Episode 0 - Origin Story 📚
"And what would my father say if he heard me telling a story this way? Begin at the beginning. Very well then. If we are to have a telling, then let it be a proper one!" -Kvothe
Wow. I can’t believe I’m finally doing this. After many years of sporadically writing journal entries, writing a Google Doc with what happens each day, and wanting to start a consistent writing habit for months, I’ve decided to start writing on Substack.
Let’s hope this works.
Starting now, I’m committing to writing such a blog post every 5 days (barring extraordinary circumstances). This blog will contain my travels, random things I did, and generally discuss what’s happening in the world of Dennis.
“But Dennis,” you might ask. “Who the heck cares about what’s happening in your life? You’re not the center of the universe. No one will actually read this, you’re just indulging your self-centered, everyone-cares-about-me American Gen-Z ideals.”
Perhaps.
This is honestly more for myself than for y’all, whoever may be reading this post. Maybe it’s just one person. Maybe it is less than 10 of my closest friends and family members. Maybe it’s millions of people who are reading my first-ever blog post, interested in reading my firsthand origin story after I do something crazy in the future (legendary CEO, crazy adventurer, first colonist of Mars, etc.). Perhaps this will be the starting point of Walter Isaacson's research of me when he starts writing my biography in 20 years. Or 10. Or (most likely) no one will read this ever, and it’ll be just me and my thoughts on this random part of the Internet.
Who knows.
So why am I writing this?
*smiles mischievously*
I’m glad you asked.
In general, I love communicating. The hardest part of moving to France has been not being able to communicate with people as easily as I can in the US (language barriers 🙃). It’s why I became a tour guide. It’s (probably) why I talk so loudly (just ask literally anyone who knows me). Conveying information in an exciting fashion is one of my favorite things to do, and I’d like to add writing to that medium. Storytelling and sharing tales are some of my favorite things (after biking, catching ducks, and petting bunnies). Glad to have you along for the ride.
One of the most common pieces of advice I receive is to journal or write things down. This summer in Chicago, my amazing manager Jerome encouraged me to start writing so that he can read about the travels. When taking the train from Gatwick Airport into London last month on the way to Paris, I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely lady, Angie, who told me that at her age, the holidays and trips just bleed together. She recommended I start writing to better remember everything. Now that the stresses and anxieties of moving to Paris have passed, I’m taking her and Jerome’s advice to heart.
As a kid, every evening we’d sit down and have dinner with my family. Taking turns, my dad, mom, sister, brother, and I would share about our days, telling each other about what happened to us and what we did. It made us one Gavrilenko family.
Looking back now, there are few things I’m more grateful for than that.
Sharing about your day is crucial, as it brings you closer to those around you and encourages you to reflect on the good and bad in your life. By doing so, you take the first steps toward making sure tomorrow is even better. I try to do the same thing every day now, whether it be with my family when I call them, friends at the pub, or my roommate(s). “So what were you up to today” is something that is not just small talk for me.
I hope these writings will serve that purpose, helping me share about my days and serving as a snapshot into my life. When I look back on this in 10 years, I hope to laugh about the “problems” of my youth and reminisce about the good times. We only live one life, after all. We need to make the best of it.
And with that, let the adventure begin!
