Reading · Point Of The Story Podcast

I have a question.

When did we lose the ability to just... think about things?

Not announce a stance. Not write a thesis statement. Not come prepared with three peer-reviewed sources and an ironclad argument that can withstand a stranger on Threads intentionally misunderstanding you.

Because lately I’ve realised there are a LOT of things rattling around inside my brain that I want to talk about, but I don’t necessarily have a conclusion for them yet.

And apparently the internet hates that.

Everything has to be an opinion and you have to pick a side. You need to defend it. And God forbid you change your mind after learning something new, because somebody has a screenshot from 2019 ready to prove you’re a hypocrite.

Meanwhile, I’m over here like... Can we bring back discourse???

Can I say, “This is something I’ve been thinking about, and I understand both sides, and I don’t actually know where I land yet”?

Because my ADHD brain cannot be trusted with this many open tabs.

So recently, I started literally opening my journal, writing “Things I’m Thinking About” at the top of the page, and dumping them all out. Sometimes there’s an argument. Sometimes there’s a question. Sometimes there’s half a thought and then I move on because I have absolutely no intention of completing it.

It has been SO freeing.

Which brings us to this episode.

These are just some of the things I’m thinking about lately, presented without a required conclusion and with an explicit request that nobody cancel me before we reach the end.

There is no guest this week, which means unfortunately I am both interviewer and interviewee.

So let’s rapid-fire some deeply important information we learned about me during this episode.

What have I been Googling lately? An at-home IV nurse because I was approximately three minutes from becoming BTL Corpse, butterfly crackers because they were one of the only foods I could eat, ten restaurants, and the Love Island season eight reunion.

What random question apparently needed immediate investigation? Why do we call them ears of corn?

I Googled the answer during the episode, read the explanation aloud, and somehow understood LESS afterwards.

What do I secretly want to be when I grow up? A painter.

Am I particularly good at painting? No.

Can I paint a cartoon old sailor? Unfortunately, yes.

Do I still want to take a painting class and become an ARTIST? Deeply.

And what am I apparently willing to purchase for strangers on the internet?

A diary.

This whole episode started because I’ve noticed how many topics I avoid talking about publicly because I don’t have a perfectly formed stance on them.

Weight loss was the first one that came to mind.

And before anyone starts typing...This is EXACTLY what I mean.

There are so many conversations happening simultaneously around bodies, health, weight loss, GLP-1s, eating disorders, body positivity, fitness, confidence, and what “healthy” even means that it feels almost impossible to say anything without someone deciding what you secretly meant.

You can understand why certain conversations are genuinely triggering for people while ALSO wondering whether we’ve reached a point where nuance has become impossible.

Multiple things can be true at the same time.

And I think that’s what I’m actually interested in here.

We’ve created an internet where every thought seems to require a disclaimer, and yet... maybe some things genuinely DO need disclaimers.

I don’t know!

I actually think transparency around things like privilege, AI use, or interventions that materially affect the results somebody is presenting can be useful. If you’re telling me how you built your business, I’d love to know whether you started with $100,000 in savings. If you’re teaching me how you created something, I’d like to know whether AI created 80% of it.

Context matters, but I also don’t think every human thought should require a legal defence before we’re allowed to say it.

Maybe the answer isn’t fewer conversations.

Maybe it’s getting comfortable having conversations that don’t end with everybody agreeing.

I’ve also been thinking a LOT about focus lately.

Specifically, what would happen if I went completely all-in on one platform for a month.

What if YouTube were my only job?

What if I gave Instagram my full attention?

What if I actually learned LinkedIn instead of periodically remembering it exists?

I don’t rely heavily on social media for my business, which is both a massive privilege and also means I never HAVE to give one platform my full attention. I can bounce between Instagram, Threads, newsletters, YouTube, the podcast, client work, courses, memberships, mentoring, and approximately seventeen other things depending on which personality has control of my brain that day.

I like it that way.

I need to code-switch like I need oxygen.

But watching someone else start an Instagram account from zero and genuinely study it—trying different formats, following trends, figuring out what works—has made me wonder what would happen if I actually gave one thing that level of attention.

Which then led me to another thing I’m thinking about:

Making art again.

Summer gives me this ridiculous amount of creative space. I took eight weeks off this year when I originally planned to take six, and I could honestly take another two because I am deeply unwell about Cape Cod summer ending.

But when normal life starts again, art is always the first thing to disappear.

And I keep telling myself I “don’t have time” for a painting class. Which is bullshit.

I have time, I’m just not prioritising it.

The more uncomfortable question is WHY I don’t prioritise it.

I’m extremely comfortable asking for help when the thing I’m doing is important for work. If there’s a client commitment or something that makes money, of course I’ll figure out childcare.

But asking someone to pick up my kid because...

I want to paint?

Suddenly my brain goes, “Absolutely not. We must save our requests for IMPORTANT THINGS.”

Except why isn’t creativity important?

Why isn’t making something badly just because I enjoy it important?

Why isn’t my sanity important?

I don’t have a beautiful conclusion here where I tell you I’ve enrolled in pottery and transformed my life.

I haven’t.

I’m just thinking about it.

And maybe that’s the point.

Okay.

THIS ONE I HAVE A CONCLUSION ABOUT.

Please buy a diary.

I’m begging.

Because I keep seeing people post things online that actively work against the life or business they’re supposedly trying to create.

Talking shit about clients while trying to attract new clients.

Posting constantly about nobody hiring them while asking people to hire them.

Sharing every friendship conflict, relationship argument, business struggle, financial panic, client issue, and mildly inconvenient human interaction with the entire internet.

Girl.

Journal.

And I’m not saying you have to become some sanitised LinkedIn robot who only posts “I’m thrilled to announce...”

God forbid.

I’m probably one of the least professional people you’ll meet, and I think vulnerability and honesty are two of the best things about the internet.

But there is a difference between vulnerability and treating Threads like your Notes app after three margaritas.

I learned this lesson years ago when I was in a sorority and was responsible for getting everyone to attend the philanthropy events we were required to go to.

Nobody wanted to go.

Everybody wanted to complain to me about it.

So eventually I bought the ENTIRE SORORITY diaries and told them that from now on, if they had a complaint about having to attend an event, they could write it in there instead of telling me.

And honestly?

I stand by that leadership decision.

There is also a bigger conversation underneath this about discipline.

I think we’ve gotten so good at giving ourselves grace that sometimes we’ve forgotten it’s also okay to tell ourselves:

No.

Do the thing.

Go to the event.

Finish the work.

Get off your phone.

Use your brain for two minutes before you post.

You can have compassion for yourself AND expectations for yourself.

Again: multiple things can be true.

And maybe that’s actually the theme of this entire episode.

This whole episode is permission to have a thought without needing an ending for it. I journal these things instead of letting them sit in my brain as open tabs my ADHD can’t close, and I’m passing that along to you. Start conversations you don’t know the endings to. Bring back discourse for the sake of it. It’s chill to not have a conclusion.

Love you, mean it. 🖤

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