my prophetic soul

A pugnacious apostle of pop culture, politics and other things that please me. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-22136678-1']); _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', '.tumblr.com']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[mypropheticsoul]

Let me give you a word on the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all absorbing, and for the time being putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is not struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

Frederick Douglass Letter to an abolitionist associate, 1849

[mypropheticsoul]

There's a certain way people in long distance relationships hug.

I'm good at spotting long distance couples in airports. For some reason I always catch goodbyes and never the reunions. 

I can tell so much from the way long distance couples hug. You can see which one is headed towards something else they're truly looking forward to. Which one is trying to be a good sport about it. Which one has to pull away quickly and pick up their bags and walk towards the gate because if they don't they'll just start crying and crying and crying. You can tell which one is more in love sometimes too. 

And I know because I've been there. I've wiped tears and been handed Kleenex. I have offered both my sleeves up as handkerchiefs when one wasn't enough. I've hugged so intensely because I need to remember the feeling or else I won't make it through the days or the weeks our the months without the person whose memory I am trying to imprint upon myself. 

I've learned to smile so big that it makes my eyes squint so the tears don't come out until I pick up my bags and walk away. 

[theforce]

Girl Code

i was 14 and i was walking through a mall by myself at 12am after my shift at coldstone creamery lol and a bunch of men started whistling and meowing and getting really close to me and they kept asking me questions and i kept not answering until i didn’t know what else to do so i said “i’m only 14” and almost in unison they said “we don’t care” i was so fucking scared i didn’t know what to do and they kept talking about how i looked and how my body looked and what they would do i was on the verge of tears i was all alone in a huge mall i knew i couldn’t outrun them all i felt totally hopeless until a maintenance worker came up to all of us with a huge industrial broom in her hand, i thought she was going to yell at all of us for being in the mall after hours bc she probably thought we were all friends but instead she cursed all of them out in spanish, threatened to press a panic button on her belt and then proceeded to walk me to the basement garage and waited with me until my mom got there to pick me up she had a death grip on her cart the whole time and a face of steel she looked so strong and i just kept saying thank you and she kept saying not to thank her because she had to stop them.

that was the moment i realized women were the most important beings on this planet and we have to protect each other bc nobody else is going to, she didn’t even know me, we couldn’t even communicate that well because of the language barrier, she could have lost her job for waiting with me in the parking lot but she looked out for me when she didn’t have to, she had nothing to gain from it, i’m 21 now and i tell everyone this story even though it happened 7 years ago, what she did that night helped me form and shape lot of my beliefs early on. 

[actuallunalovegood]

i was at a grocery store really late one night and some old guy kind of eyed me as i walked out of the store next to this other lady. She and I made eye contact and i knew she was scared too. we loaded up our groceries into our cars as fast as possible and I had way more bags than her so she got done faster than me. I panicked because i was sure she was going to leave so i just hurried faster, shaking a little, and then i noticed she sat in her car, watching me and making sure nobody came near. She waited not until all my groceries were loaded, or until my cart was put away, or until I got into my car. No, she didn’t drive away until I drove away. 

And that was the moment that I realized how much women need other women. That we can’t win this war without each other and we have to be looking out for each other, every second. 

[ofgeography]

my last year in new york city, i got off the subway around 9 or 10p.m. i only lived about 5 blocks from the f train, but i hadn’t gotten more than two before a woman’s hand suddenly touched my arm. 

“that guy behind us is following you,” she said. “he was watching you leave the train car and followed you up.”

i hadn’t noticed him, or at least not noticed him following me. when we stopped outside a grocery store, he stopped half a block back and loitered. the woman linked her arm with mine and walked me several blocks out of her way to my front door and made sure i got inside safely.

another time, nocigar and i were walking home and at a stoplight a stranger grabbed my arm when i wouldn’t respond to him and tried to physically drag me over to him. she—who is, by the way, not a very physically imposing girl—ripped his hand off my arm and snarled, “don’t fucking touch her.”

protect your friends. protect strangers. there are good men in the world, but don’t wait for them to do something if you can do it yourself.

[edmundo-noches-buckley]

I was at a club once and my friend left with her boyfriend so I finished my drink and was heading out to the parking lot when three girls came up to me and basically surrounded me. 

