- Thank You For Being Here
- Posts
- Do you feel like yourself?
Hey! Hello. What’s good?
I relocated TYFBH to a different newsletter platform called beehiiv, and it has a slightly new look! During the recent mass migration away from Mailchimp, I watched many writers switch to Substack. Although it’s a popular and perfectly fine space to host a newsletter and have email content published like blogs, several of the ones I’m subscribed to are starting to look the same. The actual writing is what’s most important, but I do miss the visual uniqueness of each one.
Part of me wanted to avoid following that same path by trying another option. This is one of my quirks—a desire to do things a little differently.
This urge is amplified this year. My eyes glaze over more often thanks to how we regurgitate thought, content, style, and art. I’m worried about losing myself in everyone else and becoming one of the faceless men or no one or anyone.
We share similarities and are influenced by each other, but I’m more interested in how we embrace our individuality. Do you feel like yourself? I’m slowly starting to again.
Thank you for being here and being you,
Jenay
The Thank You For Being Here playlist has a few new songs! Not a Spotify user? Watch the music videos:
Pick Your Tears Up by Grace Carter
Here to Forever by Death Cab For Cutie
Moon/Sun by Trevor Hall
Work Flow
I’m testing a new workweek schedule because too much is happening in my personal life and head. Switching up how I move through each day will hopefully alleviate some stress. Here is a broad look at how I’m arranging my freelance calendar.
Monday: Admin stuff, pitch brainstorms, and personal projects
Tuesday - Thursday: Research, outlines, drafting, and edits for client projects. If I don’t have a client project, these days are like Monday. I rarely do Zoom or phone calls, but when I do, I limit them to these days.
Friday: I work a half day, and it’s primarily for personal content
I’m also trying to be quicker with tasks by continuing to streamline my processes with templates and automation. Not dwelling over a first draft for too long and mostly ignoring my phone frees some brain space too. To help assess my efficiency, I might use Toggl to help track how long it takes me to do tasks.
(Phone) Gamer Girl
To help dodge the overstimulation of social media, I’m playing games like Solitaire, Tetris, or Two Dots during brief periods of downtime. It’s another distraction, but at least it’s exercising my brain.
Adult Extracurriculars
Vadym joined a local U.S. Australian Football social club where he gets to train and play matches with other members. Watching him join that community and do something fun on weeknights has inspired me to try a new hobby. Something like indoor rock climbing, pottery, or rug tufting. What’s an “extracurricular” you enjoy that doesn’t involve a screen? Reply to this with your recommendations!
I started the year intending to post book reviews on Instagram again, but I might want to dedicate that time writing them for you instead. I’m really grateful for the free books publishers have sent me. With my tight budget, these gifts have allowed me to maintain my reading hobby. Below are my quick-fire reviews for the books I read in March.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (4 stars): While browsing the shelves at Half Price Books, I found a 25th-anniversary edition for seven bucks. The first time I read it was for a high school English class, and it’s one of the few assigned books I enjoyed as a student. Reading it as an adult resonated with me in new ways. I love the short chapters about Esperanza’s young, although harsh, life in Chicago and her hopes for escaping poverty. The story, at times, reads like poetry.
I’d Like to Play Alone, Please by Tom Segura (4 stars): When a publisher offered a free copy of this book, I said yes because Vadym is a fan of Tom’s comedy. He read this memoir last year, and I finally picked it off our shelf one afternoon. Tom’s comedy often pushes jokes to absurdity to get a reaction out of people, as comics do. I don’t find every joke funny, but he is someone whose Netflix specials I’ll watch. I often laughed while reading stories about his Peruvian mom and white dad, formative summers in Lima, celebrity encounters on planes, and not-so-glamourous career development. At one point, I had to stop reading it in bed because I didn’t want to wake up Vadym with my suppressed chuckles. (gifted copy)
Love Times Infinity by Lane Clarke (4.75 stars): Michie is a child born from sexual assault and raised by her grandmother after her mom gave her up at age 7. As she struggles to write her college application essays, feeling unworthy of most things, I love how her best friend, new love interest, group therapy friends, and grandmother rally around her. It’s a lesson in chosen family and overcoming deep family trauma. (gifted copy | Content warnings: discussions of sexual assault, abortion, alcoholism, abandonment, anxiety, and depression.)
