1-1-1: i met my younger self for coffee
read about the process of discovering your authentic self, a reflection about my early 20s, and a journal prompt to discover who you are.
february, 2025
edition 64.
I have to confess, I’m a little emotional from writing my own version of the ‘I met my younger self for coffee today’ trend. I wrote it envisioning the me from my last year of high school (19) and my last year of college (23). I’ve been thinking about my younger self a lot lately (as evidenced by my last two substack posts) and there are so many things I want to say to her.
my substack, my instagram, my past podcast episodes… they are a time capsule to the ‘me’ who is figuring it out. it’s weird to be on the other side of most of these situations knowing that we made it out, and it turned out better than expected. but that’s what the coffee trend is, right? it’s proof that whatever we are going through, there is an ‘other side’ and we will make it out alive.
if you’re interested in my ‘coffee’ trend video — you can view it on instagram here.
finally, this edition is free but some of my editions will not be. if you find my writing valuable and you want to support my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber — a monthly subscription is $6, around a price of a coffee. you’ll get access to all of my previous editions, free and paid.
you can expect one email from me every week containing:
one quote that has been inspiring me
one journal prompt
one piece of advice*
* = if you want to submit a question for my upcoming emails, you can find the form here.
podcast
there are tons of guest episodes on the podcast from 2024 that are worth checking out — listen to them here <3
one quote
“i love it when you start doing little things different and notice how much you’ve grown as a person just by that. like you from a year ago would not have handled that situation the way you are now.
you’ve changed for the better. and that is so satisfying.'“
—stuckinapril via tumblr
one journal prompt
what activities bring me the most joy without considering what others think?
one piece of advice
“where do i start looking for my authentic self?”
I don’t know if you can ‘look’ for your authentic self as much as you can ‘create’ them. looking implies that who you are is within you and if you just look hard enough or brush enough dirt off, they’ll spring out of you as a fully fledged person. while I don’t hate this analogy, I believe the better wording is ‘creating.’
we are all impacted by the situations we experience and the people we meet and the trials we go through. they shape us and mold us into the person we are today: resilient and curious and bold. who you are is constantly changing based on your external environment and how you choose to respond.
my matcha order is influenced by one of my friends who always asked for “a splash of chai.” I changed the way I wrote my ‘a’s because I wanted to copy my older sisters’ handwriting. I started drinking earl grey tea because my former flatmate in london always had a box sitting in our living room.
I am a mosaic of the people and experiences I have been privy to in this lifetime.
but, I can hear you asking, within all of this, how can I differentiate who my authentic self is and who is a replication of the people around me? knowing who you are requires understanding and differentiating your own thoughts, needs, emotions, and desires from the people and stimulus around you.
do you change your coffee order based on who ordered ahead of you? do you choose a different style of clothing each day based on who you saw yesterday? not necessarily.
we keep what resonates and leave what doesn’t. what we choose to take with us is a reflection of things we like or are in line with the person we want to be.
for example, an entire parade of people wearing hot pink could bump into me on the street but it wouldn’t result in me going out and purchasing a hot pink wardrobe. why not? because hot pink isn’t a colour that resonates with me. take what resonates, leave what doesn’t.
a great starting place is to write a list of things you enjoy — almost like a list of you. these are experiences you love, colours that you wear a lot, movies you rewatch, your favourite comfort foods, or name of your childhood stuffed animal. start cultivating the awareness of who you are. allow yourself to continue creating the person who feels most true to you.
reading updates
currently reading: dare to lead by brene brown, into thin air by john krakauer, the blue sisters by coco mellors
finished this week:
n/a
reading challenge: 7/50
if you want to keep up with my reading throughout the week, this is my goodreads :)
discount codes
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Runna: personalised running training plans — katieeu for 2 weeks free
lululemon: my current list of favourite things
enjoyed this edition?
until we meet again,
katie