To the Loves of My Life - a sneak peak

A collection of memories, retold in the hopes that one step back might mean two steps forward.

When you’re young, you’re happy. As a kid you’re just happy to be alive; discovering the world is enough. I’m writing this in the hopes that by processing my thoughts and emotions, I will in some way return to that simple state of happiness.

This book contains the truth.

The stories within invoked real emotion and profound growth.

I have not changed the names because they are important to me.

If you know me, you know these people and if you don’t, the names don’t matter anyway.

_________________

Leadership has come to play an extremely important role in my life. I feel more alive and healthy when I am able to give back to a community and actively sow into others. I am my best self when I’m serving others, helping them to maximize their potential. These experiences have given me tangible knowledge and fundamentally changed my perspectives on the world. From where I’m at now, taking a look back, I’ll summarize the few points that come to mind.

Problems, challenges, and obstacles all come and go. We persevere.

There’s always the next big obstacle, be it a championship, a huge project, a presentation, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that through challenges we better ourselves, we become more capable. Regardless of whether we frame our experiences in a positive or negative light, we can use that information to make forward progress. At the end of the day, life goes on. You are your hardest critic you’re usually the only one that remembers your failures. So take it easy.

For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

This is actually my first tattoo. I didn’t think I was going to talk about it in this setting but it fits so well. I got this tattoo to deal with mental health issues, namely depression(it, later on, helped me with anxiety). It applies to everything that we face in our day-to-day lives. Challenges and obstacles are just that, challenges and obstacles. They are not inherently good or bad things, they are just things, and by dealing with them we become better. That’s what I choose to focus on nowadays, that I’m becoming better regardless of what’s going on around me or what kind of shit I happen to be going through. The tattoo makes me ‘stupidly optimistic’ as Kyle would say and I rather like that description.

Everything is people.

Everything and I mean everything, is people. Just remember that everyone is living their own tale, focused on themselves just as you focus on yourself. Humans believe they are making rational decisions and no one frames themselves as the bad guy even if they’re being a dickhead. I like to see adults as larger kids, it makes it easier for me to be patient and reason with them. Try it, it might work for you.

To The Leaders In My Life

From captains to coaches, relatives to teachers, strangers to friends, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting many tremendous leaders, most of whom deserve a book dedicated entirely to them. I cannot fathom what my life would be like without each and every one of their influences. If this book ever gets published or I send you a copy of these pages printed out and stapled together you’ll know I’m talking about you specifically in this section.

Thank you.

You’ve all instilled in me a moral compass that has been continually adjusted to match what I believe to be true north. You’ve helped me to grow as a person and your lessons will continue to guide me on my way through life.

We may not talk frequently or even at all these days but know that what you taught me will never be forgotten. I will use the knowledge you’ve given me to walk the righteous path. A path that I will set and define for myself so that I can be the best version of myself each and every day.

Your mentee, friend, student and any other titles,

______________________

Title: To the Loves of My Life

Genre: A collection of love stories

Age Range: 16+?

Word Count: 31,541

Author Name: Liam

Good Fit: I'm not sure if it's a good fit or not but I'm hoping to that someone somewhere finds joy and is helped to reflect on the people, places, and things that are important to them.

The Hook: We don't have just one love

Synopsis: A collection of short stories, retold in the hopes that one step backwards may mean two steps forward

Target Audience: People who feel caught up in the "fake" of social media

My bio: Graduated from UW with a Biology degree and went into real estate, I've been writing on and off since the end of middle school.

Platform: Any, though I like paperback the most

Education: BA Biology, University of Washington

Experience: none!

Personality: a pretty even split between introverted and extroverted, though I often forget to take care of the introvert and that's not good ha!

Writing style: I enjoy spoken word though this book is more allegorical with letters sprinkled in at the end of each chapter

Hobbies: snowboarding, hiking, being physically active, helping others

Hometown: Seattle

Age: written at 21 edited again at 24