“Those guys behind us were talking about following you. We can walk with you.” 

I have MMA training but have never in my life had been offered the protection and sanction of my own gender. This is so important. 

[stele3]

GIRL CODE. FUCKIN’ GIRL CODE. LEAVE NO GIRL BEHIND. EVER.

[rookiemag]

protect each other!!!

-naomi

[mypropheticsoul]

I keep reminding myself that this country is not magic.

That I must be hallucinating from the diesel gas and the altitude. That the men who assembled tightropes above the crosswalk between traffic signals are not figments of my imagination but are actually twirling above the concrete while their friends below blow fire at the first row of cars.  

It's not magic that it's springtime every day here. It's not magic that no matter where we step we are always closer to the sun than someone in any other place. It's not magic when I go to the park and see a parade of people on stilts twirling streamers and marching to the beat of their own backup band.

[good]

"Work for something because it is good, not just because it has a change to succeed." -Václav Havel

[mypropheticsoul]

Letter to High School Me

If I could tell you one thing, it would be to never stop making mix CDs.  Don't worry about chemistry homework. It's true what you've been telling yourself - you will actually never use this again in your life. Instead, keep searching out the things you love. The things you could never not do. The things that make you want to get up in the morning. Appreciate that those things are songs. That those things are free. That those things are easy. 

Take yourself seriously. You're fucking around, but you're doing it better than anyone else is. So don't undermine your own authority. Believe that you are an expert. Believe that you've done it the best. Believe that if you keep trying, you'll do it better. 

Always keep doing the things that you'll do when no one asks you to. Keep pushing towards the goals that you don't have to set for yourself because you know you just want to wake up and do the same damn thing tomorrow. Don't worry too much about how much time you're spending on the internet. This is just the beginning. 

Trust yourself enough to do the thing you love.

[walline]

[mypropheticsoul]

via walline

[mypropheticsoul]

I am trying to find the best fit for us.

And when I say "us" I mean "me" as in myself and "you" as the whole postgraduate universe. Me and my job. Me and my boyfriend. Me and my student loan debt. Me and my best friends who used to be my housemates and are now usually just names next to green dots on my Facebook chat list. 

I'm trying to fit in with the real world. With the people who pay their bills on time and budget for retirement. Who probably don't pretend that a nice bottle of wine is an "investment beverage" in their own wellbeing (and if they do, they probably have the money to indulge responsibly). 

World, I am trying to see where I belong in you. I won't say I'm finding myself or figuring it out because who doesn't kind of loathe people who say that? Instead I'll say that I'm actively searching searching searching for the things that makes my heart beat fast and keeps my wallet full. I am wondering how long it will take me to find it. 

I know where I am. I am already found. I am here. I am now. I am constantly moving. I know who I am. I am already found.  I am trying. I am here. I am good.

[mypropheticsoul]

My Exclamation Point Crisis

My use of exclamation points in emails is something I've thought too much about for a while now. What I've thought about, specifically, is that if I don't use them enough people will think I'm being mean or dull or, mostly, they'll think I'm a bitch. 

I'm worried because I'm a lady. Better yet, because I'm a lady doing business. And the stereotypical lady is supposed to be perky, happy and cute, while the stereotypical businessman (emphasis on the man) is serious, straightforward and no frills. 

I fall somewhere in the middle of the two, but if I had it my way my emails and other digital conversation would be very limited in their exclamation point use. When working with nonprofits, I tended to see fewer exclamation points from both males and females alike. Now that I'm more on the product side of the spectrum, everybody is so excited! about whatever it is! they're doing! And I can't help but feel like I have to litter my emails with exclamation points right back at 'em. 

So obviously some of this is code switching - adopting your mannerisms to mirror that of the group your in. But I think another big part of it is gender, and the pressure to keep things light and airy because I'm a woman, even when I'm trying to come down hard on someone for missing a deadline or offer stern but constructive criticism.  Curbing my exclamation point use is something I'd like to work on this year. Fake enthusiasm for the sake of being ladylike isn't really all that productive; actually, it can be kind of draining at the end of the day.  And, besides, we all know the one sacred Fey/Poehler truth that rings true for businessladies (and men) everywhere:

[mypropheticsoul]

5 Tips for Freelancers

I haven't been in the game for long, but I've had a total of two people ask me for freelancing tips, which makes me feel like I have enough experience to pack into one brief blog post. Here's my tried and true advice for those trying break out on their own as a freelancer.

