Ups, Downs, and In-Betweens! Plus, Allison Gunn
A Monday morning hello.
Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a good start. Last week was full of ups and downs for me.
On one hand, it was warm and sunny and I went on long walks with my husband and watched TV while snuggled up with my kid and listened to great music and had four really interesting, inspiring interviews. But on the other, my sinuses were going apeshit, my head was pounding off and on all week, and I was on the constant verge of a news-induced panic attack.
Also, is anyone else exhausted by hustle culture? I love my work. I truly love, love, love working on Creative Reverberations. It is the most soul-filling, inspiring, enjoyable work I’ve done in a long time. And if I could just do the interviews, post them, and go on with my day, it would be heavenly. But so much of this work depends on marketing and social media and fighting an algorithm and wondering why my post isn’t getting as many likes or shares or follows as that person’s post.
For me, sharing my work on social media feels akin to jumping up and down in a loud, crowded room and screaming, “Look at me! Over here!” while more popular kids with better hair and flashier content are getting all the attention. As an introvert, the “look at me” aspect goes against my nature and as a super-sensitive introvert, the lack of engagement makes me question my abilities.
I assume there are many others out there in the same boat. I can’t be the only one who loathes the self-promo part of writing life. It’s just hard and exhausting and I envy those who have the money to hire social media people to do this stuff for them.
Sigh.
This post on Instagram sums up my week pretty well. It made me laugh.
I hope you had a chance to check out my chat with Dana Schneider. I loved that she had a dream to work in movies, took a chance, and persevered until she found success. I’m also a big fan of her work and have my eye on some of her Etsy pieces… Later this week I’ll share my interview with Allison Gunn, whose debut novel, Nowhere, is wonderfully creepy.
Wishing you a wonderful week full of all the good things! Thank you for reading!