[🇬🇧SPECIAL EDITION!] I Wanna Cry ... out of Happiness!! 🥹♥️
How 2 months on SS changed me
Some housekeeping first:
If you want the Italian posts, you can find them all here: SEZIONE ITALIANA🇮🇹. If you prefer reading in English, then please keep going with this post.
Good afternoon, my lovely readers!
This is a special edition of my weekly newsletter! That’s right, today is not Wednesday, it’s Saturday!! So happy weekend everyone!
If you just landed here… welcome! I’m Annalisa, I am a writer and an unconventional mindset trainer. I write all about personal development here at A Glimpse of Life, usually while sitting at my fave desk. All I want is to live a happy, meaningful and simple life, my goal here is to build a community of like-minded people who want more from life, as I do too! This is a safe place to share and feel part of a big family ✨
Click here for more 👉🏻 Annalisa Caminarecci
If you would like to receive these newsletters directly to your inbox and support me and my work, consider subscribing <3
It’s already been 2 months since I published my first bilingual newsletter 🇬🇧🇮🇹 (maybe a few days more when this will come out). I can’t believe it! I have never been so happy and determined!
When I bought my bullet journal for 2024, I wanted to make it super personal, and I could add a message to be printed on it, before placing the order online. So I am there, sitting at my desk at home thinking, what can I call this journal? An idea comes to mind, I know I am going to fill this journal with glimpses of my life, a taste of what goes on in my multi-dimensional existence.. so I type: ‘Annalisa’s Notebook. Glimpse of Life - 2024’.
I am so satisfied with this choice, it feels like mine, and it feels like I can write in my journal as if I am writing to a version of myself eager to know everything I do, every day.
Fast forward to mid-March, when I decided to give myself a more powerful voice in the world. I have always been writing in a journal since I was 12, then I have Word documents with unfinished stories, then I have some poems I wrote when I was 6 or 7. I wrote essays for uni, I wrote 4 uni dissertations. I have an endless file filled with notes for a book I decided I wanted to write in 2019 (I know, 5 years ago!!!). All of this in a mixture of Italian and English, even in the same sentence, obviously 😂
I also have a sort of introduction already written for my book. There, I explain why it’s about personal development and why I want to share everything I know with an Italian audience that has fewer resources available in Italian about personal development. I studied so much in English and attended loads of personal growth courses in England, and I feel like I need to close this gap.
Ok, I said: ‘I am going to sort those notes and start outlining the chapters based on the content I already have’. Oh boy.. that file was full of notes taken for 5 years, so so so confusing and overwhelming. And the mix-up of Eng-Ita did not help 😅. I needed to get some clarity. So I have this idea; I tell myself: ‘If I start dissecting my notes topic by topic and write a newsletter on Substack about them, I will slowly create flow and momentum and I will be able to sort things for my book without feeling too overwhelmed. It will be like the content for my chapters will be outlined and I will then be able to explore the single topics further’.
So I did. I started with the intention of consistency and adding value. I started with the idea of sharing my knowledge and helping as many readers as possible, in English and Italian. I prefer writing in English, it comes more easily to me, and there are a lot of tools I can use to fine-tune sentence structure. The idea was then to translate the text into Italian when happy with the English version. And so I did. After the first post, I asked myself: ” What should we call this newsletter?” Well.. I look at my journal, and I read what it’s printed on it, the idea takes only a few seconds to come to me- it has to be A Glimpse of Life :)
To be honest, I can tell you that there are so many things about my publication that go unnoticed: the time I spend translating, re-adjusting, formatting, adding a voiceover in two languages, etc, is so much more than I had anticipated. Sometimes words are not available to me in either language, or in neither language (lol that’s the worst feeling!!). If we add engaging with readers and writers, responding to comments, writing notes, and reading and commenting on other writers, both English and Italian ones, then the amount of hours I spend on Substack weekly rises even more.
And you know what? I AM LOVING IT! It gives me permission to say out loud that what I am doing is something very serious as I am also spending a great deal of time doing it! Without much expectation, there are so many people who are now reading my notes, my newsletters, and spend their own precious time commenting and engaging with me. These last 2 weeks I have seen something like a 100% growth compared to the first month and a half I spent here. It’s unbelievable. I literally started from zero on Substack, with just my passion for writing, my knowledge, my goal of helping people and the help of the amazing
that gave me some insight on how I could make my publication page look the way I love!
INSIGHT: the shift happened on the 3rd of May (especially for followers), the day I separated the Italian newsletters from the English ones, starting to post 2 separate ones, instead of including both languages in a single newsletter. Coincidence?
I want to say a big thank you to my subscribers, followers, friends, fellow writers, readers and everyone for believing in the value and effort I put into what I share. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart! ♥️
All this is giving me all kinds of feelings I was not used to! I even started saying to people I meet that I am a writer (with a normal-semi-boring-daily job on the side).
This hyped me so much, so yes, this gave me the strength I needed to start sorting my 22-years-long diaries, 5-years-long notes and all the knowledge in my head to write my first book. I know it seems a clichè that we all want to write books but it's been 5 years since I wanted to start THIS book I know from the bottom of my heart that it can help other people. I have seen it with friends, some of them actually suggested I should write a book!
Furthermore, seeing my mum recommending my newsletter to her friends was a clear sign of her valuing me and my work (as she usually shows appreciation with nice gestures more than saying it in words). I appreciated that a lot. Thank you Mum ♥️ (now that she'll read the Italian version of this newsletter she will surely feel embarrassed 😇)
WHAT HAVE I LEARNED SO FAR?
