I also received tons of positive feedback 🙏 connected with old friends and made some new ones ❤️

Earlier this week, I was reflecting on the past month…

Despite how well things have been going, it’s time to change things up.

So soon? You just started?

“one the most beautiful things about life is that things change” - me

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have seen me hint at this change a few days ago. It finally clicked.

So what’s changing?

You’ll still get at least 1 written article from me per week, but I wanna share more. So I am.

I wanna make this newsletter into a nicely packaged, hand-picked gift box. Think FabFitFun, Bespoke Post, or Stitchfix. But instead of carefully selected physical products, you’ll get an email full of curated content, not just a single article I’ve written.

I had this idea somewhere in my notes from years ago. So far back I don’t even remember where I put it. Probably on an old laptop in a word doc. Pre-google docs days.

Basically, it was about how I thought it would be cool to see different Youtubers share what was influencing them. How did they come up with their perspective? What made them have that take? What are they consuming that inspired them make that video?

This is one reason for the change.

The other reason goes back to the cycle of content I talked about in my first article, The Power of Writing.

We’ve all been sent down a rabbit hole we never asked for. You look up and it’s dark outside already. All you’ve done for the the last 2 hours is watch funny cat videos. I will admit, sometimes it hits spot, but it’s a slippery slope, and there are much darker holes you can fall in on social media.

Darkness cannot exist without light.

Social media can be used for good, too. I wanna share things that come from that good side.

I think it’s essential that you consciously curate your own content so that it actually adds value to your life and doesn’t detract from it.

So I’ll be sharing content that has had a positive impact on my life.

It will vary in intensity.

Some will be things that had a really deep effect and changed my outlook on life.

Some will be things that simply put a smile on my face.

Ultimately, I’ll share whatever I think may help you in some way. That’s why I’m doing this whole thing.

Words with Ward will still exist. But it will stand alone as a collection of my articles, separate from the newsletter itself.

This next evolution of the newsletter requires a new name.

And the new name of the newsletter is…

contentsation

Yes, like condensation but content.

Think of a glass of ice cold water. Tiny water droplets begin to form as sits there. Those droplets merge with the others surrounding to form even bigger droplets. This process continues to compound until they form a small pool of water that collects at the bottom of the glass.

At a larger scale, condensation happens after water is evaporated from the ocean, forming massive clouds in the sky.

Each piece of content we consume adds to what we know. The more connections we make between the things we know, the more deeply we understand them.

Your pool of knowledge grows.

So, what’s inside?

Each Contentsation newsletter will be a collection of any Youtube videos, IG reels/YT shorts, photos, articles, podcasts, tweets, quotes from books, etc. that I find interesting with hopes that you will, too.

the format

A few newsletters I’m subscribed to are the 3-2-1 Newsletter by James Clear and 10 Bullets by Zach Pogrob. Each has their own way of splitting things up into various sections.

James Clear’s is 3 short ideas from him, 2 quotes from others, and 1 question for you to ponder.

Zach’s splits his into “On [insert topic]” like “On where to live”, "On running and obsession”, “On hunger.”

Each has it’s own flexible structure. I’m a fan of this. So I’m doing it, but in my own way.

My format will be: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

1 of something, 2 of something else, 3 of….you get it.

What that something is will depend on what I’m feeling that week. I don’t want to be as limited as the 3-2-1 because my interests change too often, and the type of content I will want to share will undoubtedly change week-in week-out.

And also…who doesn’t like a surprise? 🤪

You get to open each Contentsation email like it’s Christmas morning.

As mentioned, I will continue to write my own articles and will include them in the newsletter each week. Most often it will be at the 1 spot, but who knows maybe I’ll drop a brace or even a cheeky hatter on ya.

I still believe creating my own content is important. Condensing is at the heart of what I’ll be putting out across the board, but I like to put my own take on things, and I think it’s beneficial to share my perspective.

Learn, Synthesize, Share. That’s the game. Have you noticed the pattern so far? Now we’re taking it to another level.

Originally, I thought about doing an article on Saturdays and then a content dump mid-week. But then I thought, fuck it let’s just do it all at once. It gives me enough time to collect content and piece it together in a way that’s tasteful as well as write an article.

1.0 —> 2.0

I wouldn’t have had the idea for Contentsation come to life if I never actually started to post online in the first the place.

You can’t get to 2.0 without a 1.0.

How can you make something better if it doesn’t exist?

And with that, ladies and gentlemen. I give you, Week #1 of Contentsation.

Enjoy :)