Martins et al

Hi there, my name is Euan Martins. A South African born lad with a desire to make a difference. I will write a weekly newsletter discussing the insights I gain as I journey through life, in hopes that it could possibly inspire, be cathartic or otherwise simply make you think more about the beauty that life has to offer.

Hi everyone! Let’s have a look at what I have decided to call this newsletter.

Why "et al"?

Some of you, who are familiar with the phrase “et al” might come to appreciate how I have used it when I was deciding what I would name this newsletter. For those who might not recognize the phrase, I am sure you would not appreciate it “et al”. Do you see what I did there? Funny right, oh no… Just me? Oh well!

Any reward for comedic genius or originality shall be left unclaimed at this point. In fairness that was NOT my joke and I too have heard it be used far too many times.

This is the first issue of my newsletter and it is such a daunting prospect to think that my writing will be on the internet available for any and everyone to read. Please do bear with me as I try to overcome this mammoth task and please don’t judge too harshly. As the saying goes:

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” ~ Mark Twain.

The aforementioned phrase, “et al” is of Latin origin and is commonly used in academic citations. It usually refers to a source that contains more than one author. The phrase translates to “and others” in the English language. “Martins et al”, meaning Martins and others, encapsulates the idea that we are all working together on our academic research project called Life. This is exactly the ethos I wish to create with this newsletter, a sense of unity in the struggle or continued pursuit of finding meaning and happiness. I will share my journey in this pursuit!

I think one of the hardest things in life is critically thinking about how we wish to spend our days. It is so easy to mindlessly be engaged in activities without thinking about whether or not it is a wise use of our time. The time and effort needed when considering who we wish to spend our time with, and what we wish to spend our time on can be crippling to some but is a vital step to ensure that we lead the lives we have always envisaged for ourselves.

We all have different expertise, we come from different social and ethnic backgrounds, we have learnt the languages and cultures of our ancestry and we have an array of perspectives when it comes to life, yet we are all working towards a common goal of finding meaning, happiness and purpose. That being said, I will continue to share more anecdotal insights on this newsletter and disseminate life’s findings.

Keep on keeping on, fellow authors of life!

I hope you have enjoyed this issue and have begun to understand why et al.

All of the best, everyone.

Euan

P.S. I will share links to things I find interesting and valuable in issues to come.