Village Voice

What A Savory Fucking SundayWell. I enjoyed my time writing about this moment so deeply that I started recording myself yapping more of the same and accidentally made a mini podcast episode.And apparently I was so darn present that I failed to notice my phone was at 1%.It died.While saving this bad boy, and you knowI’m a no script, one take, and upload kinda galSo…DID it survive a recharge mid-save?Ehhhh… kinda.**THE SIPS CAUGHT A CASE OF THE YIPS **It’s a lil glitchy, and damn Cosmic chaos hit me heavy on the nose in annoyingly accurate way with this topic the first place.P.s. wrote and recorded this Early early morning… And then the power went out randomly for a bit sooo squeeze in what you can for this sneaky Sunday Drop.Anyhoooo…I’ve Declared it to be… a Savory Sunday.No, you don’t have to eat savory snacks.But… if ya want to… do you, boo-boo.To be and to REALLLLY Savore something…YES Please, I am choosing to savore and be savored with so much more intention.Time travel with me for a sec.Lets play a lil game of just the Sip…(Bettin’ I know what popped to mind…)you dirty dirty bird 🐦‍⬛ this is not that!Well for starters in this game everyone wins. Ok ok, back to that sip, lock in.Think about that very first bite of your favorite snack. Or that first sip where you’re like, *holy shit, that’s my shit! *You have that shockwave second and you genuinely and/or curiously only cared about savoring what you were experiencing.I can feel my whole body and soul relive the exact moment my son and I made tortillas together and he was so excited that he’d made them with me enough times that THIS ONE, This batch would be PERFECT.I savored him inviting me into being so proud and eager to taste his perfect batch I did slip into thinking about the future and snagged a couple of boomerangs while he was rolling away. But damn it, it was too fucking perfect not to sneak a piece for me to cherish. And I’m glad I did… you’ll find a savor:cherish balance that works for you.But to the sip, no cliffhangers.A PERFECT BATCH… WAS HE RIGHT? yup…Hot off the stove we went back and forth rolling+cooking+Each one got tastier.Scarfing them up faster than we could cook em’… THEY WERE DAMN GOOD. I can still physically feel myself standing at the stove, and can still feel the crunch of Maldonado’s sea salt in between my fingers on the one’s we got fancy and put a lil butter and the the flaky sea salt + perfect about of butter + hot perfectly soft tortillas. IT WAS DECADENT.Obviously this moment meant so much to me see if ya can just get a lil sip of a moment you still feel. Whatever it is for you.That moment.That’s how you savor something.So lock in that energy. Find that vibe.And I’m realizing my vibe right now might just be that I need a snack.Sometimes a snack needs a snack too.Anyway.Life shows up and you don’t know what it’s bringing you until you’re really in it.But you have to really BE in it.One of my favorite lessons has been knowing that you don’t get to truly know JOY until you’re passionately engulfed in what joy is.You have to actually be in it to feel it.Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually.Whatever makes you the “You-est” you…Be that.Don’t get so lost in the sauce of what happened yesterday. Or tomorrow.Where are you right now?You need to really be there to savor that shit.So I DOUBLE DOG DARE you.And you know the law. You cannot break a double dog dare.I’m not even asking you to write anything down. It doesn’t have to become some all-day mindfulness practice. You don’t have to turn it into another fucking thing you’re supposed to accomplish correctly.JUST SAVOR SOMETHING, DAMN ITNotice the little moments.Sit.Notice.Be there.And it’s okay if you get some weird ones. But I bet you’re gonna have a couple good ones too.And if things have been rough - I know mine have been - you can savor the shit moments too.All of them.Even true heartbreak.You can savor the depth and range of the way you’re able to feel something all the way through you.And let it move you.That’s a fucking remarkable gift.To be so deeply in something that it hurts. Or feels weird. Or feels beautiful. Or all the things.You can savor all the stuff.Just like all the snacks.The good sips, weird sips and ones you wouldn’t order again.You can always savor that sweet moment too. A little sweet treat.There’s no requirement that savoring means pretending everything tastes good.It’s being there long enough to actually taste it.So that’s it.Just a sip.Savor something today.And if you find a moment worth sharing, tell me about it. I’d love to be invited to enjoy the savory moments of your life too.Don’t just think about it.Be in it.Go get savory.Until next time Love Bucket, Alli Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

