When we need to get the word out, a line or a paragraph in places like Notes or Bluesky might just be the way to do it. Who knows what it could lead to.
Excellent, thank you! But first, I am so sorry to hear about your current health condition, which is a new one to me. And I hear it can be caused by stress. I have to say, I nearly had a stroke over the election--constant heart pounding, stomach in a knot, lying awake at night, trying to think of Some Words that would clear the skies and Save Our Democracy.
I read that it can be overcome, says Cleveland Clinic, so I'll hold out hope for you!
I had to take a break and I'm calmed down now, but I still have Opinion Itch. This post helps!
Meanwhile, check out the TED talk with Dr Sarah Hallberg: "Reversing Type 2 Diabetes starts with Ignoring the Guidelines."
Thanks so much, Rondi. I think I’m in good hands with my medical team. They’re awesome and so caring! I didn’t realize how long the recovery would take, but on the other hand I’m glad they’re not rushing through the process.
But yes, stress could have done it. Stress is a self-induced thing in my life. I don’t have a cat and don’t intend to get one. I don’t do yoga. I don’t meditate. I stew about politics. That’s been my thing since before I came of age, which was way back in the mid-fifties, when we women/girls weren’t supposed to worry our pretty little heads about such things.
I came from a Democratic blue-collar union family. We had to worry about such things.
I have hopes that we elders will be used as advisors at some point. We were there at the beginning. We've been there throughout. We didn't all live in caves or succumb to the rightwing noise machine.
Indeed, history is rarely considered a real Prologue! What's interesting, however, is how Trump is considered so hefty with smarts, and he is fast approaching 80, definitely showing signs of insanity.
You know it blows my mind that my mother was born in 1922 on a farm in southwestern Minnesota, at home, her Dutch immigrant, father, plowing the land with horses. And since that time our country has become a twisted mix of constant breakthroughs in science, recognition of wrongs in our past beginning to be acknowledged and corrected, more women than men in college, people our age still vital, vibrant, and with a bit of wisdom… And then, through the constant degrading of our intelligence through media and our health through processed food and a poisoned environment, we now find ourselves on the brink of self-destruction. Mom would have been 102.
My own mother was born in 1918, the year of the flu epidemic, but her family lived in the boonies in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and it missed them. My dad was born in Canada in1911. Neither of them had running water or sanitation facilities. My mom could only go to the eighth grade before her father made her quit and become a house cleaner. My dad made it to the tenth grade before he quit to work in a steel mill. We owe it to all of them to make this a better place.
Thanks Ramona. My need for attention, which I frankly didn't know I had until I started posting on Post.news - which went under - and then switched to Substack, seems to be eased primarily with Notes rather than my long form posts.
The long form posts, carefully curated with a painting or a close to anonymous photo, obviously take a lot longer to prepare and write than a quick, usually snarky, note. And while I am very happy with my little list of faithful subscribers, I rarely have more than a few likes or comments on long form posts so I get my clicks craving satisfied with commenting on and re-stacking other people's work.
I will continue to create little essays about my anonymous life and continue to hide behind my silly handle, as it seems to work as a form of therapy. But I am going to start putting a little more thought and effort in Notes on Substack.
I looked up synonyms for anonymous before posting this, realizing I used the word twice in a short space, and one of the definitions was "having no or unusual interesting features". I will have to think about whether that is my intent here on Substack after all. To go beige, to camouflage my otherwise interesting features. Safer that way, I suppose.
Amazing! I've only recently started to use Bluesky much and haven't been using Notes enough. I think it's partly about where you put your energy, though Notes does seem to be a good place so far.
I've been thinking more about the Notes function lately too. I dismissed it at first as a copycat reaction to slake people's TwitX thirst while on Substack. I learned later that I could discover unique perspectives, connect with like-minded users, get glimpses of people's work I would have ordinarily missed, expose others to my particular literary voice in turn and connect with much better writers, like you.
As for indies taking over from corporate media, I'd argue it already has and we just haven't appreciated it. Tweets, viral videos on YouTube and TikTok, conspiracy theorists and their detractors, and more already drive and create the news cycle. If anything, legacy media is chasing to catch up and ride the shirttails of independent online activities and has been for a while.
