Capes, carbohydrates and coming back to writing

I forgot how great it feels to articulate complex ideas clearly. I can barely ride a bike, let alone a surfboard, but I've always imagined that balancing atop powerful waves must feel somewhat similar

I hadn’t realised how much I missed writing.

For the first 15 years of my adult life, I wrote almost every day. Short, concise breaking news pieces. Features. Interviews. Punchy investigations about violent extremist groups, covert foreign operatives, and national security. Long essays exploring the tenuous relationships between autocracies and noodle soup.

Then, starting in the mid-2010s, I began writing less. At the time, I was working at 444.hu, where we had to figure out how to become financially sustainable to protect our editorial independence. Gradually, I became the person taking on much of that work.

Becoming a media executive and building a successful audience revenue program has its rewards, but it leaves little room for writing. Apart from the occasional piece each year, I largely stopped. While I thought about writing now and then, I…