My first tutor told me I was destined to be a storyteller when I was nine years old. At the time, I thought she was just making a snarky comment because I spent the entire session talking instead of doing my work. The last time I saw her was when I was a sophomore in college. She asked if I was still writing, and I was confused by her question—so I just replied, "Yeah, I'm in college."
What I mistook for a sarcastic remark back then was actually encouragement. Writing has always been something I loved, whether it was a short story or a sports column. There’s something captivating about putting pen to paper and writing whatever your heart desires.
In eighth grade, I wrote a graphic short story about a woman whose husband was murdered on their honeymoon. I have no idea where that idea came from, but it definitely raised a few eyebrows, especially for Mrs. Clark. Let’s just say I REALLY loved to write.
You’re probably wondering what THE SPENCE is. Honestly, I don’t know yet either. It’s going to be a mix of things: my thoughts, personal stories, recommendations, and—most importantly—my unfiltered honesty.
Honesty is something that's in short supply these days, especially on social media. If you know me, you know I’m not afraid to speak my mind. Lying is for high schoolers who come back from their first party smelling like cheap vodka. Thank God I never went through that phase. In fact, I didn’t drink until I was in college, so I missed out on that whole “your parents can smell the booze” thing.
Now, you might be wondering why I’m starting UNRAVELING MIND. During college, I was lucky enough to intern at two late-night shows in New York. As an intern, we got to pitch trending news stories to the writers, and a few of mine were picked up. My absolute favorite moment was when I pitched a story about cocaine washing up on the shore in France. The writers loved it so much, they made it the Cold Open of the show (if you don’t know what a Cold Open is, Google it before you offend me). They even turned it into a bit called Cocaine Clam (a nod to Cocaine Bear), and I got to see my pitch come to life on TV.
That experience reminded me how much I miss writing and pitching stories. I haven’t written a comedy sketch in over a year. I haven’t done stand-up in almost a year, either. Yes, I do stand-up—no, you’re not invited to my next show, so don’t ask.
So, welcome to UNRAVELING MIND.