This morning I’m sitting at House Coffee, sipping my coffee, with a new project in mind that honestly really excites me.
I want to start this newsletter by being very honest about where it’s coming from.
I’ve been living in Shrewsbury for about three years now, and somehow I’ve never really managed to properly connect with the local community or fully understand everything that’s happening in town. There is clearly a lot going on, but I often feel like I’m only seeing small fragments of it.
So I decided to start something that pushes me to change that.
This newsletter is really an excuse for me to begin a new journey - to explore the town more deliberately, discover what’s happening, and meet the people who make this place what it is.
The idea is simple. I want to use this newsletter as a way to discover Shrewsbury from the ground up and share what I find along the way.
Part of the motivation also comes from frustration. I’ve tried to stay informed through social media, local websites, and newspapers, but it still feels fragmented. Information is scattered everywhere, and finding the interesting bits often means scrolling endlessly.
I actually decided recently to step back quite a lot from social media in general. I find it increasingly divisive and toxic, and honestly I’d rather spend that time with my family.
What I want instead is something much simpler. A place where you can open your inbox and quickly see the few things that actually matter. Events worth knowing about. Interesting things happening in town. People doing meaningful work in the community.
No infinite scroll. Just a simple way to stay connected with what’s happening around us.
I also work in the technology sector, and seeing how AI is starting to flood social media with more and more noise makes me think we might be reaching the end of that era. I believe people are slowly moving back toward more direct relationships, more trust, and more human forms of communication.
Email newsletters are surprisingly powerful in that sense. They are simple, direct, and peer-to-peer.
So this is my attempt at creating something like that for Shrewsbury.
I don’t really know where this will go, but I’m genuinely excited about it because I love the peace that this town has given me and I’m looking forward to discovering it in all it’s colors.
And I don’t want to do that alone. I want to take people with me on that journey. Young and old, locals and newcomers - anyone who is curious about what’s happening here and wants to connect a bit more with the community.
As I start this, there are a few principles I want to keep in mind.
First, I want to have fun with it.
Second, I want it to help me build meaningful relationships with people in town.
Third, I want it to provide real value. Things that are genuinely interesting or useful for people who live here. And to achieve this…
And fourth, I want this to be collaborative. I would love for you to contribute ideas, send interesting things happening in town, suggest events, or even write pieces themselves. This is an open project.
I’ll be building it in public, listening to feedback, and adjusting along the way.
For now, this is simply the beginning.
Let’s see where it goes.
Note: AI was used to do a final polish of my original article, with no requests to make substantive alterations.