From One Watcher to Another

A storytelling journal, across generations, cultures, and the arts

A Watcher's Notes

Scientists and researchers, professional or amateur, keep qualitative notes to aid their field studies. Birdwatchers for example often keep fieldnotes of sketches, behaviors, and songs of birds that they discover. The watchers observe, examine, and wonder about the beauty they witness in nature. The words and illustrations they keep help them capture and commemorate that beauty.

Since adolescent years when self-awareness emerged, I've often found myself in a strange position of watching my own lived experiences unfold from a third-person perspective - a watcher of life, so to speak. That strangeness grew after I left home of 18 years and moved overseas for college. Another 18 years has flown by since, and I've come to learn that the position I often found myself in isn't strange after all. Socrates famously articulated "the examined life" millennia ago, and even went so far as to argue that an unexamined life is not worth living. That conclusion sounds almost like a moral high ground, but self-righteousness is not as relevant to the watcher in me as the desires to connect and make meaning out of life's countless messy and miraculous moments. Luckily, writing has been one of the most fulfilling ways for me to satisfy those desires, whether I'm home, away, or in between.

Themes

Fieldnotes from a Watcher was born out of a hunger to immerse in the work of writing and storytelling. The literary journal publishes creative nonfiction stories monthly for readers and kindred souls who also diligently watch the timeless moments in life. As personal as they are universal, these human moments are woven deeply into the social fabric, shared by many yet voiced by few, and eager to be uncovered if we're willing and courageous.

Every month, you'll access creative nonfiction essays from me (learn more about my writing journey) and guest writers, exploring themes across generations, cultures, and the arts, with the diligence and care that they deserve:

• The unsolvable puzzle that is our families of origin and of choice
• The enigma that is our grief journey, making meaning from the loss of a loved one, a job, a period of time that’s forever passed, a part of self, or an ideal parent that you meet only in a two-chair therapy session
• The eternal connection between the body and mind
• The cross-cultural stories that depict individual lives against historical and cultural backdrop
• The subjects that are both magical and relentless, like parenthood, biology, or the human mind
• The creative process and inspiration, films, music, and words that astonish and bemuse

These nonfiction stories aim to reveal an open space for contemplation and connection among readers. You may find that you're not the only one peeling back the curtain to examine what lies behind.

Your Readership and Support

Welcome, and peruse away. If these stories move you, here are ways to sustain their creation:

• Share the stories with someone that may love and value them.
• Subscribe and become a paid member to gain full access to monthly essays, a private letter The Side View about what happens between the published pages, and more.
• Consider a one-time contribution instead of monthly paid subscription for more flexibility.

Your patronage empowers a 100% reader-supported independent publication, and directly fuels a passionate writer's ability to continue this craft for years to come. Thank you for partnering with me in this beautiful work called storytelling.