It seems the only thing holding back the inevitable toppling of corporate media is indies with similar goals and talents working together like a cooperative. A semi-loose collection of smaller, focused, nimble, geographically dispersed indies combines the local attention to detail, while assembling those stories to create a national mosaic. IMO, if this happens organically or deliberately, corporate news is doomed.
I don't use Notes at all and have no intention. I prefer guts to grabs. I left Twitter the minute Musk took over. I will not join Bluesky. Everything becomes repetitive because one speaks to the same folk over and over - same on Facebook. People say something on FB and link it to X or Bluesky and it's a pile of lemmings over there with writers dashing to Bluesky. The social media are all echo-chambers and I have a need for my own quiet thought these days.
As to democracy, from a country with a much more pure democracy (Australia), I'd say democracy is now in shreds in the States and I wish all those who will fight for its return, good luck and will be rooting for you.
Thanks, Prue. I really like both Notes and Bluesky but they're not for everyone. I liked Twitter too, before Elon. It was where I found so many people I hadn't known before but now will follow anywhere. 🙂
Oh, Ramona, I’m so sorry to hear about your health and the depression, all of which I identify with mightily, even if the dimensions of my recent health problems are different, as are the targets of my anger. And I’m glad to see you fighting, pushing back - no, we shouldn’t be normalizing Trump. At all.
With Notes, my use is very sporadic, mostly for practical reasons, and I’m staying off Bluesky for the moment. I like Notes, and I think it’s used innovatively on Substack, yet social media remains a huge time sink for me. I feel the algorithms at work, nudging me to keep reacting, to stay glued to a screen, while the limited attention for the writing I love doing is fractured. These days, I’ve needed to spend less time online and to focus on the writing and thinking that are most satisfying to me.
I think self-expression in its many forms is a way to grab back a sense of agency - whether it’s short bursts of “opinion itch,” as Rondi put it, or deeper explorations that never appear on public venues. I love your fierceness, Ramona, and appreciate the way you keeping putting yourself out there in words, short or long 😉
We all need to face the days ahead in our own way. Right now I’m too frantic and frazzled, both in my personal and my political life, to do any kind of long writing.
I need both Notes and Bluesky, but I get it that not everyone does. They’re where I feel most grounded, where I feel safest, if that makes any sense. I’ve surrounded myself with like-minded folks and I’ve done it on purpose. It’s always been true that I think my best thoughts while I’m in the midst of my community.
We help each other to cope and to understand. Many of us have been in these political trenches for a very long time. For decades. We carry this weight not because we want to, but because we have to. We can’t let go of any of it—not after we’ve worked so hard to gain it.
It feels like death now, a betrayal so harsh it might have laid me low if not for the presence of like-minded writers who are also working to lift up rather than knock down, who are also committed to getting the truth out, and who are generous in their commitment to those truths.
We are the good guys, all of us who call each other friends. We work for good. Because if we don’t do it, who will?
Hey Ramona - you nailed it about Notes. It's like finding a perfect little coffee shop where all the interesting people hang out. I'm here almost every day, poking around, finding these gems of thought that make me stop and think.
You know how it is - you're scrolling along and suddenly there's this Note that hits you just right, like finding a dollar bill in an old jacket pocket. When that happens, I can't help but jump in - a like here, a restack there, sometimes a whole conversation starts up.
It's funny, really. I started out just dipping my toes in, but now I'm swimming in the deep end, posting my own stuff, sharing what catches my eye. And the people I've met! Every time I follow someone new because their Note grabbed me, it's like adding another regular to my favorite neighborhood spot.
Simple as it sounds, it's this back-and-forth that keeps me coming back. No fancy algorithms, no viral trends - just folks sharing what's on their minds. Pretty nice setup we've got here, don't you think?
Yes, exactly. Perfect. See my response to Martha Nichols here for more on the political aspects. (I'm posting it on Notes, too) I need Notes and I'm thankful every day that it exists.
You are speaking truth to power in the best sense. And I think you are absolutely right about the need for community in order to resist. In fact, I’m going to quote you in a Note now.
I wasn't on Twitter before it imploded, so I sure as shoot didn't sign up after. I'm not on Bluesky or Threads for similar reasons. I do enjoy Notes and appreciate when I discover an affinity for someone new, but I don't have time for it the way some folks seem to have. That or I'm not an efficient reader/responder. I do restack, delve deeper, make a point of creating community in ways I am able.
