JETS JOURNAL - #083
June 3, 2025
Hi All!
Here is your weekly round up of what I’m pondering and exploring. Feel free to forward along to a friend if you think they might enjoy.
Trust
This chapter of my life continues to be a lesson in patience and trust.
In the past I’d plant seeds, come back the next day, dig them back up, and complain why they weren’t growing. Whereas now, I’m learning to let go and learn to finally trust.
I’ve watered and planted what I want to the best of my ability, now all I have to do is wait, which is immensely scary because you can’t see whats happening below the surface.
However, rushing back everyday and digging your hands in the dirt to see how much the seed has sprouted isn’t doing it any favours.
So now, I do what’s needed, and let them grow at their own pace, trusting they will yield.
Sleep identity
If you’ve been reading my newsletter, or know anything about me, you would know that I’ve had struggles with my sleep. In the past I’d wake up at 4 a.m. each and every day, and weirdly wear it as a badge of honour.
I would consistently bring this up in conversation, maybe because I thought it made me sound different, or perhaps it made me sound like this tormented artist who suffered from insomnia.
However, you might notice now that I’m speaking about my sleeping habits in past tense.
I was a bad sleeper.
I am not anymore.
This was because this unconsciously became part of my identity. I would unknowingly reinforce this idea, over, and over, and over, every time I aligned with it. I trained myself to behave a certain way, until one day I just said, I don’t align with that, and just dropped the idea completely.
I think the same can be said about people who tell themselves and the world they’re not morning people, or they’re not creative, or they’re not this or that—the list goes on.
This is because I believe we are the culmination of the stories we tell ourselves.
And although I’m not a fan of labels, and categorisation, I am aware it is how we make sense of the world. Which is why I believe it’s so important to choose labels for yourself that align with what you want.
Getting published
I’m having fun digging up the contact details of all the big publishers, and putting together, and shipping out packages with the latest version of my book with it’s brand new cover, hand-written notes, and signed prints of my photographs.
It’s very exciting putting together these little packages and sending them out into the world. And regardless of how they respond, I know that I put a lot of love into what they’re about to open.
Also, to let you in on how some publishers are reacting to my story so far.
Here’s a couple excerpts of feedback I’ve received.
“Jet, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take Off the Rails further through our acquisitions process – but I would very much encourage you to continue your search for a publisher. To be honest, the things that are your book’s strengths are also the things that make it a risky proposition for a traditional publishing house. It’s uncompromising, it’s real, it’s raw, it speaks directly to young male readers in their own, unedited, voice.”
&
“Off the Rails is original, dynamic, topical, and it has an urgent message that needs to be out there. The path to publication may not be easy for an uncompromising book like this, but I wish you every encouragement, every success, as you travel along it.”
I had a feeling this might be the case with a story like mine, especially since it’s so raw, and actually relatable to young boys. However, this only makes me even more excited to get it published, because I know this is an Australian classic.
Day at the museum
Last weekend I went to the Australian Museum. As I walked around, taking in taxidermy animals, and reading dozens of informational plaques, I felt like a kid at the Scholastic book fair flicking through books on Egypt, and dinosaurs.
There’s something so interesting to me about reading the stories, and seeing the artifacts that helped make Australia what it is today. There is so much fascinating information in there about our wildlife, the countries pioneers, the minerals and geology that makes up the ground we stand on, and so much more.
I know I’m geeking out right now, but this stuff really excites me, and helps to put into perspective our place in a larger interconnected narrative that has existed long before any of us showed up.
Which makes me think about this moment in time.
I wonder what narrative we’re living through that might seem insignificant today, but will have huge cultural relevance a hundred years from now?
Hope everyone enjoys their week.
Love,
Jet Williams