Hello! I’m (E)lina.
Would you believe me if I told you this is the fourth iteration of my blog? What is more human than trying, failing, and trying again? Writing is one of my deepest passions in life, and yet what makes it truly remarkable is that it is one of the few things I have been willing to share so freely with others.
I have always loved to share my writing because it is the deepest form of intimacy I know. It is where I go to the darkest part of myself and undress until every thought lies bare and every kink relaxed. It is where I forgive myself and start again. It is where I labor, painstakingly raking over everything I know, and giving it over to you. “Here”, I say. “This is for us’.
And this space is for you. I like to write my way through the messiness and magic of being alive. I need to wrestle with ideas on the page to see patterns. And draw lines. And make meaning. I like to write because I need a space to play. But most importantly, I need to write before I can speak. To be a conscious human being on this planet is a great responsibility, despite the cascading terror that has come to define our lives. To write for others is to begin a long conversation, to make a home among the wreckage.
In this space, we will play. But we will also make the world over. E’s Journal is less of a personal diary and more of a site of excavation. I aim to critically explore the process of coming into being. I want to unpack the world we live in and the truths we’ve told ourselves about what it means to be alive. But I will also use this space to document the whimsy in my life, because there is plenty of it.
I don’t send out email blasts. New posts go live weekly on Fridays. You’ll have to come and visit from time to time to see new posts. Or you can bookmark this page!
No affiliate linking here!
I am a full-time policy analyst and researcher. What is written on this site does not represent the views or opinions of my employer, and at no point will I put my blog behind a paywall when I’m already getting regular income.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I was forced to take an elective called Fashion Merchandising in the hopes that the class would improve my style. It did not. It did, however, introduce me to the world of fashion blogs. The fashion was exciting, but I was most obsessed with the idea of immersing myself in an experience and connecting with others. My style is drastically different (yet not much better), but that is a core memory for me. That was my version of playing around on the internet. In fact, school was the only place I had access to the internet. I would hop off the bus and go straight to the library before classes started, and log on to Teen Vogue. I’d already forgotten about the night before. I think it is so important, now, more than ever, to have spaces, online and off, that we don’t need to pay for. Just come. I’ll handle the rest.