So Here We Are

Yo, my not-so-little warriors! I thought I would be back here before now but instead I get to be here now. I needed to percolate and process how I would talk to you, if you were here. When I started this, half a million years ago right after the internet got borned and all, you were all still really freakin'small and I din't expect to have so much to say. I also didn't have a road map for how to navigate being a grandma from this far away.

We know each other some now and I know that you read. You read good stuff - man, we're so lucky we get to read and that some of it's good stuff. Aaahhh, but I digress (which pretty much always happens.) I've given way too much thought to what my One Job as a grandma is and the best I can come up with is that I need to be a more consistent writer again, and more fearless. That fearless part is not my fave, because, like every other human I've ever encountered and really liked - I want you to like me. You're super cool and I still forget that I get to sit at the Cool Kids table on some days. (To be clear: I get to sit there ALL the days and I just forget some days. I do have days where I think I might not rock as steady as I do.)

So, I'll just show up here and you either will or won't and I'm cool with it. I'm going to keep the format the same and try to just give you three pretty clear things, but now that you can engage in critical thought - I'll try to provide content that makes your parents ask what you're looking at on your device. My logic is that IF I can hold your attention for longer than three minutes - that is legit...

one FOR sure - graduate from high school. I'm pretty sure that's not really a deal for you guys as you all seem pretty invested in your educations, but it's more than that - learn how to do your laundry and pay your own bills, do the car thing (it's expensive) and the phone that's not on your parents plan and learn how to clean pans without destroying the finish. Mend your own clothes and change your own oil if you can. Buy good shoes and take care of them so they last longer. Know how to sharpen a knife and start a fire. Plant some trees and eat food you've grown. It's more about your utility and self-sufficiency than anything. It feels good to be able. 

two GET.outta.here. Travel as soon as you can and go as far as you can. While it's not imperative that you travel alone, DO travel alone and go to places where you're hungry with curiousity and a little scared so your head's on a pivot and your heart skips some beats. I really hope you learn to speak other languages, too. I learned Spanish a long (long long) time ago and still remember enough to converse under travel pressure. I will always be thankful for that and it's helped me navigate the art and music coming out of that part of the world, too. There's way WAY more to our stories than just this country and ... how can you know what you love or don't if you don't try everything? Travel. Go, DO things and gather stories. All the things, and g'head and be scared - it's appropriate. If it wasn't scary everybody would be doing it and the boujie would smoosh our landscape like a mayonnaise spill.

three Even IF all this AI and ChatGPT works out fine - learn how to write, my little dudes. I swear t'gawwwwd, I will have to haunt you if you squander this opportunity to borrow from your killer DNA and keep the legacy alive. Never stop keeping actual humans creative and productive by reading books and listening to the stories you hear. Write pretty sentences and build solid paragraphs. Storytellers cannot be replaced with bots, no matter how clever they may be programmed. And, don't use that technology to cheat on anything. I would imagine you could if you wanted to, so just don't.

I know I don't have to say it, but I love you and your guts.

I love your brains and intentions. I dig your lil baby agendas. Go.be.do. 

xomomo

No Baby Buzzkills

one You can agree to disagree about things that you believe with people who are in your orbit and it's okay. It's not a contest and you don't have to be emotional and undone. It really is all good and, if you enjoy that person's company, you just agree to not discuss that thing anymore. You can figure out pretty quickly how somebody feels about something and if it's not what you believe and you really like their company - just ssshhhhhhhh.

two Be real. Get real and stay real. Don't say one thing and do another. If you think you are super-duper smart or religious or political or physically fit or philanthropic - just be those things and don't devalue them by telling anybody about it. If you're doing it right, everybody will know. When you talk about it, it makes it seem like you are insecure and

doubtful enough as to need somebody else's approval. You don't need that; You quietly got this.

three Please don't be a buzzkill, baby. I know it's hard to grow up or eat vegetables or attend things you didn't dream up, but you have to suck it up sometimes and act like you're happy anyways. You don't have to act happy all the time, that would be wickedly mean and ridiculous. You do have to have manners and know when to use them. If there is any doubt, feel free to read any one of the hundreds of short, sweet little bites of etiquette I have already shared here. I wouldn't have written them if I didn't love you.

© 2015 moemasters thesethreethings