I, too, had a recent Note gather much more steam than anything I've posted there before or since. It was a bit of man-spleen venting based on the experience of a friend's daughter. It's been a little heady but also a little weird. The folks engaging don't know anything about me, don't know that I only fling out strong opinions like that in fits and starts, or understand that I am truer to myself when I stay in the bridge-builder space. Mostly there was overwhelming support, but there were a few offended and offensive responses.
I've known for some time and have written, on occasion, about how moral outrage drives engagement while simultaneously helping us affirm our own positions and, as you offer, spread the word about a particular injustice. The trouble is that everyone does it, an algorithm's support it, to the point that every platform ends up consumed by it. I worry that it can work at cross purposes. If the fire alarms are always sounding (which, I grant you, often feels justified) how do we know when it really is time to exit the building?
I'm sorry you're having to fuss with health hiccups, Ramona, and hope you and your medical team can find just the solutions your body needs in the weeks ahead.
I’m not going on BlueSky because I got so much of my brain back when I got off Twitter and Facebook. Substack decided to make a Twitter and I like it here, so I’m trying to use it as “seasoning” and for encouraging and supporting writers I follow (I try to keep it to my “following” tab).
I have a note I tossed off in a fit of pique and it has 10k+ likes and doubled my free sub base in two weeks. While I’m grateful for everyone that’s joined, I hope folks are actually reading the long things I write. Long form has given my love of writing back to me.
As far as mental health, it is a struggle. If you are able, commit to 10 mins of gentle movement a day that’s meditative. Could be restorative yoga or just stretching. Make sure you give yourself time off the devices. We are all struggling at this moment so give yourself a lot of leeway, but as the days wear on, we all need breaks. 💕 hang in there
What's your bluesky handle? I'm mdoriarussell
Never mind. Found you!
Found you back! yay!
Excellent, thank you! But first, I am so sorry to hear about your current health condition, which is a new one to me. And I hear it can be caused by stress. I have to say, I nearly had a stroke over the election--constant heart pounding, stomach in a knot, lying awake at night, trying to think of Some Words that would clear the skies and Save Our Democracy.
I read that it can be overcome, says Cleveland Clinic, so I'll hold out hope for you!
I had to take a break and I'm calmed down now, but I still have Opinion Itch. This post helps!
Meanwhile, check out the TED talk with Dr Sarah Hallberg: "Reversing Type 2 Diabetes starts with Ignoring the Guidelines."
Get better soon -- we need you!
Thanks so much, Rondi. I think I’m in good hands with my medical team. They’re awesome and so caring! I didn’t realize how long the recovery would take, but on the other hand I’m glad they’re not rushing through the process.
But yes, stress could have done it. Stress is a self-induced thing in my life. I don’t have a cat and don’t intend to get one. I don’t do yoga. I don’t meditate. I stew about politics. That’s been my thing since before I came of age, which was way back in the mid-fifties, when we women/girls weren’t supposed to worry our pretty little heads about such things.
I came from a Democratic blue-collar union family. We had to worry about such things.
Yes, I thought I was bulletproof but evidently at 78. I’m not… Glad to know you are well taken care of!
I have hopes that we elders will be used as advisors at some point. We were there at the beginning. We've been there throughout. We didn't all live in caves or succumb to the rightwing noise machine.
Our insights and opinions should matter.
Indeed, history is rarely considered a real Prologue! What's interesting, however, is how Trump is considered so hefty with smarts, and he is fast approaching 80, definitely showing signs of insanity.
You know it blows my mind that my mother was born in 1922 on a farm in southwestern Minnesota, at home, her Dutch immigrant, father, plowing the land with horses. And since that time our country has become a twisted mix of constant breakthroughs in science, recognition of wrongs in our past beginning to be acknowledged and corrected, more women than men in college, people our age still vital, vibrant, and with a bit of wisdom… And then, through the constant degrading of our intelligence through media and our health through processed food and a poisoned environment, we now find ourselves on the brink of self-destruction. Mom would have been 102.
