Edward McWilliams

This week’s ATN is about ghosting from the version of you they liked, and becoming the one they might not.

The Deep Dive: What happens when you stop asking permission.
The Gear: DJI Osmo 7P, field tested
The Stream/Read: Mel Robbins Let Them

atexasnomad.com

Another draft.
Another deletion.
Another chance to find the rhythm.
Another shot at the golden sentence.

I started pumpkin carving 6 years ago.

Never missed a Halloween.

6 out of 6.

Even a year apart I’ve improved.

Consistency, baby.

Another border.
Another stamp.
Another chance to test yourself.
Another shot at reinvention.

Nomadic Reinvention
Another flight.
Another border.
Another chance to rebuild yourself.
Another shot at freedom.

The scariest thing I’ve learned this year?

It’s not failure.
It’s posting something that matters…
and getting 0 likes,
except a pity comment from your mom.

This is The Ghost , my Halloween short.
Watch it. Read it. Then post anyway.

atexasnomad.com

New York tax: paying double rent for the privilege of living in the only U.S. city where you don’t need a car.

www.instagram.com/stories/edwa...

I’ve decided i’m just gonna make stuff up and when people call me on it I’ll be like “my bad, must have been a hallucination.”

Video editors belong in the same category as doctors, lawyers, and priests.
The moment you hire one, they know all your secrets.

A Texas Nomad Not another ‘quit your job’ blog—this is creative reinvention on airplane mode.

Stephen King says writing is a shovel.
John le Carré maybe errs more toward an interrogation.

Somewhere between the two, I finished a 499-page novel in the rain.

The Art of Reinvention 3: How to Stay Creative (Without Burning Out).
Issue 36
🌦️ atexasnomad.com

AI was meant to give us time back.
Instead, it’s stealing more of it, one “efficiency” at a time.

Most creators are chasing consistency.
But the ones who last are chasing truth.
Your voice isn’t a formula.
It’s a frequency you keep returning to until it breaks you open.

Build your life like a novel.
Theme first.
Then tension.
Then the scenes you can’t wait to write.

The scariest part of reinventing yourself
is realizing how many people
were only attached to the older version.

Dear Greenland take note how these guys who are wooing you to be part of the USA, take note of how they are treating Puerto Rico.

In Medellín, I fell in love the way cities fall asleep.
Quickly. Then all at once.
But love on the road is a magic trick,
beautiful, impossible, and gone before you understand it.

I keep mentioning this but have seen hardly anyone say it. Bad Bunny has ALREADY PLAYED THE SUPER BOWL. I guess yall didn’t notice yall staring’ at Shakira. Who BTW, is not a US citizen, which BB is.

Has anyone else noticed ChatGPT being super slow lately?

Is this cause of their new slop machine?

Forget fame.
I started making TikToks just so my girlfriend would notice me.

She asked why I disappear when I write.
I told her:
Because if I don’t go far enough in,
I come back with nothing worth giving.

The “we’re going extinct” crowd is delusional. People will always have kids. But life is better, freer, more enjoyable with fewer kids, especially for women and people wanting more in life. The population “crisis” won’t be solved by nostalgia.

I like the new iphone so much instead of so of hiding it in a case I’m just gonna cover all the hard surfaces in my house with foam.

Your past doesn’t need closure.
It needs distance.
That’s why I write in a new city.
That’s why I disappear.

One of my biggest pet peeves is we get these beautiful iphones then immediately have to cover them with protectors and rubber and doodads.

It’s like my grandmother’s gorgeous couch all covered in plastic.

When silence lasts too long, it stops being peaceful. It starts to test you.

The Void Threshold is the essay.
Danger Monk is the film.

Both born in Medellín, both about what it costs to start over.

Read + watch → atexasnomad.com

Want to quit dating apps?
Walk up to an actual person and say hi.
Scariest UX you’ll ever face.

Most people won’t believe you’ve changed
until you’ve changed so much
you don’t need their belief.

Every time I wanted to quit the novel,
I reminded myself:
This isn’t about a book.
It’s about becoming the kind of man who finishes one.

Don’t say “no more.”

Say “no” more.