Has anyone ever told you to stay in your lane?
I’ve saved so many warm, cheery emails, DMs and comments I’ve been blessed to receive over the 15+ years I’ve been writing online. They’re all variations on a theme:
Why do you have to write about politics?
What do you even know about tech, “Mom”?
Why are you talking about books for LGBTQ+ kids, don’t you know you’ll alienate readers?
What are your credentials for daring to recommend Everything Everywhere All At Once? I mean, do you even have a Masters in Contemporary Film Analysis with a concentration in Absurdist Sci-Fi Multiverse Comedy-Dramas? Because if not… maybe, uh, stay in your lane.
I’ve learned something:
If I’m walking here, it is my lane.
None of us are any one thing.
If you’re a parent like me, I’m going to say this again just for you, because we don’t hear this message enough:
None of us are any one thing.
If that makes sense to you, then congrats! I’m so glad you’ve found us because I think you’re going to get to know a pretty great community of not-one-thing-ers here.
We can be parents and activists. We can be art snobs who love Will Ferrell films. (Yes, Zoolander counts.) We can be people of faith for choice, or Atheists who can’t get enough of Christmas music. We can be devoted news junkies who just need a break sometimes to talk about Ted Lasso or Succession or The Watchmen or Bad Sisters without being shamed for it, because lordy the world feels like a hot mess right now and our cortisol levels can’t handle that 24/7.
We are complex. We are multifaceted!
You can even be someone with a social media moniker like oh, say, Mom101, who somehow managed to build an audience with plenty of non-moms, create a political hashtag that went mad viral, and go on to post about all kinds of things that have been liked and shared by celebrities, Members of Congress, political candidates, authors, activists, journalists, musicians, business owners, authors, and one time, Mark Hamill. (That was big for me.)
Welcome to my lane. I can’t entirely describe it for you, but as you can probably see already, it’s a pretty wide lane, and I don’t need it all to myself.
I really hope you’ll join me. Join us.
Here, we seek truth, we know that we don’t know it all, admit when we’re wrong, we give credit where it’s due, we support one another, we laugh a lot, we don’t act like jerks — and above all, we lead with hope. Especially when it seems most impossible.
Ready to walk together?
Here’s where else to find me
Instagram (you know, the filtered photo place)
Threads (seems like I’ve settled on Meta’s new social network as my Twitter replacement, now that that place has become rotten and uh…musky in so many ways.)
Spawned Podcast (where I interview some very cool people)
Cool Mom Picks (best gift guides and thoughtful parenting articles on the internet)
Facebook (if you follow me, I post public posts here and there.)
LinkedIn (where I write once in a while about marketing, media, advertising and creativity)
Other Places You Probably Won’t Find Me But can Try:
BlueSky • Post.news •Mastodon • My now inactive, locked Twitter (If you already follow me there, enjoy my archives. And yes, I’m still calling it Twitter.)
Welcome to "I'm Walking Here."
I am looking forward to this site. I love the metaphor of "staying in your lane" and how none of us are one " thingers". I have to say that your posts and writings have kept me from losing touch with your generation and everything else during COVID. It was a lonely time for this retired nurse, clinical social worker and grandmother, transplanted from NY to Chicago. Thank you for sharing so much. I am so blessed to have met you and other influencers, mostly living in the NY boroughs, years ago at Mom 2.0. I was at that time a new grandmother and was helping my single daughter with her new baby and realized that 29 years had passed since I had "raised" a newborn, infant, toddler etc. So much had changed...Dr. Spock was out and even Dr. Brazelton was disappearing, Harvey Karp was taking over and Jamie Grayson and the Carseat Lady were now the new gurus. Now my granddaughter is teenage and I love your instagram, and Kristen's ...your guides to everything are perfect, I trust your recommendations and research. I could keep going but you get the idea...I am glad you are here. TY!
Really really really happy to see this!