I was laid off on Wednesday. Am I lost? No, far from it. For the first time in my life, I truly believe in myself and my ability to overcome speedbumps like a layoff.
Am I wandering? Absolutely. I’ve never been laid off before. This is new territory, but this is also my normal.
Most of the things I’ve ever done, and done well, I’ve been thrown into (or thrown myself into it) full-force. I’ll never forget my first journalism boss, Don Hudson, and the way he smiled at me as he said he liked to throw interns “into the deep end” and watch them swim. He surely did that to me, and I’ll forever be grateful to him for the lessons I learned about what it means to work hard, to get the story and to have an eye for what really matters to folks.
“Journalism is about people. That’s why people read it,” he said to me more than once as I was trying to figure out how the frick to write a decent lede.
(For the unfamiliar, the lede is the first sentence of a news story. It’s like the hook of a song except it inspires the reader to keep reading).
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.”
Would you have considered the Israelites “lost” on their 40-year journey through the wilderness? In the end, they found the Promised Land. Were they wanderers or victors?
I mention this story as a means to challenge what it means to be lost, what it means to wander and what the idea of a “promised land” really means. Take my hand as I invite you to view being lost from a morally neutral point of view
I’m not sure what purpose this story serves except to let y’all know that I’m going to be alright, and I’m definitely going to keep writing. I am experiencing a season of being professionally and economically “unmoored” in a turbulent sea, but this ship is still sailing.
So what are you doing on Substack, Anna?
Over the years I’ve had several folks tell me they wanted to see something regularly written by me that included some of my thoughts on things, so I guess that’s what this Substack will become. I want to still talk about the news and offer some reading recommendations for those who enjoyed that aspect of my previous work.
Without further adieu, I’m going to get to what I’ve been reading this week, both in the news and in my own leisure. I don’t talk enough about the fun stuff I do, and I want to, so I’m going to.
In the know (news you need to read):
Once a news hound, always a news hound. The world is wild, and the allure of all the simultaneous death and birth and rebirth happening in humanity is what has kept me in journalism for a decade now. There’s so much to know, learn and do in the world these days that’s it’s hard to know what to focus on.
I don’t have the answers for the perfect or “correct” way to do news coverage or consumption. But I do know what catches my eye, and there may be something I noticed that you didn’t. That being said, I hope you learn something from these headlines from the last week that have kept me questioning:
Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Israeli Embassy in Washington, Air Force Says, The New York Times
Supreme Court Seems Open to Tech Companies’ Challenge to Social Media Laws, The New York Times
Haley isn’t dropping out. But the end may be near., Politico
It’s my pleasure (the fun stuff):
The weight of life is heavy. I’m learning that it’s ok to step away for a while—however long that while may be—to reset your head. My life has been a *lot* lately, and I’m really quite weary of all the pain in the world. This isn’t to say that I want to avoid reality, but I also do, for short periods of time in the day.
Finding this balance between reality and fantasy has been something I’ve been trying to find in the last 6 months. Here’s the lighter side of media I’ve been enjoying this week:
“Young Sheldon”
I’ve never seen “The Big Bang Theory,” but I just started watching “Young Sheldon” this week. I’m obsessed, mainly because I see so much of my own nerdiness reflected in the character of young Sheldon Cooper.
Should I watch “TBBT”? Y’all let me know if you think I would like it.
“One Piece”
I watched the “One Piece” live-action remake released on Netflix this past fall, and it triggered my interest in this wildly popular anime and manga series. I downloaded the first book of the manga series on my Kindle, and I’ve been reading it before bed instead of scrolling social media. I admit it’s not been every night, but I bought the Kindle with the intention of reading more before bed. We’ll see how that pseudo new year’s resolution goes.
The Most Ridiculous Sh*t of 2024
I started a humorous video series on my TikTok. Honestly, this series is not the place for world-changing news. It’s more for those absurd moments like the Alabama man who got stuck in a pot at a New Year’s Eve party and the unholy memes you heathens made about allegations of the late Stephen Hawking visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.
You can check out my TikTok here for nothing serious.
Thank you
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Keep wandering ;)
Anna