What I've Been Up to Instead of Writing in July
Just realized that JULY slipped away like a bottle of wine
First thing first, I have an acknowledgement to make. On today, the one-year anniversary of my first ever blog post here on Quintessential, I am sitting pretty with 114 subscribers. While I have the Substack network to thank for many of you connecting to my page, I want to give a big shoutout to the friends and family who have indulged me by engaging with my work here too. I hope you have had as much fun as I have.
Much like Kasteye on their new EP Beautiful Chaos, I’ve been a little M.I.A. this month. I can’t be the only one who felt like July slipped right through my fingers. Here are some updates on what I’ve been up to this summer!!
ageing - all of us
On July 27th, I celebrated my 26th birthday with my friends and family at my home. This year’s birthday was extra special because I got to celebrate alongside my boyfriend Luke, who celebrated his birthday on the 26th. My cat’s records from the shelter showed us that his birthday was celebrated on the 28th. That is three birthdays in one weekend.
In Quintessential fashion, I threw a party. I used all of my party planning tricks from my previous article, The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Throwing a House Party as a House Owner, and I invited Luke’s siblings into my home for the first time to enjoy drinks and triple dippers straight from the local Chili’s.
That wasn’t the only birthday weekend this month, though. Earlier in the month, my grandfather on my mom’s side, grandpa Gerry, turned 90 years old. This was a giant occasion that got the whole family out from all around the Midwest. My cousin Courtney coordinated grandpa’s nine grandkids to create a custom scrapbook with our favorite photos and memories, and everyone loved it. It was such an awesome, sweet occasion that he really enjoyed.
volleyball - skill unleashed
Adult recreational B-league indoor women’s volleyball continues to be the highlight of my week. Spring season we made it to the semi-finals of our tournament, losing out by just a hair in each of the sets from the final match. Summer season is going well, we are currently ranked in the middle of the pack for the league.
I hit a huge milestone in my volleyball career this month. I made an overhand serve during a game. I only made one, and it took several misses to get there, but it was amazing. Playing ball in school felt weirdly high pressure, and I never quite got the hang of overhand serving, which led to me being weeded out of the player pool after freshman year. But now I’m older, I’m more resilient, I’m making my own choices, and I’m at the highest point of my volleyball career yet.
Another big volleyball W this summer is that I’ve finally realized what the game is about and how to be competitive. In my peaceful little uncompetitive brain, I thought both teams were supposed to be setting each other up for a great ball game full of amazing, long rallies. Through each incredible play, the better team would ultimately come out on top as the other team would be more prone to making mistakes. Turns out you can aim the ball and hit it somewhere it won’t get returned. Once that clicked for me… the change was instant. I discovered competition!!!!!!
I perceived the most perplexing vibe ever at the gym too…
There is no way to describe the look and feeling of pure shock and belief when this car from the parking lot was matched to its owner. When the skinny, older gentleman who chooses to walk the courts instead of the indoor track so he can watch the adult women’s volleyball league opened the Nissan leap with the “born to shit forced to wipe” sticker, I became gagged, and I’ve been gagged ever since. Does he know it’s there???? Should I tell him???
bg3 co-op - *cw: nerdy*
I’m about to finish my second ever playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 and first ever co-op run with my friend Alleigh. She’s playing as a bard who plays the lute, and I am a drunken monk who packs a punch. I used to romance Astarion, but then I made some bad decisions with a few drow at Sharess’ Caress so he started beefing. But then I let him ascend bc yolo. He started to really pmo afterwards tho, so I just re-specced Jaheira to be a rogue LOL.
music??
Most people who know me know that I love to sing. But most people don’t know that I just CANNOT with instruments. Playing an instrument is just not in the cards for me. However, it feels like that might have changed. I bought this stringless guitar hoping to be able to sing a little more with myself. But in the few weeks I’ve had the instrument, I’ve had so much fun just singing every day. I think I’ve seen actual impacts on the access to making music on my mental health and my motivation.
I also sang in front of ~100 something people at an event downtown. It was just karaoke, but it had been a minute since my voice made an appearance. It was a lot of fun. I think music is a new hobby I’m going to really dive in on as a 26-year-old. I’ve got skills to learn and practice, and maybe I could even go out and sing somewhere on my own with the instrument.
work as per usual
I moved in silence most of July. Low and slow, cooking big things for August.
what is coming next??
Well, I am newly 26 and setting aspirational goals for a new year focused on being my most authentic and CREATIVE self. Here are some of my goals:
Exploring music. I am making no guesses at what might stick for me. It could stick to just singing at home, or maybe I’ll take up recording, writing, dancing and singing simultaneously, or performing live. I just want to explore the options and see what makes me continue to have fun and see positive benefits in my life.
Writing as a discipline. Now that it’s been a year of Quintessential, I want to double down on what I’ve built. This year I focused on reconnecting with writing through sparks of inspiration and one-sitting writing sessions where I brain dump my thoughts of the day. This year I’ll still follow those wormholes to posts, but I want to challenge myself to take time to work more complex ideas and work on drafts for longer term writing projects to produce more consistent work.
Detach my personality from my job. I want to explore my inner world deeper this year through the things that the real Quinn is thinking, unhampered by the need to identify with my profession and consequently sanitize my content to meet some ideal. I think it’ll be okay, right?
Stick around for another year of Quintessential to see what happens!!! Cheers to 100+ subscribers, and another year of hot takes and off-putting vibes from me :)
What do you want to see this year from Quintessential? What were your favorite Quintessential moments this year? Let me know in the comments!
Something New…
I will never ask for a paid subscription on Substack, but in an attempt to pursue my passion for writing so I could potentially one day leave the job that makes me want to enlist, I’m introducing my Buy Me A Coffee page!
From this page, you can securely hand over one-time support if you enjoy my content and/or want to engage with me as a writer! I’ll be uploading all of my posts to that page as well. There is no obligation at all to participate in this, I just want to be very vocal and intentional about the seriousness of my creative pursuits at this juncture.
About Quintessential
Thank you so much for reading! Quintessential is a collection of personal writings about how I am managing to live my life authentically as myself. You may be interested in this publication if you:
Are a young woman trying to make it in this world;
Enjoy niche topics;
Care about your communities around you;
Don’t take life too seriously; and
Want to know what makes me, me!