Back in 2015, I wrote about labeling people and then seeing them more narrowly — read it here! — and it got a few nice comments. I labeled myself a Spunky Old Broad, which actually fits pretty well. And over the intervening years, I’ve written a bunch of articles, mostly about communication skills (American grammar, business writing, interpersonal), but until a morning more than a year ago, I hadn’t considered returning to the theme. I did so with this post in October 2015 (updated here), after reading a few excellent posts written by some valued friends on LI.
Social media is a wild and wonderful place, full of fascinating people from all over this small planet of ours. But it’s becoming a little clearer to me — and perhaps to some of my contemporaries — that it’s a fast-moving and sometimes difficult world to keep up with!
In April 2016, I celebrated a milestone birthday, which I will not name, but it’s rather terrifying in its own way. Really? Me? How did this happen so quickly?
When we’re in our 20s, 30s, or 40s, we rarely look ahead to see what “older” might mean for us. If we’re smart, we live fully in the moment, knowing that life as we know it could end at any moment. We don’t often contemplate what it means to be older . . . until we are. Until we’re on the outside looking in at activities that don’t necessarily make much sense to us.
For many boomers, technology was transistor radios, TVs with no remotes (we had to physically get up off our butts and change the channel by turning a dial), and telephones that had live operators saying, “Number, please” when we picked up the phone’s handset.
And it seemed back then that time and technology moved more slowly. Yes, we saw the first moon landing, and we got news from around the globe every day, but I don’t remember feeling so rushed, so breathless, so out of it. Could that be because I was younger then and more in tune with what was happening? Did my parents feel as out of it then as I sometimes do now?
Lately the world seems to be moving even faster, every second of every day, and change is constant. Cell phones last maybe a year, then everyone wants a new one. TVs are the size of small elephants, and there’s never one big enough, cool enough, or techie enough for some. Social media has more ways to connect than ever, but are we gaining or losing because of that?
Marietta Gentles Crawford, CPRW got me going with her most excellent post — read it here! — on using Twitter for your personal brand. Now the title sounds easy enough, right? And I always read her posts, most of which I understand (or at least I think I do). But then I began reading. Hoo boy! I know I was probably overreacting, but it sounded like a lot of things I needed to do that I wasn’t doing (still not) and although it didn’t sound terribly difficult — it actually was for me. I did and do use Twitter, sort of. But honestly, I’m still not sure I totally get the “how” of what she wrote about, although I’m sure most of my connections will when they read it.
Then I read John White’s very surprising and heart-felt post — read it here! — on what we don’t usually post on social media. That one really hit a nerve. I could relate to so much of the feelings surrounding the points he made, and I’m sure you will be able to as well.
Finally I went looking for some comfort, which I so often still find with Sarah Elkins. The headline was a little scary — read it here! — but it ended up being exactly what I needed to read that morning. Sarah writes from the heart, and I really needed that to bring me down off the cliff I felt I was hanging from.
But with all this trauma, this Spunky Old Boomer Broad knew then and knows now that she’s gonna keep hanging on for a long time to come. Even if I don’t know all the ways to use Twitter / LI / Instagram / Pinterest / Niume / beBee / Medium / Thrive Global and so many others — I can still enjoy posting articles on communication and American grammar and hope that I’m helping a few folks along the way.
And I do love seeing what everyone else is posting; it’s like getting a semester abroad at college. I am constantly amused and amazed at the sheer variety of posts that come my way. What a wonderful world!
I’m happy to be a Spunky Old Boomer Broad. I just want to stay relevant.
Originally published at medium.com