Out with the old, in with the new.
Happy New Year!
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times: I’m not one for resolutions. I am, however, a big fan of rebrands. Why? Well, rebrands aren’t about erasing the past; there must be a foundation—a history—for it to build on top of. At its core, a rebrand is about honouring what once was and evolving it into something new. It’s an homage to growth. Plus, novelty is fun, especially when fueled by passion.
For the last year and a half, Confessions of a 20-Something has been home to my deepest darkest confessions. I have loved every minute of it—it gave me a sense of purpose when I needed it most, allowing me the space to navigate the myriad feelings of uncertainty, unease, and confusion which have painted the last few years of my life. For that, I am eternally grateful. I am especially thankful that you, dearest reader, have allowed me to disrobe in front of your very eyes, never once looking away, even when I myself have wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and runoff. As I write this now I find little resemblance inside me to the young girl who embarked on this journey, instead, these words are pouring out from a new person: a woman. We’ve been through a lot together dearest reader—more than you may ever realise—and your devotion to walking alongside me on this journey has gifted me with undeterred confidence and appreciation. No longer do I wrestle with the desire to censor my thoughts for fear of judgment or discernment, instead, I daringly plunge head-first into myself, unravelling even my strangest contemplations for public consumption. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you—thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and for always accepting me, flaws and all.
As transformative of an experience as this has been (and trust me, it has been, I feel reborn in a way), I fear the basis I’ve established this newsletter on has started to feel confining. One’s identity is never fixed, not mine nor yours. It’s fluid—shifting, doubling, separating—and as we grow and experience more of life, it’s natural for our outdated perceptions of the world to develop alongside us. I’ve spent the last few years of my life breaking down and interrogating the internal—and perhaps archaic—acumens and beliefs that have prevented me from moving forward. Peering from my current vantage point I struggle to recall the mindset I had when I first started sharing my inner world with you. This is not a bad thing. Actually, it is something I am immensely proud of. I am evolving (as are you), and—despite how terrifying it may be—so must this platform.
Previously, as perhaps evident in my writing, I was attempting to understand the world through the limited scope of myself and my experiences (and the resulting perceptions and beliefs it fostered in me), but, over the last few months, I’ve hit a wall. Writing solely about myself has started to feel more like a chore than I wish to admit, and I know I can’t move on to the next chapter of my life (and my career) if I continue to focus only on myself and my own reality. The most important lesson I’ve learned in my 25 (almost 26, dear god!) years is how interconnected our world is. How crucial community, compassion, and education are, especially during the uncertain times we find ourselves in. Lately, the air feels heavy—with revolution, reform, revolt?—and I know you feel it too, whether or not you care to admit it.
Our society has spent the better half of the last three decades promoting individualism, much to our detriment. We’ve been told our struggles are self-inflicted, that the mental health epidemic that’s swept across our globe is a natural fact, instead of a result of living in a late capitalist society. We’re told that if we can’t find a job, secure housing, or afford groceries, it’s because we aren’t doing enough, we aren’t working hard enough. Society tells us to just roll up our sleeves and work harder, that if we’re failing it’s because of something we’re doing wrong. The truth is, we are not broken, the system is and “what we’re dealing with now…is a deeper, far more pervasive, sense of exhaustion, of cultural and political sterility.” as described by Mark Fisher in Capitalist Realism. There have been moments when I caught myself looking away, dismissing pressing matters—climate change, the housing crisis, soaring grocery prices, to name a few—simply because they do not immediately affect me or my inner circle. However, as Naomi Klein so poetically puts it in her novel Doppelganger, “We were not, and never were, self-made. We are made, and unmade, by one another.” A system designed for only a small percentage of us to prosper is not a system worth fighting to maintain.
Society as we know it is crumbling before our very eyes. I say this not to frighten you but to prepare you, and urge you not to look away. Endings can be terrifying—they signify change and introduce many unknowns—but they aren’t inherently bad. What will emerge from the ashes of the society we’ve come to know has the potential to be far more inclusive, sustainable, and fulfilling; if we fight for it to be. And we do have a choice in the matter. Whether you believe it or not, each of us has the power to enact real, tangible, change, but, you must be willing to look at the problems our world is facing head-on. Some of these problems might not affect you directly, they might affect communities and people you’ll never meet, who live halfway across the world from you—who speak languages you don’t understand, and whose cultures and traditions are unfamiliar to you. Despite our differences, all of us are connected, no matter where we live, how we look, or what ideologies we subscribe to; your “enemy” is much more similar to you than you may like to believe.
It may seem as though my work has become much more politicized, and in a way perhaps it has. I consider Confessions of a 20-Something to have been my immature bildungsroman1 —a necessary literary exploration that’s helped me arrive here, at the next chapter of my life (pun intended). With intellectualism on the decline and many interacting with the world through a sense of perpetual detached spectatorialism, I invite you to join me in unravelling the complexities of our postmodern, neoliberal society—together. I want to inspire change, or at the very least, shine an unbias light on the very real realities of our world. Words are weapons in the war of ideas and my goal is to equip you as well as I possibly can, and have some fun along the way.
Although I don’t want to pigeonhole myself, I’ve found myself drawn to exploring how technology and The Internet are redefining our world—from our modes of communication to how we foster connection—and where we can expect to go next. Our daily lives continue to shift and evolve as more aspects of our society merge with the Internet, leading to an increasingly complete integration with the digital sphere. If you’ve been here for a while I’m sure you’ve noticed this interest of mine develop; having grown up in the early stages of the digital age, so much of my identity has been influenced by the copious amount of time I spent on The Internet in my youth, and by extension, its culture. It is deeply embedded in my psyche—so much so that I went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in Media Studies (dropping this in here in case you’re rolling your eyes thinking “Of course, another girl with unregulated access to Tumblr at age 12 wants to politicize The Internet”—I’m more than qualified to approach these topics, thank you very much ;P) and have ended up making a career on The Internet.
I’m not entirely sure where we will end up in this next chapter, but I’m exhilarated to find out. I hope you stick around to unravel these mysteries with me.
So, without further ado, let me introduce…
404 not found: Essays, commentaries, and analyses that explore the intersections of language, Internet culture, and the Anthropocene.
The name, 404 not found, pays homage to the glorious era of The Internet described by Simon Reynolds as a ‘constellation of blogs’, a time when logging on[line] felt like entering a world full of endless possibilities—before the web was taken over by profit-hungry corporations and influencers who make their living off affiliate marketing.
404 not found, written by Sierra Madison, is a coalescence of treacly commentaries that investigate how The Internet is actively redefining our future. By exploring the intersections of language, Internet culture, and the Anthropocene, Sierra aims to reveal how our hyper-connected era is reshaping the ways we acquire and share knowledge, how we foster and maintain meaningful connections, and how our language is actively transforming as a result—all in hopes of understanding where humanity is headed.
a novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education (Oxford Dictionary)
YES. this is so chic and I love it. I feel like such a baby on this app as I’m just now trying to think how I want my first publication to look but this gives me inspo to find something meaningful. I’m excited to read what you put out next