The power of being concise and clear. Having a bilingual publication has its downsides. How to separate the ‘two worlds’ so that it’s clear for everyone? I thought of flags!🇬🇧🇮🇹 I always use the relevant one every time I add a bilingual Note, or a comment. I also added Sections on my Home Page with the relevant flags, to make it visually appealing for everyone who wants to read the newsletters in either language, to avoid confusion. My bio, introduction, etc also follow the two flags system. Another challenge is that the publication description, bio, paid subs benefits (not active), etc have a few characters available. Having to write the same message in two languages, makes you master conciseness. It will surely be useful in the future for something else too. I feel it 😂
Creativity brings on more creativity. Since starting the newsletter, I had the idea of writing daily gratitude Notes, 3 things I am grateful for, every day. I share it at 6 am GMT, in both English and Italian. I have been doing it for 40 days now! Then I created, both in English and Italian, 30 gratitude practices to follow in 30 days and put them for sale (my first ever digital product)! I also have so many ideas on how I can bring my newsletter to the next level. And so on!
You can make meaningful connections even online. The days of wasting time mindlessly scrolling on IG and FB are long gone. I feel it’s a bit soulless there, but I found my heart here with the people I met on Substack, from both the Italian and anglophone worlds! Some of the lovely souls I had the privilege to talk to and connect with so far:
(who I met in real life too!), , , , , , , , , , , and many many more! We will have time to chat more and strengthen our connection ♥️I became so consistent with my writing. I write every day now, no matter what, but I do. I love it and I know I am improving. I feel my latest newsletters are always better than the previous ones! I like the momentum and I am riding the wave!
I am not as clinging to my followers/subs as I used to be with other socials. Although I knew it already on a theoretical basis, living it in first person made me realise it even more: I know behind those numbers are REAL PEOPLE who want to read what I write, so I focus more on adding value for the community I have than always looking for more people. Those will come with time, at their own pace, while I establish my online presence every week. And to be honest, I know that subscribing here has a real meaning, it’s not like mindlessly following people on other socials.
My bi-lingual publication is useful also for people who are learning either English or Italian. To be honest with you, I did not think of that. Seeing that my writing is also helping in this way, fills me with joy. And makes me feel even more valuable.
I am the first one in the family to do this. It’s ok. Actually, it’s more than ok! I can be the first, I can do something different with my life!
WHY IS IT I AM WRITING THIS NEWSLETTER?
As I reflect on the past two months of sharing my journey through ‘A Glimpse of Life,’ I am overwhelmed with gratitude and inspired by the growth I’ve seen—both in myself and in this community. This special edition is a celebration of that journey, an acknowledgement of the challenges, and living proof of the transformative power of following one’s passion. The path hasn’t been easy: managing content in two languages, adhering to tight schedules, and constantly checking for content that resonates in both cultures, with examples and concepts that are easily understandable for both language groups.
And yes, as I previously stated, writing in two languages does not only challenge my linguistic skills, but also deepens my interest in providing clear communication. It requires a balance of both cultures together. It’s amazing to dive into this aspect of myself more.
I am here today writing for you because I want you to feel inspired, I would love to see YOU doing what you love the most. Let this be your sign to take that leap. The challenges are real, but the rewards—personal growth, creative fulfilment, and the joy of connecting with others—are profound. I want to tell you that the hype you will feel will guide you throughout your daily life. You will feel empowered because you are true to yourself, you do what you love, and not what anyone else tells you to. This will make you want to do more, create more, and dream more. Will make you happier, and will make you want to give even more meaning to your life. You will want to grow. This will be the launching pad for the next chapter of your life.
So here’s to taking bold steps, embracing our passions, and growing together🥂 !!! Thank you for being a part of this journey, I love you all 💛
I would love to hear about your passions! What ignites the fire inside of you? What have you been putting off doing but you would like to start? By sharing our goals we can inspire each other. Why not make it a goal this month to take a small step towards your passion? Share your commitment in the comments below or send me a message, I’d love to celebrate your plans! Let's create a community where we uplift and inspire one another 🤲🏻☺️ If there is a specific topic you would like me to cover in the next newsletters, feel free to suggest it!!
If you know someone who would need to read this, you can click the ‘Share’ button below. Also, feel free to hit the white heart button 🤍 at the beginning of the post, that will show me your support and gratitude, I would dearly appreciate it 🫶🏼
I hope with all my heart that we will meet face-to-face someday. Until then, if nobody has told you yet today: you are an amazing person and deserve everything this world has to offer 🤍
Annalisa x
This newsletter is part of the 24Essay Club of Sparkle on Substack by the lovely Claire Venus.
This is a free publication. If you would like to support my work allowing me to deepen my knowledge and be able to spend even more time creating valuable content for you, you can gift me an e-book 📕 , by clicking here.
More from A Glimpse of Life
My most read piece so far: Not what I had in mind this week, I felt upset 😕
The first newsletter of the new monthly series - Reminiscences of an Adolescent: here we will revisit my teenage and early adult years and share thoughts I put in my diary back then, commenting on them with a more mature perspective.
GRATITUDE PRACTICE: If you are curious and want to join our daily gratitude practice, start by reading this note, and then you can follow me to see the daily notes. I will wait for you on the other side! x
30 GRATITUDE PRACTICES FOR 30 DAYS: if you already practise gratitude but want to take it to the next level, I prepared a personal 30-day gratitude guide for you which you can purchase here at a very small launch price, or receive it in PDF for free as part of the ‘refer a friend’ program. You can read more here or click on the button below.
We do. I’m also writing a book.
I don’t do it for the money.
It’s for showing myself I can do it and become notable.
Book= credibility + authority in your field
Reputation!
Congrats from a fellow Italian!
I'm not publishing a bilingual publication, though.
I'm curious how it'll work for you.