When my internal design and external life stop recognizing each other.Have I ever looked back at something I said, did, or decided and thought:Yeah… that doesn’t fucking feel like me.In this episode of The Village Voice Podcast, I get personal about what happens when the person I know myself to be internally and the person showing up externally suddenly don’t seem to know each other.After sharing a difficult season of my own life during a recent Village Speakeasy, I realized something uncomfortable: knowing my values, teaching self-trust, and understanding my patterns doesn’t magically make me immune to being a human who occasionally hands the damn car keys to fear.And unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out time travel.So what do I do when I can’t fix yesterday?I choose the next best thing.This episode explores the gap between internal design and external alignment—the moments when temporary emotions start making permanent decisions, fear disguises itself as anger, and reactions take over before the version of me I actually respect gets a vote.Because accountability isn’t sitting around wishing I’d behaved differently.It’s asking:What can I do today that tomorrow-me will respect?IN THIS EPISODE* What happens when my internal self and external actions stop recognizing each other* We all get to hear me get stuck on stupid, stutter, and sound wonky as hell* How I can own my shit without turning accountability into shame* Why temporary feelings shouldn’t get permanent decision-making power* The difference between letting feelings move me in a moment and letting them become the entire movement* How anger, fear, overwhelm, and other emotions can mask what’s actually happening underneath* Why asking “What else could be true?” can interrupt a knee-jerk reaction* How radical curiosity means becoming willing, and even excited, to discover I was wrong* Why self-trust doesn’t mean I always make the right decision* How I can use my internal design… my values, beliefs, voice, and identity… as a compass* How burnout, stress, or exhaustion can pull my external life away from who I actually am* How one unexpected conversation led me to the idea of Internal Design + External Alignment* How I can choose the next best thing when yesterday can’t be changed* How I use the Write Ugly Method™ to get the unedited shit out of my head long enough to actually look at itQUESTIONS:What else could be true?What would I choose if fear wasn’t driving?What’s the next best thing I can do today that I’ll respect myself for tomorrow?TIMESTAMPS00:00 - When my internal self and external self don’t recognize each other00:51 - Welcome to The Village Voice—identity, writing, chaos, and clarity01:49 - Sex, magick, self-trust, and getting vulnerable during the Village Speakeasy02:59 - When temporary feelings create actions that don’t match my internal design03:57 - I can’t fix yesterday—so what’s the next best thing?04:46 - The unexpected conversation that reminded me why this work matters05:15 - I’m supposed to be who I actually am05:52 - The birth of Internal Design + External Alignment06:52 - Making choices tomorrow-me can respect07:47 - Unmasking emotions: when anger might actually be fear08:37 - Letting feelings move me in a moment—without letting them become the movement09:17 - Radical curiosity and the power of asking, “What else could be true?”10:16 - Why fear shouldn’t drive the damn car11:30 - Burnout, exhaustion, and asking whether my life still feels like me12:57 - Even identity coaches screw up—accountability without shame13:26 - The question: What’s the next best thing I can do today?13:57 - Writing Ugly, asking harder questions, and showing up as myselfTODAYS WRITE UGLY PROMPTpress pause for two minutes.don’t fix it.don’t make it pretty.don’t explain myself into innocence.Write Ugly and ask:Where have my recent actions stopped matching the person I know myself to be?Then:What else could be true?And finally:What’s one thing I can do today that tomorrow-me will look back at and say, “Fuck yeah. That was me.”I can’t rewrite yesterday.But I’m holding the pen today.Until next time LoveBuckets, AlliP.s. GO NOW! I mean it right now, follow the amazing fella I’m working with, Joshua Lindsey Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

