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This Spunky Old Boomer Broad Is Hanging On By Her Fingernails

A few months ago, I wrote about labeling people and then seeing them more narrowly — read it here — and it got a few nice comments. I labeled myself a Spunky Old Broad, which actually fits pretty well. And over the intervening months, I’ve written about a bunch of things, mostly communication skills (American grammar, business writing), but until this morning when I read a few posts from LI friends and colleagues, I hadn’t considered returning to the theme.

Social media is a wild and wonderful place, full of fascinating people from all over this small planet of ours. But it’s becoming a little clearer to me — and perhaps to some of my contemporaries — that it’s a fast-moving and sometimes difficult game to keep up with!

In April 2019, I will celebrate another milestone birthday, which I will not name, but it’s rather terrifying in its own way. When we’re in our 20s, 30s, or 40s, we rarely look ahead to see what older might mean for us. If we’re smart, we live fully in the moment, knowing that life as we know it could end at any moment. We don’t often contemplate what it means to be older . . . until we are. Until we’re outside the smart store, looking through the glass at activities that we are struggling to understand, keep up with, and use correctly! Not physical ones, although those play their part, but here I’m talking about technological ones. For many boomers, technology was transistor radios, TVs that we had to change by getting up off the couch to physically move a dial (!!!), and telephones that had live operators saying, “Number, please.”

Yes, we’ve moved on from all those, but the world is moving even faster, every second of every day, and change is constant! Cell phones last maybe a year, then everyone wants a new one. TVs are the size of small elephants, and there’s never one big enough, cool enough, or techie enough for some. Social media has more ways to connect than ever, but how is it possible to do it all?

Marietta Gentles Crawford, CPRW got me going this morning with her most-excellent post — read it here! — on using Twitter for your personal brand. Now the title sounds easy enough, right? And I always read her posts, most of which I understand (or at least I think I do). But then I began reading. Hoo boy! I know I’m probably overreacting, but it sounds like a lot of things I need to do that I’m not doing and although it doesn’t sound terribly difficult — it actually does. I do use Twitter, sort of. But honestly, I’m not sure I totally get the “how” of what she wrote about, although I’m sure most of my readers will when they read it. And I know I need to up my game, but . . . ?

Then I read John White’s very surprising and heartfelt post — read it here! — on what we don’t usually post on social media. That one really hit a nerve! I could relate to so much of the feelings surrounding the points he made, and I’m sure you will be able to as well.

So finally I went looking for some comfort, which I so often find with Sarah Elkins. The headline was a little scary — read it here! — but it ended up being exactly what I needed to read this morning. Sarah writes from the heart, and I really needed that to bring me down off the cliff I felt I was hanging from.

But with all this trauma, this Spunky Old Boomer Broad is gonna keep hanging on, at least for now. Even if I don’t know all about Twitter / LI / Instagram / all the others — I can still enjoy posting articles on communication and American grammar and hope that I’m helping a few folks along the way. And I do love seeing what everyone else is posting; it’s like getting a semester abroad at college!

I’m happy to be a Spunky Old Broad.
I just don’t want to be irrelevant.

Susan Rooks
Susan Rookshttps://grammargoddess.com/
With nearly 30 years’ experience as an international workshop leader, Susan Rooks is uniquely positioned to help people master the communication skills they need to succeed. In 1995, Susan formed Grammar Goddess Communication, creating and leading workshops in three main areas – American grammar, business writing, and interpersonal skills – to help business pros enhance their communication skills. She also leads one-hour LinkedIn workshops (Master the LinkedIn Profile Basics) via Zoom to help business pros anywhere maximize their LinkedIn experience, offering it to Chambers of Commerce and other civic organizations free of charge. As an editor, Susan has worked on business blogs, award-winning children’s books, best-selling business books, website content, and even corporate annual reports (with clients from half a dozen countries), ensuring that all material is professionally presented.

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3 CONVERSATIONS

  1. I can relate to this, Susan, believe it or not. It took me a while (and permission from my social media strategist brother) to realize I only need to learn the platforms that I want to learn. No more Twitter for me; I’m enjoying experimenting with Instagram instead!

    Thanks for the lovely shout-out, I’m so glad you know you can come to me for comfort. Can’t wait to catch up and #connectbeyondthekeyboard again.

  2. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Larry!

    The best thing to be said for growing older is that we get to do it. So many don’t. We’ve probably all lost friends and family members way too soon, so I’ll keep on being grateful for every day I wake up on top of the dirt!

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