This is the midweek edition of Culture Study — the newsletter from Anne Helen Petersen, which you can read about here. If you like it and want more like it in your inbox, consider subscribing. When I first arrived in New York for my job at BuzzFeed, everyone and everything was intimidating. My coworkers knew how to do things like effortlessly swipe their metrocards without holding up the entire line. They could wear heels and pull off cool haircuts and make elaborate meals from the snack closet. They knew how to make GIFs. I turned 33 on my second day and deleted my birthday on Facebook so no one would try to awkwardly celebrate or, you know, actually know the number. I liked my age then and I like my age now but I don’t like my age defining me, which is what it felt like it would do in those early days.
So the discussion of the "unlearning" that us 90s teens have to do reminded me of a conversation I had with my 9-year-old son the other day. He's having a hard time with the world in general (same, who can blame him, we all are, etc), and I was trying to relate to him by telling him that I had a hard time as a kid because I got bullied a lot. After waiting a beat or two, he said, "I've know about bullying, but I thought that was something that only happened in TV shows." That comment slammed into my brain like a freight train. I feel like my kid is growing up on a different planet than the one I grew up on.
I am in architecture, not in media, but this sentence really resonated with me.
"So what I realized was that, in the context of being a late bloomer, BuzzFeed was the thing that I had been conditioned to want, career-wise, but that actually was not right for me."
I have been thinking a lot about what we are conditioned to want in our careers and why I feel so far behind. I did a lot of work that sounds cool and impressive! But the thought of doing it for the rest of my career filled me with dread. So I guess I'm still trying to find a little niche that I can bloom in. I'm in my mid 30's so hopefully I still have time.
I am going to be that person. You know Dorree???!! Dorree edited the only essay of mine that ever went viral-ish when she was at BuzzFeed, and it was a wonderful, professionalizing experience. Just the best of working with an editor. I love love love reading this and am getting that book immediately :)
I just really appreciated this interview. I've been thinking a lot lately about how do I walk the line between reveling in my age and not letting it define me (and working to truly internalize that this is a thing that is allowed!) and also keeping up with changing culture and technologies. I'm someone who is invested in pop culture in some ways, and I want to continuously relearn to understand the world I'm a part of..... but also, as I asked recently on twitter: are the only options to be at least partially out of touch or to be "try hard"?
so that's a bit of a jump off from the interview, but what do y'all think?
So the discussion of the "unlearning" that us 90s teens have to do reminded me of a conversation I had with my 9-year-old son the other day. He's having a hard time with the world in general (same, who can blame him, we all are, etc), and I was trying to relate to him by telling him that I had a hard time as a kid because I got bullied a lot. After waiting a beat or two, he said, "I've know about bullying, but I thought that was something that only happened in TV shows." That comment slammed into my brain like a freight train. I feel like my kid is growing up on a different planet than the one I grew up on.
I am in architecture, not in media, but this sentence really resonated with me.
"So what I realized was that, in the context of being a late bloomer, BuzzFeed was the thing that I had been conditioned to want, career-wise, but that actually was not right for me."
I have been thinking a lot about what we are conditioned to want in our careers and why I feel so far behind. I did a lot of work that sounds cool and impressive! But the thought of doing it for the rest of my career filled me with dread. So I guess I'm still trying to find a little niche that I can bloom in. I'm in my mid 30's so hopefully I still have time.
I am going to be that person. You know Dorree???!! Dorree edited the only essay of mine that ever went viral-ish when she was at BuzzFeed, and it was a wonderful, professionalizing experience. Just the best of working with an editor. I love love love reading this and am getting that book immediately :)
I just really appreciated this interview. I've been thinking a lot lately about how do I walk the line between reveling in my age and not letting it define me (and working to truly internalize that this is a thing that is allowed!) and also keeping up with changing culture and technologies. I'm someone who is invested in pop culture in some ways, and I want to continuously relearn to understand the world I'm a part of..... but also, as I asked recently on twitter: are the only options to be at least partially out of touch or to be "try hard"?
so that's a bit of a jump off from the interview, but what do y'all think?
Really looking forward to reading Doree's book! And I loved how much your friendship shines through in the intro and interview :)
As a former media person transitioning into academia, I have the opposite problem in terms of "showing [my] work," lol
I just followed Doree and can't wait to read her book!