One weird text. One strange tone. One conversation that lands funny.And suddenly your brain has opened an investigation, hired a staff, and decided every fear, assumption, possibility, and old story deserves the same little name tag: FACT.In this episode of The Village Voice, I’m talking about where my Circle Audits came from, why telling an overthinker to “stop overthinking” is basically useless, and what happens when we start sorting our thoughts instead of automatically believing all of them.This is Part Zero of a new five-part series, The Circles We Get Lost In, where we’ll get into:Overthinking.Closure.Ownership.Identity.Self-Trust.Because sometimes the problem isn’t that we need to think less.We need to figure out what the hell we’re actually thinking.What do I know?What am I inventing?What can I clarify?What belongs to me?And what have I been carrying around that was never mine in the first place?Last week, I talked about doing the next best thing when you don’t have all the answers.This week, my next best thing was apparently to draw a fucking circle.Sometimes clarity starts there.READ THE SERIESThe Circles We Get Lost In - Part Zerohttps://open.substack.com/pub/alligatlin/p/the-circles-we-get-lost-in JOIN THE VILLAGEWriting Identity: The Village is where we actually work with this stuff - the Circle Audits, The Write Ugly Method™, identity shifts, overthinking, messy decisions, self-trust, and learning how to hear your own damn voice through all the noise.I’m Alli Gatlin - writer, strategist, creator of The Write Ugly Method™, and your Menace of Clarity.Thanks for hanging out, love buckets. 🖤 Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

Sometimes life expands in one direction while cracking open in another.You can be proud of what you’re building, excited about what’s coming, and still feel like your favorite pair of socks just stepped directly into a raw egg on the kitchen floor.That’s the metronome.Joy and grief. Momentum and collapse. Certainty and confusion.All showing up before lunch like they coordinated calendars.ABOUT THIS EPISODEIn this episode of The Village Voice, I’m talking about what happens when you’re stuck in a period of waiting without answers.Why I disappeared for a little while.Why I thought I had to come back healed, articulate, and carrying some respectable lesson from the wreckage.And why I’m learning that our voices don’t suddenly become valuable only after we survive something and write a clean little report about it.Sometimes we’re still inside the damn thing.Sometimes clarity hasn’t arrived yet.Sometimes the most honest thing we can do is stop pretending we know how the story ends.COME SIT WITH US INSIDE THE VILLAGEIf this episode felt familiar, this is exactly the kind of conversation we make room for inside The Written Identity Village.It’s for people who are tired of performing “fine.”People who overthink every decision, second-guess their own voice, and keep trying to solve themselves like they’re a broken appliance with a missing instruction manual.Inside The Village, we write through the noise.We untangle what happened from what fear says it means.We practice hearing our own damn voice again.No polished healing performance required.Join The Written Identity Village here:IN THIS EPISODE* Why waiting can make your identity feel unsteady* The strange reality of grief and growth happening at the same time* The pressure to perform certainty when you don’t have answers* Why your voice still matters while you’re inside the experience* What “the next best thing” can actually look like on a hard dayA SMALL INVITATIONBefore you move on with your day, ask yourself:What is the next honest thing I can do?Not the perfect thing.Not the most impressive thing.Not the move that proves you’re handling everything beautifully.Just the next honest thing.Maybe it’s resting.Maybe it’s sending the message.Maybe it’s admitting you don’t know.Maybe it’s feeding yourself, taking a shower, or getting through the next ten minutes without demanding that your whole future explain itself.THE WORK CONTINUES INSIDE THE VILLAGEThis episode doesn’t need to end when the audio stops.Bring the question into The Written Identity Village and write through it with us:What are you waiting for an answer about, and what can you still choose while you wait?You don’t need the polished version.You don’t need the lesson.Bring the cracked egg. Bring the wet socks. Bring the part of the story that still doesn’t know what the hell it means.Join us here:LEAVE ME A NOTEAfter you listen, tell me:What’s your next best thing today?And if you’ve got a little encouragement to spare, I could use that too.I missed you.I missed the microphone.And I’m glad we’re back here together.Love you, Love Buckets.Alli Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

