I nearly spent my one cheat day today.

No writing. Just vibes. Netflix on, Phone face-down.
That seductive whisper rang:

“You’ve earned it.”

Then I pictured the tiny-but-mighty crowd that keeps showing up here. Not thousands. Not yet. But faces. Names. People trying. It felt self-important to think they “needed” me, but maybe I needed them?

So here I am, opening the doc, and letting the words flow.

If you’re new here, welcome to The Stack, a 75-day column exploring creativity, ideas, and the messy art of getting started again. I started this challenge to train the muscle of showing up, even when it’s messy. To come simply and compound movement over perfection, in hopes of inspiring readers like you to do more with less.

This week has been a collage of small beginnings. Half-ideas, timed essays, and one brave publish button. And somewhere between Day 3’s airport epiphany and Day 6’s “ambition is an alibi,” something shifted.

I’ve been posting in our challenge group and it’s been epic seeing people’s feedback on the version of themselves they’re becoming, or rather discovering again. Here’s a thread that made me smile:

I don’t know about you, but “my senses have been sharpened, as much as my pencil”, is still ringing in my head.

If you’re new here, welcome to day 7 of The Stack, a 75-day column exploring creativity, ideas, and the messy art of getting started again. I started this challenge to train the muscle of showing up, even when it’s messy, and well, it’s been messy and that’s been more than okay.

Now, back to the matter at hand.
Here’s what I’ve learned in seven messy days.

1. Doing Makes You a Better Observer.

When you must ship today, you start looking properly at the day in-front of you.And let me tell you, this week, I’ve caught myself narrating mundane moments like a Spielberg scouting scenes:

• The Uber driver who missed my pin and angelically evangelised the genius of terrible Billion dollar ideas.

• The supermarket till that refused my card on the first tap, then worked on the second—there’s a metaphor about trying again without the drama (and with money in your account lol)

• My euro step, pivot, ball, spin-step back buzzer beater in the last second of the basketball game (Man I wish was KD).

Before this, I hunted moments with a net called “perfect.” Now I walk with open hands, ready to catch what drops into them. You see when you stay in motion, your attention re-trains itself. You’re not squeezing your brain for brilliance; you’re listening for it. That listening is what feels like being fully alive.

2. Don’t Look For Ideas. Ideas Will Find You.

I used to treat ideas like rare birds: quiet, elusive, gone if you blink.
But when everything is allowed to become material, everything regains value. A throwaway comment becomes a hook, and even boredom becomes a staging area. You take three steps back, tilt your head up, and suddenly life is a beautifully lit scene.

This was me as I wrote mid week in a replacement bus on my way to my next life mission.

So now like an artist I stay ready to document what connects with me, and somehow it’s worked. Daily I bring you something true, honest and hopefully helpful. Garnished simply by a throw away moment I otherwise would’ve passed by.

The mess is where the sparks live.

3. Consistency Needs a Soft Engine.

And systems help.

Yes you can find the templates, you can time block, in-fact you can even find a recurring format— trust me I’m building these slowly. But i’ve come to learn this one truth.

The real engine to consistency is forgiveness.

Here’s the part I kept dodging: I’m good at designing a system, but i’m terrible at forgiving myself when I miss the system. So eventually, the system becomes another stick to beat myself with and—surprise, surpise, it becomes palatable to avoid the work.

This week I tried a new rule:

The Clean Slate Clause: Never miss twice.
Miss once? Fine. Wipe the board. Begin as if today is Day 1. No back taxes, no late fees, no performative apology tour, just a fresh start.

This truth persists:

The work does not care how dramatic your comeback is; it cares that you came back.

Tangent…I caught myself today negotiating with “future me.” You know that chat? “We’ll do double tomorrow.” but let’s be real…tomorrow never signed that contract, so why you negotiating?

The brilliance of forgiveness is that it pulls the power back into the present, where words actually get written, in other words, sometimes the engine you really need, isn’t another tool, or a fancy new calendar, but simply the willingness to move on without ceremony.

So here’s my simple stack for week 2:

• Show up daily, even if it’s half baked.

• Capture everything and sort nothing until publishing.

• Protect the Clean Slate Clause. Never miss twice. And if you do, forgive yourself and move on.

As always, it’s been a pleasure to talk to all 31 of you. I’m grateful. See you sometime tomorrow!

✳️ The Stack.

Part of the 75-Day Stack Challenge, essays for builders, makers, and doers, finding their start again.

Written by Josiah Hyacinth, creator, strategist, and storyteller exploring the intersection of faith, creativity, and action. Follow along as we unpack what it means to build, become, and begin again.