John Paul Hernandez
@hellojohnpaul.bsky.social
B2B SaaS content writer. Follow me for writing and marketing tips.
Jekyll & Hyde wasn't about a monster. It was about us.
Stevenson wrote about what happens when a world only allows us to live as one acceptable version of ourselves. Today, that pressure feels quieter...
A new essay on performance and the selves we hide. www.curioussardine.com/p/jekyll-and...
Stevenson wrote about what happens when a world only allows us to live as one acceptable version of ourselves. Today, that pressure feels quieter...
A new essay on performance and the selves we hide. www.curioussardine.com/p/jekyll-and...
Jekyll & Hyde was never about a monster. It was about us
How performance, social pressure, and algorithms split us into the selves we show and the selves we hide
www.curioussardine.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Jekyll & Hyde wasn't about a monster. It was about us.
Stevenson wrote about what happens when a world only allows us to live as one acceptable version of ourselves. Today, that pressure feels quieter...
A new essay on performance and the selves we hide. www.curioussardine.com/p/jekyll-and...
Stevenson wrote about what happens when a world only allows us to live as one acceptable version of ourselves. Today, that pressure feels quieter...
A new essay on performance and the selves we hide. www.curioussardine.com/p/jekyll-and...
Atomic Habits in 50 years. A Penguin Classic. As it should be.
December 11, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Atomic Habits in 50 years. A Penguin Classic. As it should be.
Pinterest = a visual search engine hiding in plain sight.
In this piece, I unpack how it fits into the future of SEO, social, and AI-driven discovery.
Also: smart takes from Jeremy Moser (USERP) and Nat Miletic (Clio Websites).
Read if search is on your radar.
sproutsocial.com/insights/pin...
In this piece, I unpack how it fits into the future of SEO, social, and AI-driven discovery.
Also: smart takes from Jeremy Moser (USERP) and Nat Miletic (Clio Websites).
Read if search is on your radar.
sproutsocial.com/insights/pin...
Pinterest SEO: 8 steps to master the visual search engine
Stop guessing. Use 8 essential Pinterest SEO tactics to optimize Pins, boost engagement and secure your brand's authority in visual search.
sproutsocial.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Pinterest = a visual search engine hiding in plain sight.
In this piece, I unpack how it fits into the future of SEO, social, and AI-driven discovery.
Also: smart takes from Jeremy Moser (USERP) and Nat Miletic (Clio Websites).
Read if search is on your radar.
sproutsocial.com/insights/pin...
In this piece, I unpack how it fits into the future of SEO, social, and AI-driven discovery.
Also: smart takes from Jeremy Moser (USERP) and Nat Miletic (Clio Websites).
Read if search is on your radar.
sproutsocial.com/insights/pin...
Posted a new piece: Why great ideas often come from the wrong people.
It’s a meditation on curiosity and how unfamiliar viewpoints reveal truths institutions sometimes overlook. Outsiders aren’t a threat to knowledge—they’re often the ones who move it forward.
www.curioussardine.com/p/why-great-...
It’s a meditation on curiosity and how unfamiliar viewpoints reveal truths institutions sometimes overlook. Outsiders aren’t a threat to knowledge—they’re often the ones who move it forward.
www.curioussardine.com/p/why-great-...
Why great ideas often come from the wrong people
How amateurs, outsiders, and the simply curious expand what experts miss
www.curioussardine.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Posted a new piece: Why great ideas often come from the wrong people.
It’s a meditation on curiosity and how unfamiliar viewpoints reveal truths institutions sometimes overlook. Outsiders aren’t a threat to knowledge—they’re often the ones who move it forward.
www.curioussardine.com/p/why-great-...
It’s a meditation on curiosity and how unfamiliar viewpoints reveal truths institutions sometimes overlook. Outsiders aren’t a threat to knowledge—they’re often the ones who move it forward.
www.curioussardine.com/p/why-great-...
There were the AI-isms where you could tell a sentence or two came from AI. But now, in my own experience reading content, I feel an immediate aversion the moment I spot one, then bounce away or scroll past without reading the rest.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
December 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
There were the AI-isms where you could tell a sentence or two came from AI. But now, in my own experience reading content, I feel an immediate aversion the moment I spot one, then bounce away or scroll past without reading the rest.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
Every small habit you practice today will have huge consequences 6 months from now. Good or bad. And it’ll take the same amount of time, or more, to reverse it.
December 1, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Every small habit you practice today will have huge consequences 6 months from now. Good or bad. And it’ll take the same amount of time, or more, to reverse it.
