When I started The Sprack & Pip Collective, I knew I wanted it to be more than just a place to share my memoirs and music, hoping people might want to engage with a comment or two. I mean, no matter how many people have encouraged me to "write a book, tell your stories, they're meaningful", I still often struggle with the whole argument of whether I'm somebody enough for anyone to care.
I'm not a famous actor who struggled with drug addiction only to go through rehab, make the best movie of their life and now wants to tell everyone how it all happened. I'm not a renowned scientist who figured out the relationship between our genetic makeup, our daily life routines, the implications of both on all of our physical and mental health issues and has now decided to write a book on how those discoveries came to be.
I am one of the most ordinary people of all time.
I spent more than half of my lifetime trying to overcome that ordinary-ness by trying to be everyone but myself. I never felt that I had anything great to offer, never believed that anything I was doing was more than mediocre. I lived with that foul voice in my head that told me everyday, “Just forget it.” And I almost did. I nearly gave up on everything — my dreams, my values, my whole self — because I firmly believed that I was never going to be good enough, important enough, or just simply enough.
I was never going to matter.
It wasn’t until after the most heartbreaking moment of my life and the following year of intense reparative therapy that I realized I was so very wrong. That every part of my ordinary life has always been filled with extraordinary moments and extraordinary people doing extraordinary things in extraordinary places. And that I have never been one of the most ordinary people of all time.
None of us are.
The Sprack & Pip Collective was born out of that revelation. This couldn't only be a place for me to share my journey, it also had to be a place with an opportunity for others to share theirs. A place for everyone to connect, to feel safe, to be the somebody they never thought they were. To heal, to grow and to celebrate each other's triumphs together. Every story we tell confirms that we are each extraordinary with meaningful truths to share. Our stories are not only our own, they are also each other's. And with every story told comes a revelation, a breakthrough, and an inspiration—even if it’s for just one person who needed it most.
Just the other day - even after months of writing stories, composing music, setting up Sprack & Pip's community, going to weekly therapy sessions and getting encouragement from both family and friends (heck, I even made a t-shirt) - that frigging voice was nagging me again, "Why are you bothering with this whole thing? Nobody cares! You're just talking to air; screaming into the void!"
I started to explain that to a friend and he quickly interrupted me, "First of all, you’re not a nobody! You're not screaming into the void or talking into air or whatever. You’re a someone with a story, a mission even, and a damn good reason to keep bothering. You’ve had moments of doubt before, and you always find your way through them. This moment? It’s just another one. Acknowledge it. Let it pass. And then keep going, because Sprack & Pip matter. You matter."
I matter.
You matter too. And your story matters. I hope this community - this collective of somebodoies - can be a safe space for you to share yours.
