whiiiile I’m at it, let’s brain dump even harder; here are some recent/ongoing pastimes from the last month or so: 

• Feng Shui – getting my qi on.
• Dota 2  – toxic fun.
• Squid Game – harrowing.
• Virginia Woolf – Queen.
• Clair Obscur – beautiful.
• Yoga – 🧘
• Pinball – numbers go up.
• Painting Miniatures – offline hobby.
• Piano – pure joy.

Anyway, a final thought on writing about writing. I think it’s so brilliantly true that you can only really write about one thing authentically; and one thing only. That is one’s own self. And if you are writing about other people’s worlds, you are only doing so to the extent that you are learning about and empathising with them – which is a good thing, if done respectfully! For example, I will never be able to write from the perspective of a black queer-pas-gay woman living in America, but as a white third generation Maltese Italian Australian male, and with the privilege that that background affords me, I think it is a simple responsibility of mine to learn to empathise and do my best to understand that unique perspective (with respect and love to the late bell hooks). Anyway, I say keep learning, keep reading, keep trying to understand where different groups, especially marginalised groups, are coming from, and keep writing about it to share and build a community of understanding.

And so we write… About ourselves, and about our understanding of others. 

It’s funny, I haven’t ever really considered setting out to purposefully improve my writing. I mean, yes, I have a couple of decades of formal education to thank for me being able to at least string a sentence or two together. However, the point is, it’s not something that I have ever really gone out of my way to really learn; like I have done with guitar, or Japanese. I don’t really think about my writing in terms of good, or bad, or better. I just know that I am a writer. Though, only in the simple sense that I am writing right now, and therefore, voila (wallah!) I am a writer. And, as a writer, I see it as my mission to experience, learn, and make changes to my own self, and the immediate world around me where I can. Because writing to me is nothing more than a process of revealing the self – either privately, or for public eyes. 

And a process of breaking rules.

And I think that’s a wonderful thing!

Much love,

Jdawg ❤