Drama

& how I ignore it + more.

People I work with tell me I’m very organized. Just this morning a friend said that to me with a heart-eyed emoji. I replied, “Girl, if I wasn’t I’d be bare-assed crazy.”

It’s true. But this isn’t about being organized, exactly. It’s about allowing (or not) yourself to get caught up in other people’s drama. The organized bit comes in here: I use labels in my gmail. I have one that’s “Inspiration” that I used on a newsletter from Simplify Magazine I read a few minutes ago called “The Two Minute Morning”. I guess I have a thing for reading pieces telling me how to instill positive intention into my life. It’s a great little article (clink the link to read it) and I’m going to try the exercise it recommends. After applying the label I thought, hmmm. I haven’t looked in that folder in a long time. So I looked to see what was my very first entry into “Inspiration”. It’s from 2012 newsletter that no longer exists, about controversy between people on Google+ (remember G+?), the nasty comments, the blocking that ensued, etc. Nothing has changed since then, huh. But this is what really hit home in that piece:

“Don't let yourself get caught up in the whirlwind of other people's emotions if it's not a state you want to be in.

When you're connected with people that just aren't aligned with what's important to you, then friction is created. Disharmony. Both you and them end up frustrated in various ways.

Even though it might be upsetting to have someone 'dump you', it's actually a blessing. It allows you to get on with your life without those frustrating distractions, and it allows you the space to find other people who you CAN connect with. People whose values you're aligned with.”

Such good advice. Over the years on social media and in real life, I’ve had to distance myself from people who frustrate me, gaslight me, or make me feel negatively. I have no problem doing this, never regret it, because my own emotional and mental health is a priority. I’m pretty good at curating my social media so I rarely see discourse or real negativity. We are allowed to opine now and then. I’m talking about toxic trash. In doing this selective curating I have built an online community that I enjoy - even if I don’t always agree with them. Hell, I don’t want to live in a bubble where everyone thinks exactly like me! How boring that would be.

It feels like a good many people I follow are leaving Twitter, a site that has really helped me connect with other writers. I don’t plan to leave because I haven’t had any of the problems others are upset over. Plus, WTH do I need with yet another SM site to grow and maintain? I feel like what Twitter is doing is similar to the company you work for doing a restructure. Most people my age have been through a few restructures or new owners. They always have to shake things up and do things their way. I’m flexible. It will probably work out.

On another subject, I recently made the long list for Micro Madness. My piece, “It Skipped Like a Stone Casually Flung”, is a reaction to the innocent people killed by errant bullets way too often in my city and others. My friend Sheree Shatsky also made the long list (scroll). My writer friends Jennifer Fliss, Christy Tending, and Dan Crawley made the short list. You can read or hear them read here. This is my third or fourth year participating in Micro Madness. It’s free to submit and it’s always a challenge to get a story down in such a short form. All of the selected pieces are stellar.

This is me on Flash Frontier’s YouTube reading my micro.

What have you published recently? Don’t be shy. Leave a link in the comments.