1. Build a good network.

In combination with good experience, networking is the best way to get any job. This is even more relevant when you are a freelancer, because your network will be able to direct you to new jobs when you're running low on projects. Try joining a few professional networking groups near you, and always keep in touch with old clients (you never know when they'll need someone with your skill set).  

2. Do weekly reports for your clients.

Lay out exactly what you accomplished the week before and exactly what you're going to do this week. Get your shit done on time every time. Trust and reliability make for a great consulting relationship. 

3. Ask for more and charge by hour. 

Whenever possible, charge your clients by hour - not by project. You can get in over your head on a big project and end up working many more hours than you originally laid out in your contract in order to finish a job and do it well.

Another thing: Don't be afraid to charge for more than what you think a typical hourly rate for someone with your experience would be. Remember, you don't have health insurance, retirement benefits or long-term job stability, all of which are plenty good reason to charge people a higher rate for your services than someone with a traditional 9-5. 

4. Get a website and make a portfolio.

The best way to get more clients aside from networking is to be able to show off your work elegantly. Websites are a great way to show off your work easily and  don't cost much to get started and keep running. 

For more experienced programmers, I would recommend using Wordpress.org so you have more control over the look of you site. For those who want an easier set-up, I built my first website on Wordpress.com and it was very simple to do and my website was totally functional. 

5. Track your finances closely.

Keep track of everything you can write off, when you send invoices, and when you get paid. On average, you should be saving about 20% of every paycheck to put towards quarterly taxes. You can find out more about quarterly taxes here.  

[weird-ninjas]

[mypropheticsoul]

A Year in Review

For me, 2013 kicked every other year's ass. But many of the reasons why 2013 was awesome were actually because of something that happened in March of 2012, and a particular someone I met. 

I came back from my 6-month stay in Ecuador in mid-February of 2012, and started bartending and waitressing at Black Lotus, my beloved local microbrewery, during my month off school in an effort to be a little less broke. 

Since my Spanish was at its peak, I would sometimes talk to my customers who had strong Hispanic accents their native language (after I asked if they wanted to, of course). People usually loved knowing that they could speak Spanish with me, and it usually brought in big tips (always a plus).

One Hispanic person I met was Adriana, who was from Venezuela. We talked for an especially long time and I met her partner, Stacey. These women were the ultimate power couple. Adriana was a scientist at General Motors with a bunch of patents under her belt, and Stacey was a Senior VP at Merrill Lynch. We chatted, it was awesome, and we said we'd look forward to seeing each other around. 

Fast forward nine months - I'm back at Black Lotus during my month-long winter break in December, again simply hoping to be less broke at the end of the month. One night while I was bartending, Stacey and Adriana happened to stop by. I told them I was back on break from college and I was going back to school in January to finish up my last two quarters and graduate. It turned out Stacey was also a Kalamazoo College alum, and she asked about my post-grad plans. I told her I was still considering my options, but hoping to do something with digital media. 

Stacey graciously offered to put me in touch with every person she knew in Michigan who might have a connection for me. I sent her my resume along with a portfolio website I had recently launched, and she sent me a list of all the people and businesses she knew who might want to work with me. 

As promised, on January 1, 2013, Stacey sent out a few dozen emails to some incredibly influential people across Michigan. A few of those people didn't respond and a few didn't have an open opportunities. Stacey was very helpful throughout the entire process, always encouraging her contacts to put me in touch with other people even if they didn't have anything available. 

It was through those emails that I found my first freelance clients, two incredible businesses in Detroit who were happy to have me work on digital media projects virtually from Kalamazoo while I finished up my degree. They also paid double and almost triple than what I was making at my part-time minimum wage job. 

Working for these clients helped me form my own freelance business, which gave me the money to travel to Ecuador and Brazil this summer and eventually move to Chicago in August. I feel so incredibly lucky for the random connections and serendipitous experiences that led me here. I can say overall that I am very, very happy and very proud of myself for the things that I've accomplished this year. And a lot of that goes all the way back to speaking Spanish with a really nice customer at the bar in March of 2012. 

