My life is full of seasons about getting lost and finding myself. Oh, and there’s fun facts. I love fun facts.

Leo Sharp

Mar 30·8 min read

Hey there and welcome! In my About Me story, you’ll learn about my name, career, favorite fun facts, and much more.

Table of contents:
1. Introduction to My Introduction
2. My "Name"
3. My "Career" - 6 Seasons Of My Life
4. The Fun Part
  4.1 Fun facts about me
  4.2 "If I were..."
5. My Writing
6. Contact MeIf you want to skip straight to the fun part, I don’t blame you. Gotta love fun facts.
Last updated May 07, 2021

I take a deep breath.

In swift and decisive motions, I crack every single one of my knuckles, polish my screen glossy, and wipe my keyboard clean. You know, the usual routine when getting ready to hammer down a killer introduction about oneself.

Then something hits me:

Introductions…how do they work? What even is an introduction, why is an introduction, and — most importantly — when is an introduction?

It’s been a while since I’ve properly introduced myself to someone. All thanks to a c-word I’m not going to spell out here — we’ve been seeing it daily for over a year now.

So, let’s see…where do I start? What do I put in the introduction of my introduction? My name? My birthday? My…fondness for funky socks?

Oh boy, it sure looks like y’all are going to be my guinea pigs in my desperate attempt to relearn introductions. After all, it’s just the internet, right?

My “Name”

In case you were wondering, I have nothing to do with the eponymous drug courier Leo Sharp. (I swear!) Instead, Leo Sharp is no more than my nom de plume. Why did I choose a pen name? I’ll give you three reasons:

1. It’s much easier to pronounce and remember than my actual name. (To this day, I have not met a single person that doesn’t speak my mother tongue — German — who can pronounce my name correctly, lol.)
2. It helps me incorporate more personal elements into my stories. At the same time, I take feedback for my writing less personally.
3. It has a pretty cool sound to it, don’t you think? In all honesty, I took inspiration from James Clear, which is such an appealing name to me. (I’m convinced that’s also a nom de plume — mark my words.)

Maybe one day, you’ll find my real name in this section and how to pronounce it. Until then, however, I’ll remain Leo Sharp in the writing universe.

My “Career”

Maybe you’re asking yourself:

Leo, why did you put “career” in quotes? Is it fake just like your name?

Well, yes and no. Let me explain.

I sympathize with the idea of treating life as a grand series. There several seasons and episodes. Seasons are connected in some way, but each has its own style and characters. Episodes are the self-contained events that take place in the seasons of life.

Thus, when we watch our lives in retrospect, we are the audience. It’s up to us how we interpret the meaning of each episode that occurs in our lives.

So here are the seasons of my life starting at age 18. You better grab some popcorn.

Season 1

This season of my life is called Stepping on Legos.

After high school, I had the impression I have to undergo formal education. Don’t get me wrong — I wasn’t forced and feel extremely grateful for the opportunity to receive a high-quality education. It was more of a subconscious embed: after high school, you go to college. So I did.

I got accepted into an engineering study program of three years. The program was divided up into alternating blocks of paid internships and lectures at college. It took me two whole years to learn one of the most vital lessons of my life:

I don’t enjoy engineering and I suck at it.

I realized this is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. I needed to change something.

Season 2

This season of my life is called Self-Discovery.

So what did I do? No, I did not drop out and became a successful entrepreneur. Instead, I decided to finish the study program and make the most of it. Mainly because, at the time, I had no idea what I’m actually good at or what I’m passionate about.

With this mental shift, the most insightful year of my life followed. I went abroad for two semesters. First to China, then to Poland. I met wonderful people from all across the globe. I discovered new cultures, places, and — most importantly — myself.

I still didn’t know what to do with my life, but I was enjoying the ride. I learned as much as I could along the way.

Season 3

This season of my life is called Adversity.

When I got back from my stay abroad, it was like getting sober from a perpetuated high. I was not voyaging the world anymore and making new experiences. Instead, I was back in my old environment that I originally wanted to escape from.

The lovely people I met abroad returned to their respective homes as well. As a result, some of my closest friends were now spread across the globe. I was feeling lonely. And, although I didn’t know it at the time, I was suffering from severe anxiety. Then, my grandfather passed away.

Soon after, the pandemic hit.

Season 4

This season of my life is called Getting Out Of a Slump.

