Don't underestimate the kindness of strangers

and keep being you

Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash

Something different

This is a slightly different style to my usual ‘Letters’ as I wanted to talk directly to my beautiful tribe. It’s also an opportunity to say a big thank you to all of you for being so supportive of my personal journey.

As I write this, I am feeling deeply moved by the words that I have received from a great many strangers in the last 48 hours.

Substack just feels like the right place to be now, a safe place, filled with fellow human beings intent on building each other up rather than the norm of tearing people down.

Whoever is reading my words, I say this because it’s important to know that the sun will rise one day and the shadow shall lift from your soul. It won’t always be dark and the world needs your light, so I encourage you with all my heart to be you, nothing else, simply you and express yourself here on Substack.

The tribe that you have yearned to find for so long, will one day find you, I promise and boy are they are kind, supportive, generous and fun. They’ve got your back.

Everything I have ever wanted, but for the longest time, didn’t believe on the surface would actually manifest in this life, is starting to appear and it’s all thanks to everyone who is reading these words right now. 🙏

Just be you

It’s true what they said, be yourself, don’t force it and be patient. The universe knows the right time for you, so have faith.

A couple of days ago, I reached out to one of my favorite authors, telling him how much I enjoyed his book, not expecting a personal reply at all, especially to a minnow writer like me.

Boy did I underestimate the kindness of a stranger!

He showed me the true value of being kind and generous to others, no matter how busy you are.

His sprinkling of kind words and gestures, has not only made me feel so proud of my journey and efforts, but it has inspired me to be the best version of myself that I can be and to mirror his generous spirit.

A whole new world has been opened up, which has allowed me to express my thoughts and feelings in a way which is both raw, honest, at times painful but ultimately I hope it inspires others to take action to generate confidence in their own abilities.

The response from fellow Substackers has been incredible. So far I have received over 400 likes to a note about my life journey and the number keeps rising! This is very new territory for me.

I have to be honest, I am a little overwhelmed at the volume of kindness being shown to me and am doing my best to respond personally to all the messages (Please bear with me!)

My perfectly imperfect, messy, unpolished, rawness seems to be connecting with my peeps and It’s been a long time since I felt so loved and appreciated for being little old me that it feels strange to say, I’m not entirely sure that I know how to process it all.

I think I will sit with it for a while, in quiet contemplation and gratitude, as I often find that is the best thing to do, in times like this.

Time to say Thank You

So now it’s my turn to, to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have come into my life over the past few days.

Michael Thompson, I simply don’t know what words to say to express my gratitude to you. Not only is your book simply wonderful but you are a true role model for kindness and generosity and you have opened the flood gates for strangers to send me words of encouragement and kindness. Thank you.

To the always stylish Veronica Llorca-Smith, who’s smile could light up a room, you too have sent me personal messages encouraging me on my writing journey, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your support.

Marie Vandoorne your newsletter always makes me stop scrolling because I just love the way you write. I can’t wait for the next one!

Matt Lillywhite thank you for the generous gift, you also embody kindness and your writing advice is pure gold!

Stefano Miele, Sarah Ariss, Vera, Kae. S, Nova Richards, you have all been a supporter of my work since the start and I want to say a big thank you for the early notes of encouragement.

To everyone who has liked, replied & restacked most vulnerable note to date… words cannot begin to say how grateful I feel when reading your kind words. I will try and reply to all of them but it is a bit daunting as every time I refresh the page… there are more lovely people wanting to reach out to me - I feel truly blessed to be in this situation 🙏🙏🙏

I hope you all have a truly wonderful day and I look forward to reading all of your posts in the future.

🙏🙏🙏 🤗🤗🤗 😎😎😎

Tom XXX