So, to recap, here are the many other excellent things that happened in 2013 (because you don't loathe me enough already): 

I took a bunch of Girl Develop It classes and learned HTML, CSS, and a lot more about the awesome culture of women in tech. 

I started freelancing with Little Things Labs and Mode Shift, two amazing clients that do even more amazing things in Detroit (and other post-industrial cities). 

The Kalamazoo Poetry Collective, a group I started freshman year with my BFF Hannah, turned three! 

I went to Nashville and Gatlinburg, Tennessee with every one of my very good friends over Spring Break, and it was equally cheap and wonderful. 

I finished my SIP, my senior thesis which my graduation was contingent upon. 

I ran my first 5K. 

I hosted the biggest event of my poetry career - three performing acts at two venues featuring at three events over the course of two days. It was incredible, fun and social justice hero Angela Davis came to my event (wha-bam!). 

I went to Mackinac Island for one last time with my favorite college crew. 

I graduated from college and won a few awards for community engagement that were incredibly gratifying and humbling to receive. 

I moved to Ecuador for the summer to work for Kiwa, and I got to travel to some of my favorite spots in the country while I was there.  

I visited Aaron in Brazil (and made an accidental pit stop in Peru along the way). 

I moved to Chicago in August.

I visited the beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes with Aaron's family. 

I started freelancing for NPR Detroit and Chicago Ideas Week - two of my favorite places I've ever worked.

I successfully managed the Chicago Ideas Week headquarters during CIW 2013. 

I helped launch the hashtag #SceneFromDetroit for NPR Detroit, which really took off and brought in a ton of engagement on their social networks, and tackles one of my personal pet peeves, which is that there aren't enough pictures of the beautiful places in the D.

I landed a super fun full-time job at SocialKaty, where I make memes and tweet at people in exchange for a regular salary and health, vision and dental benefits. 

I paid off a sizeable chunk of my student loans, which I really didn't think was possible, like, ever. 

I joined a gym, and I actually go on a regular basis. 

I finally live in the same city as Aaron for an extended period of time, which is a big ol' plus for my overall happiness. 

That'll do, 2013. That'll do. 

[thecutestofthecute]

[mypropheticsoul]

Usually not Tumblin' cuteness, but that Chau got me. 

[respectfulrappers]

Original Lyrics: I know you want it (Robin Thicke) Not many women can refuse this pimping (T.I.) Hey, hey, hey (Pharrell)*

*Pharrell literally only sings “Hey, hey, hey” and “Everybody get up” in this song.

Photo Source

[mypropheticsoul]

In lieu of Detroit's bankruptcy filing, I've been feeling extra inspired to argue on the behalf of my favorite city in the world. Someone from my office in Chicago was asking my last week what made me like Detroit so much. I get asked this question a lot. 

I told her I love Detroit because you can become anything there. It's what I tell everyone that asks. 

Basically, what it comes down to is that in Detroit, amazing things happen. People turn a lack of resources into artistic ingenuity every single day. Every moment in Detroit feels like you are on the tip of defining the next great regeneration of the city. Your projects, your passions, your people - they all matter. 

There are a ton of holes you can poke in my poetic waxing here, I know. There's a lot that I have yet to learn about Detroit. Because of my privilege as a white, middle-class person who grew up in the 'burbs, there are many things about Detroit that I'll never fully understand.  But what I do know is this: I see the city transform every time I come back. A street full of abandoned houses becomes a public art project. A lack of municipal services becomes a grass-roots, city-wide recycling program.  A forgotten railroad line becomes a greenway for non-motorized transportation. 

When I think of some of the amazing projects I've seen come out of Detroit, I know that couldn't have happened anywhere else in the world at any other time under any other set of circumstances. 

Detroit is not a perfect city. But it is a place full of inspiration. 

[anthonybourdain]

This is it.

The last episode of our second season of PARTS UNKNOWN. And I’m glad it’s set in Detroit. Because Detroit, for many Americans, is an abstraction—truly, if incredibly, a part unknown.

One only need look at some of our representatives who, a while back, were actually suggesting...

[mypropheticsoul]

Aaron reading 'Goodnight Moon' while doing his best Jay-Z impression.