The Antidote to Ambition
curating isabel unraveled
A few minutes after 12:30pm she walked in.
We agreed to meet at a Starbucks in midtown Toronto. I arrived early, found a seat near the front window, and busied myself making notes in my black moleskin. Tapping my foot pensively on the linoleum floor. Adjusting the collar of my now-asphyxiating button-up shirt. Shooting my eyes to the door every time a new customer came through.
I first met Isabel in March of 2022 during Write of Passage 8. I connected with her story immediately, seeing the symmetry in our past and present, and attended all of her mentor sessions.
We both grew up near Toronto. We both went to university for math, partly because we liked math but partly because it was hard and competitive and esteemed. We both gravitated towards a career in finance, with the same flawed logic we used to choose a school. We both began writing as a way to balance structure with creativity and explore ideas that tattooed our minds.
Now, we both veered away from a life path we had spent years preparing for and inched into the unknown. (I inched, she leaped). A few months prior, Isabel left a great job in Venture Capital. With no plan. Other than to fully commit to writing and expand into the practice.
coffee
Whoever said you shouldn’t meet your heroes was dead wrong.
Isabel’s eyes were bright with presence and intelligence. She spoke with her full body. Leaning forward in her chair, hands as living extensions of her words, even, at one point, pulling out a stack of notebooks and a bundle of fountain pens mid-conversation to sketch an idea as she was explaining it.
Energized with emotion. Alive with curiosity. Glowing with life.
Isabel writes with a rare combination of observational awareness and personal insight. Reading her work is like stepping on quicksand. You take one step and before you know it, you’re pulled in, absorbed, neck deep. But instead of suffocating, you feel more alive. And instead of being pulled under, you’re pulled through.
Her writing is pure presence. Attuned to what is beautiful and good and true. Kindly, gently, thoughtfully calling the reader towards a richer mode of existence.
She explores a vast cross-section of topics, from being cool to connecting with your emotions to modern dating to love.
There’s a lot there.
To get you started, I want to focus on five of her essays that resonated with me the most.
If I were to package them into a book it would be called: The Antidote to Ambition.
They’re an exploration into the self. Written for those who built their lives on the pillars of progress but have begun to see there is more to life than what they had been told.
They’re a call to step off the treadmill of empty accolade chasing, step away from the security of a grey suit and a rigid routine and step into a truer, more authentic state of being. One in full alignment with the self.
five essays
On Self-Trust by Isabel (Essay | My Highlights)
If you only read one essay by Isabel, make it this one. In it, she explores the symbiotic relationship between self-knowledge and self-trust and the danger of outsourcing our decisions to others. Our lives are the sum of our decisions and Isabel explains why self-trust is the critical ingredient in making decisions that will help craft a life we love.
“We can only get to a life of alignment—a life of full self-expression—through making our own choices. Through trusting ourselves.”
Intensity by Isabel (Essay | My Highlights)
This essay felt like a mirror onto my own mind. She articulates feelings I’ve had about my work and writing that were sitting in the back of my mind but I lacked the ability to put into words and the awareness to realize other people also feel. Isabel dives into the concept of intensity: its addictive nature, its connection with obsession, and how intensity can be isolating, with some excellent Bukowski anecdotes.
“The depths you can tap into when you’re enthralled by one thing—when isolation and the object of your focus are all that exist—is mesmerizing, addictive, and certainly dangerous”.
The Zone of Genius by Isabel (Essay | My Highlights)
This essay is a must-read for anyone who wants to lean into creative expression. Isabel explores the dynamic between inspiration and discipline in the creative process: how both are essential and cannot exist without the other.
“Discipline is great, but what you can accomplish with discipline, at least creatively, will always be limited by your inspiration. Inspiration is also great, but there are plenty of inspired creatives who never brought their ideas to life, because they do not show up to capture that inspiration. The impossible, or at least the improbable, presents itself to the few who combine both.”
Becoming Yourself Is a Process of Reduction by Isabel (Essay | My Highlights)
I highlighted nearly every sentence in this essay. As someone who chronically takes on too much, it was the exact message I needed to hear. Isabel explains the wisdom in the cliché: less is more. There’s immense power in concentrating your energy in one direction, but saying no and being focused is neither easy, encouraged, or intuitive. Yet, reduction is an exercise in becoming.
“I now look back with a cheeky laugh that I derived pride from diverging my power instead of concentrating it. Because in hindsight, I see someone who was scared to be who they genuinely were and coped with that fear by doing more, instead of doubling down on what was truly them.”
On Slowness, Taste, and Living Well by Isabel (Essay | My Highlights)
Your life is made up of days, and if you can live a bunch of great days in a row, you’re basically living a great life. As someone who frantically rushes around, like a decapitated chicken, “slowness” has now become a cornerstone of my ideal day. Isabel explores the connection between slowness, presence and intuition, and how slowness paradoxically drives effectiveness.
“Through slowness, we cultivate presence, and through presence we develop taste—we notice what makes us feel most alive, and we stay close to it. And what could be more lovely than a life centered around the things that make us feel especially alive?”
final musings
Isabel has impacted my life in many ways.
Her writing helps me to reduce distractions, listen to my intuition, and cultivate quiet. Her words remind me to remain patient in the process of becoming. Her presence shows me the energy and aliveness that grow out of a deep love for life.
Most of all, after walking away from Starbucks that chilly February afternoon, her commitment to her craft inspired me to do the same: devote myself to writing.
“It wasn't dislike for what I was doing that compelled me towards writing in the end but a deep sense of curiosity for how taking it seriously would look,” she said. “A curiosity of what my days could look like if I gave my full attention to something. Which I had never done because I had always split my attention between things… I wanted to see how powerful it could be to just do one thing.”
Ever since meeting her, that idea has been stuck in my head like a catchy pop song.
What could I be capable of if I just did one thing?
As much as I’m lured by the pressed pinstripe suits and leather loafers of the corporate world, I can’t shake the feeling my true calling, where life’s sweetness sleeps, lies in exploring ideas and connecting with those who share my curiosity.
In making writing my one thing.
There’s a whole world that opens up, but only for those who have the courage to look.
Isabel reminds me of that.
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’s writing here:
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If you enjoyed this, you might like my related piece on delicious solitude.
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Love how the essay turned out! Thanks for sharing Isabel's work, that's a great finding :)
What a beautiful tribute to another writer, I really enjoyed knowing about your personal relationship and felt like I was hearing about a friend from a friend!