No. 1: The Beginning

Here it is: my first post. A proper post on my blog. My canvas that I can paint any which way - write any which way, I mean. Arguably, this was a long time coming. In March 2020, I thought about starting a blog due to sheer boredom and creative curiosity. Then, a friend of mine asked me to write for his content page. Some of you may remember my weekly Instagram stories on Saturdays asking you to read my latest post. Thank you, by the way. Even if it was just a glance, a brief skimming, I greatly appreciate the time you took to understand life from my perspective. Sharing my life with others allowed me to take a step back and rejoice in the direction I’m headed in. I quickly realized that your life is meant to be witnessed just as much as it is meant to be experienced. I’m unclear how to stress the importance of being seen, but I’ll be sure to come back to this notion in the future.

Sidebar: if you know me, then you’ll recognize the idea of being witnessed as a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of my favorite movies.

Anyhow, this is all a roundabout way of saying that I’ve returned to my idea from March 2020. “Sincerely Shresta” is technically supposed to be “Sincerely, Shresta” but utilizing commas in URLs is not exactly normal. Regardless, I digress. “Sincerely, Shresta” is my often-seen sign-off on every email and piece of snail mail I send. Do you see what I’m getting at? Logan Lerman circa Perks of Being a Wallflower, anyone? Okay, fine. “Sincerely Shresta” will be a series of letters for my older self to re-experience and for my readers to experience first-hand. I’m twenty-two, naive, reasonable, and virtually untouched by this world. However, I’m twenty-two, jaded, stubborn, and suffered through some horrifying experiences. I know nothing, yet I know everything. How cocky. Since you’ve just read my aforementioned contradictions, it’s clear that I don’t know myself but I promise you I’m trying to. Granted, aren’t we all?

After all, this is my genuine, vulnerable attempt to grow. To put myself out there. To be judged (and to not care) - by older Shre and by any of you reading. Maybe you’ll laugh with me (or at me) or feel sorrow and nostalgia as I delve into my many musings. I don’t really know. What I do know is that I don’t want to experience this world alone. I’m trying to make sense of my place in life, but that feels like such an intimidating task. When I visualize tackling my twenties, I can only envision a younger version of myself holding a wooden sword facing tidal wave after tidal wave. What good is a wooden sword amid a storm?

Frankly, I don’t know what the end goal of my blog is and that’s okay. My hope is to better understand the world around me, become a better writer, and connect with you through my words. Perhaps, to you, this is just sheer entertainment for a few moments. Or, nobody is reading, and I have the gift of outwardly exploring my path forward.

Regardless of who’s reading and how long you stay, I ask only one thing of you: witness me.

Sincerely,

Shresta