Hello, Blog! I'm Hannah!
This is where I put my subtitle. Today's subtitle will be: "This is my very first blog post, and I'm so happy you're here!" Was that good? I think it was!
This is a real-life action shot of me in my red carpet-best writing this blog post. The neighbor’s cat came to see the big publication!
Yes, the rumors are true. The tabloids said it all. I am starting a blog.
Chances are that if you’re reading this, then you are a close friend or family member of mine. If that is the case… GUYS! What the heck is up? And if you don’t know who I am, then… hello! My name is Hannah Santo, but many people call me Hansan.
I got the nickname around 2013 when I was 13 years old. The importance of how cool your Instagram username was was at an all-time high, and I was determined to have the perfect handle.
My oldest sister, Rachel was 19 and she was and still is, the coolest person I know thanks to her Uggs, fake nails, and velvet Juicy Couture purse. Before I had social media, she told me “Whenever you get Instagram, you have to make your username ‘Hansan.’ It will be the best decision of your life.”
The username "@ hansan” was already taken. However, Instagram had just introduced using periods in handles, so I snagged han.san and watched the magic happen.
Now, for over 10 years, I have been called Hansan by my closest friends and family members. It’s no surprise to me how my sister knew that it would be such a hit considering she has had the same perfected winged eyeliner since she was in high school; of course she would be on top of the social media dos and don’ts.
Seeing that a Hansan Substack username had not been taken yet was quite a surprise, so we are +1 point in the blog game. A nickname, however, is just scratching the surface of what this is.
I gratefully have had many creative outlets in my life where I could be 100% myself, from a theatre camp during childhood to college improv (which is VERY cool, by the way). But I am a year out of college, and for the first time in my life, I have no solid creative outlet. None. It’s like bowling for the first time without bumpers… surely I am headed RIGHT for the gutter.
People can playfully call me Hansan all they want, but I don’t and will never know how people truly view me. I try not to care, but I would be lying if I said I always analyzed how people view me, and I hate it. Even starting something like a blog or making videos on my own freaks me out because I want everything I create to be perfect. How have I made something that is supposed to be fun and authentically me so daunting and feel like a scary chore?
I believe we are so wrapped up in the way people view us as individuals, and I hate seeing it not only impact how I treat myself, but how it makes my friends view themselves. I’ve realized that many people I am closest to feel the same way. No one told me that there would be a lot of uncertainty in your early 20s. I mean life just SMACKS you, double-time on each side of your stupid college grad face. Because of this, I’m constantly looking for the good in everything.
But, there is a glimmer of hope in the distance! That glimmer is called “a blog.” The Hansan Blog represents this period of my life where I have the chance to embrace the creative freedom we are blessed to have access to. I can create what I want, when I want, where I want. And you can too!
Yes, EVERYBODY is creative. Now, creating doesn’t necessarily mean something like a blog, video, or scene on stage. It means taking how you view yourself and taking your talents to build the things that make you happiest. Life is scary, but we are all in it together taking it day by day. Most of the time, that’s all you can do.
I like to dream, and I like to think that those dreams can come true one day. That is, of course, if you believe in hard work and magic. I have been putting a creative endeavor like this on the back burner for so long, but let’s be honest, what is the point of waiting for anything you envision for yourself? I have no idea what this blog will result in, but I am trusting my gut and going for it. What’s the worst that can happen? People think it’s STUPID?!?!? Too bad, so sad. NEEEEEEXT!
There is so much more to you than what people perceive you as. Whatever your ”hansan” is, multiply it by a trillion and then add some whipped cream and a cherry on top… THAT is who you are. You, fellow blog reader, have so much potential to be exactly who you dream to be. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and be kind to yourself. Things don’t happen overnight, but you have to start somewhere. Aka, this blog. Am I making sense? Who cares. It’s just a blog.
So, HERE YOU GO, AMERICA! I AM HANSAN, AND THIS IS THE HANSAN BLOG, AND I WILL WRITE WHATEVER I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT! I’ll be honest, when I think of blogs, I think of a mom posting her cake pop recipes. I do not know any cake pop recipes, but maybe I can learn! Surely you can write about ANYTHING in a blog if it’s your own! ANYONE can make a cake pop! You take Betty Crocker cake mix then like mix it with a tub of frosting or something. BOOM! Blog done.
I am posting this mid-bonfire in my sister’s backyard of her new house. And a cat just walked up to me! He could smell the blog from miles away! So yes, I know this is a hodge podge of a post, but what do you want from me? We just have to get this chicken cooking whatever it may taste like, or else it’s going to be raw forever and we’ll all die of Salmonella. You know what I mean?
Cluck Cluck, mother trucker… The Hansan Blog is served, and you are invited to dinner.