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- Rebecca Toh
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about non-linear careers. Rebecca Toh is one of the most inspiring writers about this topic. She hasn’t followed a conventional path and she doesn’t want you to :)
BIO
Why Rebecca Toh?
Rebecca Toh has lived a fascinating - and inspiring - life. After dropping out of college, she’s held a huge range of jobs from cafe owner to radio DJ and newspaper columnist before becoming a photographer.
In her work, she’s a consistent advocate for the decentralized internet, for escaping the rat race and doing creative things. One of the best reasons to follow her blog is to find all the cool links she’s sharing. ~5.5 billion people use the internet. Rebecca Toh is one of the most interesting and she’ll help you find some more!
She writes mainly on her site and her photography can be found here. Alongside these, she’s involved in countless other cool things on and off the internet including the casual poet library and Rebecca Toh’s Untitled Project.
Her essays are usually short - thought provoking and above all honest. In a refreshing way. One of my favorite posts of hers, titled after a break :
“I fell off the (blogging/writing) grid for a bit because I was in a don’t-feel-like-doing-anything mode. But I’m back, re-energised!
Talk/write more later!” (that’s the entire post!)
Topics: Careers, Productivity, Life, Creativity, Technology
3 ESSAYS TO GET YOU STARTED
1 - The old internet
A sort of love letter to the ‘pre-social media’ internet. Maybe we can go back.
small unknown complex life is another (newer) essay covering similar topics - also strongly recommend!
“Social networks like Facebook and Instagram and Twitter constitute “the internet” for many people, but they are not. They are only a pale version of what was and what could have been.”
I love this essay. It’s mainly about freelancing, the challenges and the risks but the opportunities too. It also offers a look at Rebecca Toh’s interesting life and her path to becoming a professional photographer and writer.
“I also wrote this to encourage the many people I know – including many of my friends – who want to quit the rat race and live life on their own terms. I hope this gave you a view of the possibilities of a freelance career and a strong push to pursue the life you want.”
Toh explores the inevitable creeping doubt that everyone feels occasionally when they feel like quitting something they love/are passionate about. I try to re-read this every so often.
“Some days I feel deader than dead about photography—don’t know why I’m doing it, don’t know what it’s good for, don’t know if I’m any good at it. I think about giving it up and rack my brains about what else I would rather be doing.”
BONUS
# The important work we do
A reflection on feeling guilty about not ‘doing more’ and why it’s okay. The writing in this essay is really nice.
WHAT IS WORTH CHECKING THIS WEEK?
Some of our favourite things we found on the internet this week:
Confessions of the world’s most elite sober coach (paywalled, reply if you can’t access and want to read it!)
(long) interesting op-ed about Netflix ‘thriving when no one is watching’ (i.e. making meaningless content that they know no one will watch)
This might be the best reality concept since Man vs. Wild.
How well do you know your city’s public transportation? Find out in this game by map aficionado Benjamin Td.
SUGGESTION BOX
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Enjoy Rebecca Toh’s writing & see you next week! 🙂