My own mother was born in 1918, the year of the flu epidemic, but her family lived in the boonies in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and it missed them. My dad was born in Canada in1911. Neither of them had running water or sanitation facilities. My mom could only go to the eighth grade before her father made her quit and become a house cleaner. My dad made it to the tenth grade before he quit to work in a steel mill. We owe it to all of them to make this a better place.
I'm just glad that neither parent is alive to experience the insanity, cruelty and criminality in today's world.
Thanks Ramona. My need for attention, which I frankly didn't know I had until I started posting on Post.news - which went under - and then switched to Substack, seems to be eased primarily with Notes rather than my long form posts.
The long form posts, carefully curated with a painting or a close to anonymous photo, obviously take a lot longer to prepare and write than a quick, usually snarky, note. And while I am very happy with my little list of faithful subscribers, I rarely have more than a few likes or comments on long form posts so I get my clicks craving satisfied with commenting on and re-stacking other people's work.
I will continue to create little essays about my anonymous life and continue to hide behind my silly handle, as it seems to work as a form of therapy. But I am going to start putting a little more thought and effort in Notes on Substack.
I looked up synonyms for anonymous before posting this, realizing I used the word twice in a short space, and one of the definitions was "having no or unusual interesting features". I will have to think about whether that is my intent here on Substack after all. To go beige, to camouflage my otherwise interesting features. Safer that way, I suppose.
LOL, AB, I have a feeling you're not going for the beige. At least I hope not!
Come on! You know you want to!
Amazing! I've only recently started to use Bluesky much and haven't been using Notes enough. I think it's partly about where you put your energy, though Notes does seem to be a good place so far.
I've been thinking more about the Notes function lately too. I dismissed it at first as a copycat reaction to slake people's TwitX thirst while on Substack. I learned later that I could discover unique perspectives, connect with like-minded users, get glimpses of people's work I would have ordinarily missed, expose others to my particular literary voice in turn and connect with much better writers, like you.
As for indies taking over from corporate media, I'd argue it already has and we just haven't appreciated it. Tweets, viral videos on YouTube and TikTok, conspiracy theorists and their detractors, and more already drive and create the news cycle. If anything, legacy media is chasing to catch up and ride the shirttails of independent online activities and has been for a while.
It seems the only thing holding back the inevitable toppling of corporate media is indies with similar goals and talents working together like a cooperative. A semi-loose collection of smaller, focused, nimble, geographically dispersed indies combines the local attention to detail, while assembling those stories to create a national mosaic. IMO, if this happens organically or deliberately, corporate news is doomed.
Let's hope they think so, too.
Congrats on going viral! But I don’t think I’ve been using notes enough to get my message out there
I don't use Notes at all and have no intention. I prefer guts to grabs. I left Twitter the minute Musk took over. I will not join Bluesky. Everything becomes repetitive because one speaks to the same folk over and over - same on Facebook. People say something on FB and link it to X or Bluesky and it's a pile of lemmings over there with writers dashing to Bluesky. The social media are all echo-chambers and I have a need for my own quiet thought these days.
As to democracy, from a country with a much more pure democracy (Australia), I'd say democracy is now in shreds in the States and I wish all those who will fight for its return, good luck and will be rooting for you.
Thanks, Prue. I really like both Notes and Bluesky but they're not for everyone. I liked Twitter too, before Elon. It was where I found so many people I hadn't known before but now will follow anywhere. 🙂
Oh, Ramona, I’m so sorry to hear about your health and the depression, all of which I identify with mightily, even if the dimensions of my recent health problems are different, as are the targets of my anger. And I’m glad to see you fighting, pushing back - no, we shouldn’t be normalizing Trump. At all.
With Notes, my use is very sporadic, mostly for practical reasons, and I’m staying off Bluesky for the moment. I like Notes, and I think it’s used innovatively on Substack, yet social media remains a huge time sink for me. I feel the algorithms at work, nudging me to keep reacting, to stay glued to a screen, while the limited attention for the writing I love doing is fractured. These days, I’ve needed to spend less time online and to focus on the writing and thinking that are most satisfying to me.
I think self-expression in its many forms is a way to grab back a sense of agency - whether it’s short bursts of “opinion itch,” as Rondi put it, or deeper explorations that never appear on public venues. I love your fierceness, Ramona, and appreciate the way you keeping putting yourself out there in words, short or long 😉
We all need to face the days ahead in our own way. Right now I’m too frantic and frazzled, both in my personal and my political life, to do any kind of long writing.