I just wrote a new piece: How I Like My Coffee.
It’s about the quiet wisdom hidden in a cooling cup—how hot, warm, room temp, and cold each reveal something about the rhythms of life and the transitions we usually miss.
Let me know what stage you enjoy most.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
It’s about the quiet wisdom hidden in a cooling cup—how hot, warm, room temp, and cold each reveal something about the rhythms of life and the transitions we usually miss.
Let me know what stage you enjoy most.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
How I like my coffee
A meditation on taste, time, and small descents
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:19 AM
I just wrote a new piece: How I Like My Coffee.
It’s about the quiet wisdom hidden in a cooling cup—how hot, warm, room temp, and cold each reveal something about the rhythms of life and the transitions we usually miss.
Let me know what stage you enjoy most.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
It’s about the quiet wisdom hidden in a cooling cup—how hot, warm, room temp, and cold each reveal something about the rhythms of life and the transitions we usually miss.
Let me know what stage you enjoy most.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
We waited twenty-one hours during the blackout in Spain; far longer than most. What stayed with me wasn’t the outage, but how differently people responded to it.
That moment became my newest Curious Sardine essay.
www.curioussardine.com/p/what-a-twe...
That moment became my newest Curious Sardine essay.
www.curioussardine.com/p/what-a-twe...
What a twenty-one-hour outage taught me about panic
And why modern "connection" produces disconnection
www.curioussardine.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:04 PM
We waited twenty-one hours during the blackout in Spain; far longer than most. What stayed with me wasn’t the outage, but how differently people responded to it.
That moment became my newest Curious Sardine essay.
www.curioussardine.com/p/what-a-twe...
That moment became my newest Curious Sardine essay.
www.curioussardine.com/p/what-a-twe...
I think a mobile coffee cart like this would be amazing (and I would argue quite needed).
The differentiator is moving away from a minimal or Gatsby-style design for mobile coffee trucks and opting for a bright, traditional artisan look; instead of grab and go, it’s sip and stay.
The differentiator is moving away from a minimal or Gatsby-style design for mobile coffee trucks and opting for a bright, traditional artisan look; instead of grab and go, it’s sip and stay.
November 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I think a mobile coffee cart like this would be amazing (and I would argue quite needed).
The differentiator is moving away from a minimal or Gatsby-style design for mobile coffee trucks and opting for a bright, traditional artisan look; instead of grab and go, it’s sip and stay.
The differentiator is moving away from a minimal or Gatsby-style design for mobile coffee trucks and opting for a bright, traditional artisan look; instead of grab and go, it’s sip and stay.
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-math-o...
Just published The Math of Missing.
It’s about how falling short isn’t the opposite of success, but part of the path; each miss teaching you something about your aim, your patience, and yourself.
What’s a miss that changed you?
Just published The Math of Missing.
It’s about how falling short isn’t the opposite of success, but part of the path; each miss teaching you something about your aim, your patience, and yourself.
What’s a miss that changed you?
The math of missing
Why missing your shot is part of the equation
www.curioussardine.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:49 PM
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-math-o...
Just published The Math of Missing.
It’s about how falling short isn’t the opposite of success, but part of the path; each miss teaching you something about your aim, your patience, and yourself.
What’s a miss that changed you?
Just published The Math of Missing.
It’s about how falling short isn’t the opposite of success, but part of the path; each miss teaching you something about your aim, your patience, and yourself.
What’s a miss that changed you?
Reading a book about the sea, as I’m lounging on the Space Coast, waiting for the Blue Origin launch.
November 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reading a book about the sea, as I’m lounging on the Space Coast, waiting for the Blue Origin launch.
I don’t judge a book by its cover. But I do buy a book with a beautiful cover—no questions asked.
November 9, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I don’t judge a book by its cover. But I do buy a book with a beautiful cover—no questions asked.
I forgot how good The Martian movie is.
Need to read the book.
Need to read the book.
November 8, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I forgot how good The Martian movie is.
Need to read the book.
Need to read the book.
When we frame ignorance as opportunity, then the scales tip.
Ignorance isn’t the refusal to learn: that’s arrogance. Ignorance, combined with self-awareness and humility, leads to growth.
Ignorance isn’t the refusal to learn: that’s arrogance. Ignorance, combined with self-awareness and humility, leads to growth.
November 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
When we frame ignorance as opportunity, then the scales tip.
Ignorance isn’t the refusal to learn: that’s arrogance. Ignorance, combined with self-awareness and humility, leads to growth.
