Hello friends, James here. Happy New Year! And here’s the short version: after 18 months of hiatus, I’m officially closing the book on The Eureka Project, because it’s the right time for a specific new thing. If that’s all you needed to hear in order to want to sign up to it, we can skip the rest and do it right now, right here:
But perhaps you want to know what’s changed: what happened to The Eureka Project, and what’s happening now.
Eulogy for a Newsletter
The Eureka Project was formed in 2018 to document me founding Eureka, the company I’d set up as nest for… I wasn’t sure quite what. The company didn’t become what I hoped it would be (a hard task when you haven’t specified the shape of your hope), and likewise the newsletter twisted away from its brief pretty quickly, becoming part-personal newsletter, part-home of creative non-fiction that had no home elsewhere. Over time it collected a whole 120 readers, almost all of whom I’m sure felt in some way they weren’t getting what they’d expected. So, if anyone is reading this, officially: thank you for reading whatever you read. I really hope there was something in there that you felt was there for you.
Looking back, the lack of an intention made it hard to keep up. I didn’t know why I was doing it, or what a good one looked like. It couldn’t survive the upheavals I went through in 2022 - and maybe more importantly, it didn’t help me to live through them. I stopped, and decided not to start again unless I felt I had a reason to.
A Reason Appears, Eventually
In September 2022, I first solidly conceived the notion of leaving London and moving to New York. In April 2023, I did. And I did not start a newsletter at that time, partly because moving is a lot of work already, and partly because I didn’t feel I had anything to say. Nothing of unique value to you, and nothing I could really feel sure enough to stand beside.
In many ways none of that has changed, but I am ready to test my assumptions. I feel that it may be time to produce something, in good faith, and at least give people the chance to like it.
And as for not being sure of anything - maybe it’s time to do some working out in public. Not knowing what’s going on is a state worth documenting.
So Now, This
The new newsletter is called If You Can Make It Here. It has a firmer intention than this one did: documenting what it’s like for someone (or at least me) to try starting their life again. What it takes, how it feels, the ways in which it shows you to yourself. I might even work out why I did it.
After posting this, I will write post 1 in the new place. And I’ll try to give a much better emotional explanation for exactly where we’re starting. But that’s for over there. Over here, I’ve told you enough of the offer than if you really want to come with me, you will. I only want people who want to be there. If that’s you then, once more:
Whatever comes of things: thank you for reading.
❧ James