In the first months of the pandemic, I scored peak performance in sluggishness and unproductivity. (Is that even a word?) Yet, in the Summer of 2020, things started turning around.

I moved to a different city to write my bachelor thesis. At this point in time, it looked like the pandemic was almost over. Of course, that assumption was utterly wrong. In spite of the pandemic’s persistence, though, moving was the best choice I could have made. Why? Because It gave me lots of space and time for introspection.

Thus, I was finally able to pick myself back up again. I started implementing basic habits into my life. I started eating healthy, exercised more, and practiced yoga and meditation. Mindfulness started to become a big part of my life.

I handed in my bachelor thesis and finished my undergraduate degree successfully.

Season 5

This season of my life is called Finding Purpose.

Although my mental health was improving greatly, I still didn’t feel like I found my “purpose” in life. So, what did I decide to do? Apply for postgraduate studies.

This decision may seem highly counterintuitive based on my previously described experience with college. And, even worse, the studies are based on engineering. Yet, there are few required classes, thus allowing me to participate in the ones that genuinely appeal to me. I feel much freer and could do something else at any time.

I finally found contentment when I revisited an inconspicuous idea. An idea that has been lurking in the deepest corners of my mind since season four. An idea of writing down all the episodes of my previous seasons of life. And while I’m at it, why don’t I share all of my lessons learned and experiences made with other humans?

I’m not sure if this is my purpose. At this point, I actually doubt the overrated importance of having a purpose in life. I have yet to find out.

Season 6

This season of my life is called …?

Frankly, I don’t know what this season is about yet. The plot is a bit bland, but it seems to be a slow burn. In the last episode, the main character discovered writing for himself. He spends every spare minute on it and has a pretty good feeling about being a writer.

I’m not sure where this season is headed and how it ends. But I do hope, when reading this a year from now, I will call this season of my life Living.

The Fun Part

Congrats if you didn’t skip to this part. Congrats also if you did. Because this is the fun part. Hurray!

Fun facts

Here’s a list of fun facts about me in no particular order.

• My personality type is INFP.
• That said, I love taking personality tests. Here are links to my favorite MBTI and my favorite Big Five test.
• I spent 10 months living in a town in the US with a population equaling the number of words you’ve read so far. Minus 1000.
• I’m a proud lefty.
• I can type incredibly fast. Don’t believe me? Take this test and see if you can beat my high score:

• I’m surprisingly flexible for my height. For example, I can clamp my feet behind my head.
• As aforementioned, I have a weakness for funky socks.
• Due to hairdressers being closed for the majority of the pandemic, I changed my hairstyle to a buzz cut. I love it. (That reminds me: I should probably change my profile picture.)

• I have a visual impairment so severe that I cannot wear glasses and instead have to wear custom-made contact lenses. Yes, that’s actually a thing.
• I’ve lived on three different continents — North America, Asia, and Europe.
• My native language is German, but I also picked up bits of Chinese along my journey. I’m currently learning Portuguese.
• I rediscovered books last year. My favorite genres are self-help and psychology.
• I play the piano. My favorite pieces are from Ludovico Einaudi (also great to listen to while studying or writing).
• I would consider my English to be near-native level. Yet, I have the hardest time with prepositions, sentence structure, and punctuation.
• I love listening to music and creating playlists. Especially when it’s indie. Some of my favorite bands are Glass Animals and alt-J.

If I were…

• …a Medium publication, I would be Curious — literally.
• …an animal, I would be a penguin — clumsy but loyal.
• …a dish, I would be a vegan burger — versatile and reinvented.
• …a country, I would be Norway — moody and dark in the winter but sunny and cheerful in the summer.
• …a car, I would be a VW Golf — down-to-earth and suitable for many adventures.

My Writing

The majority of my writing tries to investigate one question:

How can we live a fulfilled and content life?

Thus, my writing tries to explore the topics of happiness, health, and well-being. I also love writing about mindfulness and life lessons.

I don’t rush any of my articles. Instead, I try to convey a wide array of science-backed ideas by making my writing as sharp as possible. (Pun intended.)

Contact Me

Not much to see here yet. I’m not a big fan of social media, but here are some options to reach me.

Email

leosharp.stories@gmail.com

Twitter

Leo Sharp (@leosharpstories) / Twitter

This story

Comment or leave a private note — whatever you fancy!

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you around.

— Leo

*lollops away*