The Power of Wonder: The Extraordinary Emotion That Will Change the Way You Live, Learn, and Lead by Monica C. Parker (3.5 stars): My brain was a little scrambled while reading this book, not because the writing needed to be more exciting or easier to understand. I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff and probably should have read a romance novel and revisited this. I appreciate learning the differences between the stages of wonder and a few ways to be more “wonderprone.” I’m inspired. Monica balanced science writing, anecdotes, and some beautiful paragraphs about being a human in this awe-filled world. (gifted copy)
*If you purchase from the above links, you’ll support independent bookstores and I’ll earn a tiny commission too. Thank you!
Extra. Extra.
6 Questions to Ask the Next Time You’re Having a Great Day (Wondermind)
Snippet: “When you’re not in the thick of a mental health spiral, you can actually take an aerial view and ask yourself some meaningful questions that you wouldn’t be able to when you’re just trying to get through the day.”
On creativity and curiosity — a conversation with Rachel Nguyen (How to Be a Woman on the Internet)
Snippet: “It's literally in our human nature to be influenced and inspired by things and each other, and that's amazing and wonderful and that's what we should all be mindful of. But it just gets to a point where, when we intake so much, have we paused to have comprehension of what we've understood and taken in?”
A Shortcut for Caring for Others (and Being Cared for Yourself) (Culture Study)
Snippet: “How can we acknowledge those ways that contemporary society has made it difficult to ask and receive help — aka to live in community — while also trying to build it anyway?”
How I Escaped The Wellness to Anti-Vax Pipeline (Healing Field Notes)
Snippet: “If we continue to believe that we spend or hack our way into wellness, we will remain unwell.”
On navigating womanhood (BFFR)
Snippet: “I’m learning to not feel guilt or shame around getting lost and feeling uncomfortable in my womanhood. I’m accepting that womanhood is not the stereotypical story that I’ve been fed all my life. It’s not just about being barefoot, married and pregnant.”
Look! I’m writing for a living. I’m ecstatic that it’s actually happening. Here are three of my recently published pieces.
I’m also working with a soon-to-launch Black women-owned candle brand for book lovers (how on brand is that for me?!). I’m excited to be diving deeper into my copywriting bag.
Movies
👻 I’ve watched most of the well-known Studio Ghibli films but had never watched Spirited Away until last month. Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films are masterpieces. I hope to attend at least one theater screening for Studio Ghibli Fest this year.
✨ I’ve never played D&D, but I looked forward to watching Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I was giddy with how fun it was to watch. There was a great balance of humor, heartfelt moments, and action. The cast was also a stellar mix. (Starring: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Regé Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Daisy Head, Hugh Grant, Chloe Coleman)
Series
Business Proposal was my introduction to K-dramas, and I adored it. It’s a funny, fake dating story with several complicated twists and turns. I ate it up. Whenever I inevitably watch it again, I won’t watch it dubbed in English so I can enjoy the actual voices of the actors. (Starring: Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Min-kyu, Seol In-ah)
😮 I was in constant awe while watching We Are the Champions, a documentary series featuring quirky competitions like chasing cheese down a steep hill, dog dancing, chili eating, and more. Narrated by Rainn Wilson, this was a fun reminder that our unique hobbies can bring people together.
The Last of Us is phenomenal. It’s also a trauma dump, so watch at your own risk. We waited until all the episodes were released to binge the debut season in a week. Turns out, the infected population wasn’t the only thing to be wary of. (Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, and so many other stars)
YouTube
I’m now uploading every other Friday! My next video is a Q&A related to why I love books.
🌳 The return of bright green leaves on trees
🌅 Later sunsets and warmer days
💕 Hosting out-of-town friends
👾 Playing arcade games
👋🏽 First friend dates that go well
💐 Long-lasting carnations
Reply