Ignorance isn’t the refusal to learn: that’s arrogance. Ignorance, combined with self-awareness and humility, leads to growth.
Ignorance isn’t the opposite of wisdom; it’s the doorway to it.
New essay: The Gift of Ignorance
Why admitting what we don’t know expands life in surprising ways.
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-gift-o...
New essay: The Gift of Ignorance
Why admitting what we don’t know expands life in surprising ways.
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-gift-o...
The gift of ignorance
When we admit we don’t know, life expands in surprising ways
www.curioussardine.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Ignorance isn’t the opposite of wisdom; it’s the doorway to it.
New essay: The Gift of Ignorance
Why admitting what we don’t know expands life in surprising ways.
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-gift-o...
New essay: The Gift of Ignorance
Why admitting what we don’t know expands life in surprising ways.
www.curioussardine.com/p/the-gift-o...
Cancel all your subscriptions to Netflix and other services. Then subscribe to substacks. Your mind and your soul will thank you.
November 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Cancel all your subscriptions to Netflix and other services. Then subscribe to substacks. Your mind and your soul will thank you.
The nature of moss reminds me that life grows, it tangles, and it evolves through the cracks of uncertainty. The difference in thriving in these times is whether you choose to control the uncontrollable or let go.
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM
The nature of moss reminds me that life grows, it tangles, and it evolves through the cracks of uncertainty. The difference in thriving in these times is whether you choose to control the uncontrollable or let go.
If you struggle to write on Bluesky, try talking instead. Dictate your thoughts while you walk.... no pressure to perform, just think out loud (this is your first draft).
You’ll find your true voice more quickly.
You’ll find your true voice more quickly.
November 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
If you struggle to write on Bluesky, try talking instead. Dictate your thoughts while you walk.... no pressure to perform, just think out loud (this is your first draft).
You’ll find your true voice more quickly.
You’ll find your true voice more quickly.
The nature of Spanish moss is to find its place by way of wind or bird. But once it lands, it grows and spreads.
Perhaps we, too, should never cement ourselves in one place, interest, or job, but instead seek the spaces where opportunity and purpose meet.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
Perhaps we, too, should never cement ourselves in one place, interest, or job, but instead seek the spaces where opportunity and purpose meet.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
The strange history and quiet wisdom of Spanish moss
How an unruly plant surprisingly thrives
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:59 AM
The nature of Spanish moss is to find its place by way of wind or bird. But once it lands, it grows and spreads.
Perhaps we, too, should never cement ourselves in one place, interest, or job, but instead seek the spaces where opportunity and purpose meet.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
Perhaps we, too, should never cement ourselves in one place, interest, or job, but instead seek the spaces where opportunity and purpose meet.
open.substack.com/pub/curiouss...
Visiting the local dairy farm with NEO. Don’t know what all the fuss is about.
October 30, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Visiting the local dairy farm with NEO. Don’t know what all the fuss is about.
The strange history and quiet wisdom of Spanish moss. New essay coming out this Friday! Make sure to subscribe to curioussardine.substack.com
Over 3,500 reads since launching a few weeks ago!
Over 3,500 reads since launching a few weeks ago!
October 30, 2025 at 1:08 AM
The strange history and quiet wisdom of Spanish moss. New essay coming out this Friday! Make sure to subscribe to curioussardine.substack.com
Over 3,500 reads since launching a few weeks ago!
Over 3,500 reads since launching a few weeks ago!
No spoilers, but the Only Murders in the Building season finale, especially that last scene, was a masterclass in meta writing.
It cleverly confronts the show's core premise and what we've all been thinking about it. It was direct without ever saying it outright.
It cleverly confronts the show's core premise and what we've all been thinking about it. It was direct without ever saying it outright.
October 29, 2025 at 1:22 AM
No spoilers, but the Only Murders in the Building season finale, especially that last scene, was a masterclass in meta writing.
It cleverly confronts the show's core premise and what we've all been thinking about it. It was direct without ever saying it outright.
It cleverly confronts the show's core premise and what we've all been thinking about it. It was direct without ever saying it outright.
How often do you like to receive issues from your favorite newsletter?
October 26, 2025 at 9:38 PM
How often do you like to receive issues from your favorite newsletter?
The beauty of writing essays is that they help you work out your thoughts—sometimes ideas that have floated around your head for years, and you can now put them to rest.
October 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The beauty of writing essays is that they help you work out your thoughts—sometimes ideas that have floated around your head for years, and you can now put them to rest.