I need both Notes and Bluesky, but I get it that not everyone does. They’re where I feel most grounded, where I feel safest, if that makes any sense. I’ve surrounded myself with like-minded folks and I’ve done it on purpose. It’s always been true that I think my best thoughts while I’m in the midst of my community.
We help each other to cope and to understand. Many of us have been in these political trenches for a very long time. For decades. We carry this weight not because we want to, but because we have to. We can’t let go of any of it—not after we’ve worked so hard to gain it.
It feels like death now, a betrayal so harsh it might have laid me low if not for the presence of like-minded writers who are also working to lift up rather than knock down, who are also committed to getting the truth out, and who are generous in their commitment to those truths.
We are the good guys, all of us who call each other friends. We work for good. Because if we don’t do it, who will?
Hey Ramona - you nailed it about Notes. It's like finding a perfect little coffee shop where all the interesting people hang out. I'm here almost every day, poking around, finding these gems of thought that make me stop and think.
You know how it is - you're scrolling along and suddenly there's this Note that hits you just right, like finding a dollar bill in an old jacket pocket. When that happens, I can't help but jump in - a like here, a restack there, sometimes a whole conversation starts up.
It's funny, really. I started out just dipping my toes in, but now I'm swimming in the deep end, posting my own stuff, sharing what catches my eye. And the people I've met! Every time I follow someone new because their Note grabbed me, it's like adding another regular to my favorite neighborhood spot.
Simple as it sounds, it's this back-and-forth that keeps me coming back. No fancy algorithms, no viral trends - just folks sharing what's on their minds. Pretty nice setup we've got here, don't you think?
Yes, exactly. Perfect. See my response to Martha Nichols here for more on the political aspects. (I'm posting it on Notes, too) I need Notes and I'm thankful every day that it exists.
You are speaking truth to power in the best sense. And I think you are absolutely right about the need for community in order to resist. In fact, I’m going to quote you in a Note now.
Thanks, Martha. Our words matter. Sharing our words matters. This is how our communities work best.
I wasn't on Twitter before it imploded, so I sure as shoot didn't sign up after. I'm not on Bluesky or Threads for similar reasons. I do enjoy Notes and appreciate when I discover an affinity for someone new, but I don't have time for it the way some folks seem to have. That or I'm not an efficient reader/responder. I do restack, delve deeper, make a point of creating community in ways I am able.
I, too, had a recent Note gather much more steam than anything I've posted there before or since. It was a bit of man-spleen venting based on the experience of a friend's daughter. It's been a little heady but also a little weird. The folks engaging don't know anything about me, don't know that I only fling out strong opinions like that in fits and starts, or understand that I am truer to myself when I stay in the bridge-builder space. Mostly there was overwhelming support, but there were a few offended and offensive responses.
I've known for some time and have written, on occasion, about how moral outrage drives engagement while simultaneously helping us affirm our own positions and, as you offer, spread the word about a particular injustice. The trouble is that everyone does it, an algorithm's support it, to the point that every platform ends up consumed by it. I worry that it can work at cross purposes. If the fire alarms are always sounding (which, I grant you, often feels justified) how do we know when it really is time to exit the building?
I'm sorry you're having to fuss with health hiccups, Ramona, and hope you and your medical team can find just the solutions your body needs in the weeks ahead.
I’m not going on BlueSky because I got so much of my brain back when I got off Twitter and Facebook. Substack decided to make a Twitter and I like it here, so I’m trying to use it as “seasoning” and for encouraging and supporting writers I follow (I try to keep it to my “following” tab).
I have a note I tossed off in a fit of pique and it has 10k+ likes and doubled my free sub base in two weeks. While I’m grateful for everyone that’s joined, I hope folks are actually reading the long things I write. Long form has given my love of writing back to me.
As far as mental health, it is a struggle. If you are able, commit to 10 mins of gentle movement a day that’s meditative. Could be restorative yoga or just stretching. Make sure you give yourself time off the devices. We are all struggling at this moment so give yourself a lot of leeway, but as the days wear on, we all need breaks. 💕 hang in there