Thank you for this, Rose. I’m so grateful I found your words here. I’ve been struggling with my creative work because I feel so much pressure to show up as an old version of me, and for my writing to sound the same as it used to. And it’s like that caricature is louder and more confident than the current me? It’s been tough and it’s felt messy, so I just stopped writing for a time. I trust I’ll find my way back but the sadness and uncertainty I feel around writing and publishing has me all disoriented. In any case, I’m grateful for your thoughts and questions because they’re drawing me into a deeper and more honest conversation with myself.
Hello Bethaney, thank you for sharing part of your journey reflecting on this post with me. Sending prayers for a gentle landing as you greet this new version of you and find space to listen to her voice on the page. I also pray through this poem from Lucille Clifton https://nataliejabbar.wordpress.com/tag/new-bones-by-lucille-clifton/
Whew chile not me being read like a book. I hear your voice in these words, calling me into a fullness of being that can be truncated, contorted, and definitely caricatured into "a brand". And it's something I've been paying attention to, just not always with these words.
Sidenote: *caricature* is a word I used in a Benie & Bell story draft recently. It feels very... connected...to come upon it here. 💙
I am reading Emergent Strategy! Any connections you would like to make between it and social media…or anything else, really.❤️ Rose, your exploration of the word “branding” is going to be working in me for a long time. Thank you.
Thank you for this, Rose. I’m so grateful I found your words here. I’ve been struggling with my creative work because I feel so much pressure to show up as an old version of me, and for my writing to sound the same as it used to. And it’s like that caricature is louder and more confident than the current me? It’s been tough and it’s felt messy, so I just stopped writing for a time. I trust I’ll find my way back but the sadness and uncertainty I feel around writing and publishing has me all disoriented. In any case, I’m grateful for your thoughts and questions because they’re drawing me into a deeper and more honest conversation with myself.
Hello Bethaney, thank you for sharing part of your journey reflecting on this post with me. Sending prayers for a gentle landing as you greet this new version of you and find space to listen to her voice on the page. I also pray through this poem from Lucille Clifton https://nataliejabbar.wordpress.com/tag/new-bones-by-lucille-clifton/
Yes - it'll be one of the upcoming Benie & Bell microstories I publish here 😁
Whew chile not me being read like a book. I hear your voice in these words, calling me into a fullness of being that can be truncated, contorted, and definitely caricatured into "a brand". And it's something I've been paying attention to, just not always with these words.
Sidenote: *caricature* is a word I used in a Benie & Bell story draft recently. It feels very... connected...to come upon it here. 💙
Nyaaaa! I am so blessed by your comment. I am so glad this piece resonated with you in this way.
I am intrigued by this story draft! Will you be sharing it somewhere soon?
I am reading Emergent Strategy! Any connections you would like to make between it and social media…or anything else, really.❤️ Rose, your exploration of the word “branding” is going to be working in me for a long time. Thank you.
You're welcome, Cristina! I know I will keep coming back to ES. That book is a gamechanger. I hope you're enjoying it.
I love the concept of tracing lightly. Thank you for these reflections!
You're welcome, Aly!🪶🙏🏾
"Behind my questions was another question: Am I allowed to change?"
That is the question!