Up Close With: Matt Trinetti
Meet the wonderful writers and patrons behind LWS.
This week marks our 100th LWS member profile (!!), so we thought it was about time to bring you our fearless founders — yes, we’re profiling none other than Ma & Pa themselves. Here, we meet a man who needs no introduction. It’s the digital nomad, wanderer, and bearer of the best teeth in writers hour: here’s Mr Matt Trinetti.
Matt Trinetti
- Known as Matt. Matthew. Matty. Trin. Trinetti. But mostly, ‘Ma’.
- Aged 38 (but “feels 28”).
- He’s a digital nomad! This month Matt’s been based in Colombia, but is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and lived in the UK for the last 8 years
What do you write, in general?
Mostly journaling/morning pages these days, but starting to write more publicly about building creative communities, creativity, and entrepreneurship. In a past life I wrote about travel, purposeful work and living deliberately.
What are you working on right now?
Building London Writers’ Salon is my creative act at the moment.
Where and when do you write?
Ideally mornings, during Writers’ Hour. Or on my phone when inspiration strikes. (Most often on a run!)
How do you write?
Journaling by hand. Everything else on computer.
Why do you write?
Writing is a pathway to what I believe are three of the most meaningful pursuits in life.
- Knowing Oneself. Becoming aware of oneself, one’s desires, one’s fears. The truth of who you are, who you’re becoming, and witnessing how life is unfolding for you. Writing is a pathway to convening with our unconscious, our deeper knowing, and a tool to help us choose the growth path in life. And ultimately, to choose life. To say ‘Yes’ to it all.
- Connecting with Others. From communicating ideas to sharing knowledge, inspiring change, helping people feel less alone, and fostering a sense of belonging and connection around the challenges of the human condition… What could be more important while in this human body with other human bodies?
- Convening with the Mystery (God, logos, Gaia, spirit, whatever you want to call it). Writing is a pathway to spiritual, the creative life force. Magic happens when you simply let go, start listening, and be a conduit. Creative acts bring us closer to that mystery. But what do I know.
Soapbox over :)
This is a work in progress…
What inspires your creativity?
The natural world. I could get lost watching a tree sway, a bird hunt, a stream flow, a mountain just being a mountain. It’s a universe of inspiration. Helps me forget myself while also feeling connected with everything. And reminds how miraculous it is to be alive to witness it all.
Travel. Wandering around a foreign place, listening to the sounds and the languages, watching people interact and live their lives. Makes me want to live a million different lives.
But mostly — all of the writers in the LWS community doing the difficult work of sitting down and putting words to page every week. You all inspire me.
What’s your favourite book?
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
“I don’t need time, I need a deadline.” -Duke Ellington
What’s the one thing you would tell other/aspiring writers?
I recently went on a meditation retreat and learned that if you catch yourself thinking or dreaming or creating stories in your head while you’re trying to meditate, you’re not doing it wrong. That’s normal. That’s just meditating. Once you catch yourself lost in those thoughts, you let them go, detach from them, and go back to concentrating on your breath. You’ll get better and become more aware of this over time. That’s why it’s called a meditation practice.
Writing is similar. Self doubt, self criticism, fear, the other voices — they’re normal. Start to view those as just part of the practice. When you catch yourself getting lost in those thoughts, detach and let them go. Go for a walk, jump in a cold stream, pour another cup of coffee, eat a piece of chocolate, and then keep writing.
The difference will be what you do (or don’t do) when you hear those voices. And I hope you’ll write.
How can we discover more about you and your work?
- Or my blog, GiveLiveExplore.com
