Letter from the Quinn

Dear reader (or whichever part of you is present),

Wow, there is to much to say, especially since I was given such a public platform as this. I’ve gone through many drafts of this letter, some being humorous, some being existential, and some being crass, but I want to make this about more than my time at The Wake; I want to give you a part of myself.

So much of my life has been driven by indecision and even more of it has been lived under my assumed expectations of other people’s demands. It should come as no surprise, dear reader, that these foundations are not secure enough to build a home on. Sure, this way of life will get you over the extremely low bar of the bare minimum and secure your social status as “inoffensive,” but that’s only a means of getting through high school or any other depressive era; you’re in the big leagues now, baby, go out there and live for yourself! But, that’s easier said than done, I guess.

Lots of people assume character development requires some big, cathartic action to jolt you out of your comfort zone, make you cry in the rain, and leave you holding onto at least one thing that’s worth living for, but that’s not true at all. Realistically, character development is quiet, slow, and really, really hard (especially if you are trying to do it alone), but it is not a solitary action. Self-creation requires lots of exposure to art, media, culture, relationships, awareness, experiences, etc.; I like to think of these possibly important things as pieces of myself that I just haven’t found yet. 

I would be lying if I said I wanted to engage with these facets whenever they came up, but I stumbled upon enough to believe that every action taken to broaden horizons is worth taking, that every piece of information you can glean about yourself and the world is invaluable. Just be aware of burn out and monitor your capacity for adventure, philosophy, whimsy, etc.

I could have some huge, sappy anecdote here, but I’d rather lay it out cleanly: just do your thing, and, if you do it for long enough, the right people will notice and care. Then, you have a community and, therefore, more experiences and perspectives to understand everything’s role in everything! You could use this information to take over the world or something, but I use it to appreciate being alive and in the midst of everything; I show my appreciation by acting through passion’s various avenues.

Now, with all that out of the way, I can confidently say that this (along with all my other writing and my other personal, distilled meanings) is by no means comprehensive, comprehensible, or true. As long as I am alive, I will be deconstructing, destroying, and rebuilding everything I stumble across, then repeating it all endlessly; that’s the fun part, isn’t it, deciding what foundations you stand upon?

Anyways, good bye, and thanks for your attention.

Yours, and yours alone,

Quinn McClurg

they / she

Online Editor