Poof… I’m Outta Here!
You can call it #OperationUNPLUG or #OperationBITCHESBREW, either way you hashtag it, I’m outta here and on a mission. Not for good, but as you probably have already noticed I’ve taken August off from blogging. My sabbatical was impromptu, but right on time and so necessary. I was running on “E” and thought I could make it to the end of August, but there I was smack dab at the end of July and out of gas. I had just written the most popular post in the history of theHotness (5,000 hits in 4 days!) and I couldn’t link two paragraphs together, never mind write another post. Trying to top the success of that post took the little creative energy I had left right out of me.
Every year around this time I’m suntanned on the outside and fried to a Pringles crisp on the inside. Too many months of liking, retweeting, pinning and tumbling have left me burned the funk out! I thought not blogging for a month would do it, but it’s simply not enough. I need to totally unplug from the matrix of social media and digital frolic. As September looms and I continue to interview for a new gig and/or for new client work, I can feel my body recoil. Even though I’ve been blessed to have gone on two vacations this month, I’m just not ready for the physical and psychological demands that that kind of work will require next month. Randomly, I remembered reading this fantastic and insightful Fast Company article by Baratunde Thurston and how he got off the Internet for 25 days. I went back and re-read the article and knew that I had to #Unplug so I could get geared up for a heavier and more ambitious workload this fall. I don’t think for my first time unplugging I could go 25 days, which is pretty damn sad to admit so I’m shooting for 15 days of detox. My brain demands that I take at least 10 days and my spirit is dropping clues everyday that in order to be full there has to be some non-virtual therapy on the agenda—reading this book, writing letters, fishing, long walks in Central Park or biking on Governors Island, dancing with my grrrl Sophia, working on an art piece I started last summer, painting my kitchen, finishing the first chapter of my book, and experimenting with my never used tagine are just for starters on my list of things I want to do. When you’re tweeting and posting on FB you are chasing after Breaking News stories, scanning through albums and YouTube videos like a junkie, and responding to post after post and oh, the birthday notifications alone have made me pull out the battery of my Blackberry more than a few times. So mostly I just want to chill out from under the fluorescent glow of my laptop and cellphone.
I know, I know it’s only 15 days, but there’s no bigger priority for me than getting my mojo back! Once I get my mojo back my writing will improve, I’ll workout more consistently and will drop all of these summer pounds, more money will be made and the type of intimate & romantic relationship that I desire will appear. The reality is once you unplug from the Net, you can then plug into something else more creative, more fun, more analog and once you tap back into that pre-Twitterverse, the fruits from those journeys will blossom and thus #OperationBitchesBrew will also be in full effect. OBB, not to be confused with OPP, is about us women specifically harnessing our woman’s instinct and mixing it with our mother nature core and realizing that we are vessels for life, for beauty and for passion. The government is trying to monitor our bodies, the entertainment world is trying to pimp and monetize our bodies (I see you Russell Simmons), but that’s a frame that they would have us live in. Unplugging and “doing us” allows us to remember who we are and that whatever we want, we can attain.
So I was ready to bounce last week, but there was one thing I was worried about and that was theHotness Facebook page. Albeit in this post-dial-up stage of web business, I didn’t feel too comfortable with that page being stagnant for 15 days. But with just one text message, that problem has been solved.
Enter Alicia Fiasco or better known to many of us on Twitter as TasteMyBitch’sBrew. Alicia is a writer residing on the Southside of Chicago. She loves all kinds of cultural expression, especially the in-your-face, truth-telling kind. She appreciates a good turkey, avocado and tomato sandwich, which she’s been eating for lunch everyday all summer. Independent and original filmmaking as well as womanism/intersectional feminism that aims to free ALL (men included) of patriarchal male supremacist oppression absolutely blows her skirt up every time (yep, a mouthful but she wanted me to make sure you knew she ain’t no slouch). When she isn’t blogging, she enjoys spending time with her amazing son, affectionately known as Z. She has agreed to hold down theHotness FB page while I’m on hiatus and when I come back she plans to stick around as a content creator there and on this blog. That’s right, expect posts from Alicia on motherhood with a definite hotness spin. So have a happy end of summer. Please light a candle for a hot Indian Summer that lasts until Thanksgiving and I’ll be back before you know it. Meanwhile hit me up in the comments section if you want to join me and unplug together. If you do, I’ll send you something, clutch your pearls, by postal mail
In the legendary words, well I guess, in the legendary word, of writer dream hampton…
Where the HECK are you??!!
Enjoy the time with yourself. Sometimes we need to just unplug to get re-centered. No worries, we’ll be waiting for your insightful wisdom when you return, lighter and more at peace <3
Hey hon! I’d love to hang during your hiatus! Lets get together for for real face to face, food and fabulousness!
Oh good. Now I can see you, Bx date? And you can get your goodies. And Yay to Alicia. She’s a darling and a beast.
While you’re experimenting with your tagine, you should check out http://www.thugkitchen.com. Their recipes are off the chain, but need more time than this poor office dweller can muster on a regular basis.
I am honored to carry the torch for you sis while you take your sanity break! I will not let you down!
I realized while reading your posts that I have not seen you in person in YEARS. I would love to correct that. Let’s make it happen!