notes from underground
social media + protecting my peace + reading + writing + rhythmic + watching
Wow. This is the last week in January. Time is flying.
I realized this morning that I don’t spend as much time posting on social media anymore.
I never set an intention to stop using social media; I set an intention to focus more on my writing, and my absence from social media is a byproduct of that.
My second thought was that I don’t miss it. That’s not a negative. It’s just what is.
I still enjoy engaging with things others post, and I post links to my writing and have the occasional comment on something that’s happening, but where I was chronically online and a prolific poster, I’m now online here and there, and my original posts are becoming fewer and less frequent.
the art of protecting my peace
I’ve been practicing the art of not allowing myself to get into emotional arguments with people who are being irrational.
Some people get a charge out of yelling, screaming, and fussing. I am not one of those people, and I don’t want to engage with those people in that way.
My energy is set up differently, and with the way things are set up in America right now, I only have so much bandwidth to spare, and I’m not going to expend it going back and forth with someone just for the sake of going back and forth.
This includes both on social media and in real life.
Y’all can have that.
reading
I’m doing that thing where I’m reading multiple books at once.
If you remember, I was reading Parable of the Sower when my library loan expired, so the digital copy was snatched away from me. I still had hold requests on various copies of the series, and yesterday, the Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents ebook box set came available, and baby, I snatched that shit up so quickly.
I have 21 days to get through 831 pages of Octavia Butler goodness, and I plan to do just that.
In addition to the Earthseed series, I’m also reading The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll.
Carroll is the inventor of bullet journaling, and although I have been using my own adapted method of this productivity strategy, I’ve wanted to read his ideas on how he came up with it and how he uses the system himself. Carroll also struggles with ADHD, and I think his insights could help me.
Finally, I’m reading The New New Journalism because I love reading other writers writing about the art and craft of writing.
Three books is a good balance. One is for pleasure; one is for personal development; the other is for getting better at my craft and learning.
I have also perfected my winning formula of using a combination of Kindle Unlimited and Libby to find all the books I want to read.
writing
I have a few commissioned pieces in the cooker. I like being busy in this way. My days start early and end late, and it feels good to spend them productively.
I’m making time for regular journaling because it helps clear my mind and detox my spirit, and bullet journal is helping me stay on task and target.
rhythmic
I am unable to listen to music with lyrics when I’m writing. The lyrics distract me, and it makes it hard to focus.
Today, my friend hipped me to the world of hip-hop instrumentals on Pandora, and I wonder why I never discovered this before.
I went looking for it on YouTube Music, and I found it.
I’ll usually turn on some instrumental jazz, but this uptempo music with catchy beats is keeping me alert and motivated to get things done today. Who knew?
watching
I’m still making my way through Younger on Netflix. I’m on the third season now.
The show is about a 40-year-old woman who is recently separated from her husband and heading for divorce. She is a Dartmouth graduate who gave up her career in publishing to be a stay-at-home mother and wife, and now that a divorce is looming, she has to figure out how to take care of herself.
She decides to get back into the world of publishing, but after a humiliating interview conducted by two millennials who see her as an ancient artifact, she is ready to give up hope.
After a chance meeting and hookup with a younger guy at a bar plus some encouragement from her best friend, she decides to pretend to be 26 so she can land a job in a publishing house.
The show is fun to watch. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and it isn’t overly preachy about the way ageism impacts women over 40.
This is, of course, told through the lens of a white woman, however, and while ageism has an impact on women of all races and ethnicities, I want to talk about the impact it has on Black women over 40 specifically, so at some point, I am going to get to that.
In the meantime, I’m going to keep watching this show because it’s good.
I’m going to get more writing done, eat something good, read some of my books, watch a few episodes of Younger, and get a good night's sleep.
I hope your Tuesday lands the way you want it to.
As I head into 53, I am thinking a lot about what it means to age in an industry filled with younger folks who, according to my (former) menses timeline, could literally be my children. I have to remind myself every day that I do have experience on my side, but they've grown up in a society that they have crafted, which allows them to call out toxicity in the workplace and advocate for themselves in ways I never could. I have lots of thoughts. I can't wait to hear yours!
Sidenote: You're looking good, Sis!
I find myself spending less time on social media too. I post content on IG, mostly because I enjoy making reels for the storytelling aspect of it. Facebook and other platforms are another story. I don’t miss Twitter that much, I am still easing my way into Bluesky, and like you, all of a sudden I have more time to write.