EDITOR’S LETTER

We are living in a world that is becoming increasingly conflicted, with competing voices trying to tell us (especially women) how to live our lives. Whether you’re 17 or 70, it seems harder than ever to figure out who you are or who you want to be.

And yet, as I've come to learn, the better we know ourselves, the less we are limited - either by our own self-doubt or by the expectations of anyone else.

For many years now I've wanted to build something - a space? A world? A forum? - where a like-minded, curious, diverse, inclusive international community could come together to connect, reflect, and ultimately understand ourselves better by unlocking our collective creativity through story. So over the last few months I've put together a team (I’ve got a team!) who has slowly (in a very short time!) been building exactly that.

We have all watched films, read books, been to concerts and seen exhibitions where we have encountered narratives that have inspired us - even changed us. But there’s nowhere - nowhere that I’ve found anyway - to go deeper, share those experiences, and through combined creative discourse unleash our personal potential.

So here we are: In development, building what we hope is essentially a living, evolving, collaborative notebook. Right now, our format is very much in Beta mode. We don't know exactly how it will develop, or at what speed but we are inviting you - our community - to help shape it. 

What we do know is this: Somewhat in the style of a magazine - an intelligent, raw, quietly rebellious, co-created-with-its-community-of-readers magazine - we'll launch a new issue every quarter. Each issue will be built of yours and our contributions around a key theme. Some will be big, world-shaping ideas like human rights, gender parity and technology. Others will be more intimate but no less important: Career, music, friendship, sexuality.

WANT has been one of the most daunting projects of my professional life so far. As a collection of sexual fantasies, drawn from almost a thousand anonymous submissions, the process of introduction, collection, curation, and summarisation has been not unlike the act of fantasy itself: By turns, intriguing, overwhelming, illuminating and liberating.

In truth though, the finished publication is the work of the many hundreds of you who contributed your time and creativity to put into words a private piece of your inner life which you courageously shared with me - and now the rest of the curious, waiting world.

And it is already more than a book. To all of us involved so far, it has been a debate, a conversation, a defiant act of freedom, and a provocation to express ourselves in ways we may never previously have even considered.

With G Ode Issue 1 - Freedom of Fantasy, we are inviting you to explore, enjoy and share (anonymously) the richness of your sexual imagination. As the issue unfolds, we'll feature contributions from friends, philosophers, and experts to help us understand the huge extent to which feeling free in your sexual desires can in turn positively impact every single part of your life; from relationships to identity, to self expression, and self confidence through creativity.

Wherever this first issue leads us, thank you for being here on the opening page of the G Ode story with us.

I can't wait to explore together.