CAN WE JUST BE HUMAN AGAIN? And Is Healing Becoming Your Full-Time Job? | Village Voice Podcast with Alli GYou can be deeply self-aware and still completely exhausted.In this episode of Village Voice, Alli G unpacks the weird reality of modern healing culture: burnout disguised as productivity, self-awareness turned into performance, and the pressure to become an “optimized” human before you’re allowed to simply rest.This is a conversation about emotional exhaustion, survival mode, over-functioning, and the quiet ways people abandon themselves while still looking successful on the outside.This Episode Is For You If…You’re emotionally exhausted but still highly functionalYou feel guilty restingYou’ve consumed all the self-help content and still feel overwhelmedYou’re tired of performing healing instead of actually livingYou want honesty more than optimizationWhat’s happening In This EpisodeWhy burnout often hides behind high-functioning behaviorThe problem with turning healing into performance artHow self-help culture became another exhausting jobThe emotional cost of always being “regulated”Why rest is not something you earnThe pressure to package your pain into contentThe difference between healing and over-analyzing yourselfLetting yourself be human before becoming “better”And yes, Alli aggressively recommends taking a nap.Today’s Favorite Lines“You can explain every attachment theory and still feel like a drunk raccoon fighting for its life in a Waffle House parking lot.”“Rest is not a trophy.”“Sometimes a bad week is just a bad week.”“Healing became another performance.”“You’re allowed to be human before you become a better one.”Links, References & Sponsors Published Article Online Writers Village: The Written Identity Sugar-free Red Bull (still awaiting sponsorship)Social Media Find @alligatlin on:Instagram • Facebook • Threads • SkoolYouTube • LinkedIn Final Reminder Stop trying to earn rest.Drink water.Eat something.Touch grass.Take the nap.And stay radically curious.more importantly … stay fucking human.— Alli G Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

VILLAGE VOICE PODCASTFuck Shit Up Friday: Grace for the Mid Versions of OurselvesThis episode is a caffeine-fueled reminder that being human is messy as hell.We talk shame, bad choices, emotional spirals, and the difference between accountability and turning yourself into a permanent crime scene over one rough moment.Inside this Friday note from the Village:“name it, don’t shame it”giving yourself grace without dodging responsibilitysurviving the painfully mid daysand why trying again still countsAlso:George Michael gets accidentally involved.There’s chaos.There’s yelling.There’s emotional support for exhausted people.If your brain’s been chewing on guilt lately, this one’s for you. Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

I disappeared for a minute because, honestly?I’ve been pissed off.Not in a dramatic “burn my life down” kind of way. More like… disappointed. Tired. Watching people slowly lose their ability to hold nuance, humor, softness, contradiction … all of it.Everybody’s either performing enlightenment or performing outrage, and somewhere in the middle we forgot how to just be people together.VILLAGE VOICE PODCAST - Alli Gatlin | Home of the The Written Identity a reader-supported publication. This episode is basically me climbing onto the metaphorical kitchen counter to remind you that you are allowed to laugh while your life is hard. In fact, I think you need to.We talk about:* Why whimsy matters more than people think* The difference between reacting and actually living* How confusion should lead to curiosity instead of panic* Why being “more than one thing” is actually the point* Tiny moments that reconnect you to yourself* The nervous system benefits of laughter, presence, and play* Why I think some of y’all take “chess not checkers” way too seriously* Dirt patches, watering cans, grocery carts, Fran Drescher, and existential clarity* The fact that joy and grief are not opposites … they’re rhythmI also go on several side quests.Respectfully. This one feels like sitting on the floor with me while I rant, philosophize, and accidentally yell motivational things at you like a loving menace, yup that’s the most honest version of this podcast.If you’ve been exhausted by the heaviness of the internet, the pressure to optimize yourself into a productivity robot, or the feeling that everyone forgot how to giggle… this episode’s for you.Yelling with so much love-Alli G. NOW! Go find your fucking whimsy again… play some checkers, frolic in a mud pit, commit to the bit, get flirty with being a little feral. UNTIL THE NEXT CHAT LOVE BUCKETS 🖤 always yours, The Menace of Mischief, Chaos & Clarity. P.S.Put the whim back in whimsy and enjoy that cinematic masterpiece mentioned in the episode HERESomebody in your life needs a little more whimsy and a little less existential doom. Share so they know they can have both. Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

I’m baaaaackkkkkk. Took a couple weeks off, damn I sure needed it, and my goodness I missed this.So we’re not easing in. We’re going straight into it. Shame.How many of us have some….By the way it’s your favorite blind authors birthday week, which always puts me in reflection mode. Looking back at the year, everything I did, everything I didn’t do, all of it.And it’s wild how fast that turns into thinking about everything I should’ve done better.Not the wins. Not the growth. Just the moments where I dropped the ball.Here’s the problem. Sitting there replaying it over and over feels like reflection, but it’s not. It’s just me being a jerk for no reason.I’m not fixing anything. I’m keeping a blend of shame and maybe even a little procrastination pity medley alive.Ew, I’m going to pinky promise not to keep falling for it. Hope you do too.Yeah, there are things I could’ve done better. That’s true. I avoided some things. I didn’t show up the way I could have in certain moments.But dragging myself for it doesn’t do anything.The only thing that actually matters is this. I didn’t know then what I know now.That’s it.Not that I was worse. Not that I wasn’t enough. I just didn’t have the version of myself I have now.So of course I’d do things differently.What doesn’t make sense is expecting past me to have the clarity I have now. And yeah, there are things I wish I handled differently.But also, look at what did happen.Six months of Written Identity. Over 200 people inside the Village. Amazing people showing up all over the world.Skipping over that just because some shame goblin wants to focus on what went wrong. NahhOwn the things you already know are true.I didn’t show up the way I could have.I avoided that. Pretending things were comfortable when I knew better.I also did amazing things.So I dare you to write at least one uncomfortable true sentence, then let it be just that, information without shame.Write it - or - just say it.No overthinking it. A couple honest words.No turning it into something bigger than it is.Allow yourself to move forward as the current version of you and keep going.Next episode we’re getting into boundaries. Because a lot of this comes back to what you didn’t say, what you didn’t hold, and then you end up replaying it later.Thanks for hanging in there as I shake the dust of my microphone, can’t wait to chat again soon.-Alli G. Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

Can we call it for what it is? Let’s talk about the fallacy we keep lying about… that “fear of failure… ““I’d try the thing but I’m scared of failing.”“I’m just a perfectionist.”“Maybe later.”Sounds reasonable. Polite. But we are old enough and getting better at having real convos so I’m lovingly calling bullshit today. Most of the time it isn’t fear of failure at all.It’s fear of what happens if something actually works.That part people don’t want to say out loud.Trying something real forces you to confront yourself.If you try and it works…suddenly you don’t get to hide behind the version of you that “almost did it.”And if it doesn’t work?maybe it’s time to test that story.You might just be afraid of what happens if you actually show up.If you want a place to explore that with other people doing the same messy work,come join us in The Written Identity it’s our Village.The door’s open.Just one house rule.Don’t be a dick.Chat soon love buckets, Alli🖤 Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe

Here’s the truth:That critical voice? It’s not you.It’s an impersonator you’ve listened to for so long that it started sounding real.Inside this episode:I share a joke that somehow turns into a sharp breakdown of anxiety, identity, and the voice in your head that keeps trying to sabotage your momentum.Why self-doubt feels convincing (and why it’s not)How internalized criticism becomes your “normal”The difference between reflection and self-bullyingA simple way to separate your real voice from the haterHow humor can dismantle fear faster than forceIf you’ve ever:• Second-guessed yourself• Talked yourself out of something bold• Felt like your own biggest criticYou don’t need to silence your thoughts.Only the ones that aren’t yours.Commit to the bit.Til next time love buckets. 🖤Love Alli Get full access to Alli Gatlin | The Written Identity at alligatlin.substack.com/subscribe