Not who you think you’re supposed to be or who someone else decided you are, but the actual you. I was reminded the other day about an old all-day meeting, conference-type event, where I coaxed a co-worker of mine into introducing ourselves to a senior exec at our client site. Now this co-worker knew her stuff, I mean down to the ground, but she was always hesitant about making initial moves. Others noted it as being her whole personality but I knew they were wrong. So here goes me and my ‘I don’t give a damn’ self and I nudge her along to face the exec. I didn’t do it…
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We Showed Up
For Kyle. For Todd. For them all. ❤️ Yesterday, I attended the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Walk (AFSP.org), supporting my mate, her lovely hubby, their beautiful girls, vast family and friends, and the memory of their adorable son, Kyle. Of course, Maryland being Maryland, I had no idea what to wear that morning. Was it going to rain? Be hella windy? Be bloody cold? Maryland said, “Why yes. Challenge accepted.” It was all three. The theme of the walk was Together To Save Lives, and after picking up my other girlie-pop, ‘K-Dubs’, whose plans nicely fell through, that’s exactly what we did. With hooded raincoats…
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Your Life Is Not Public Property: Keep Things Private
How did we stumble into thinking being open was the same as being accessible? You are allowed to keep things private. Especially as women. We’re constantly encouraged to “share our story,” “be authentic,” “show up as your true self,” and apparently that also means to yell into the internet about what we ate for breakfast, retell the story about keying an ex’s car that we told our therapist, and exactly what we’re doing with the rest of our lives. Umm… no. And that’s allegedly keyed an ex’s car. A lot of what’s happening or has happened in our lives should be kept private. Or, at the most, kept within our…
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London Memories vs. New Things: Which Lasts Longer?
I’ve been back from London for a few weeks now, which means I’m officially back in the thick of reality. Back to me no longer prioritizing my desires, but instead paying them off. Yuckity-Yuckity-Yuck, and ouch! Why didn’t someone stop me swiping and tapping so much? I was born and raised back in not-so-sunny London, this point will become relevant in a bit, but no matter how long I’ve been stateside, going home still hits deliciously different. Continuing to manifest being there on a more permanent basis… a girl has to have dreams, right? London, Apparently, Is Now the Sun But this time around, summer of 2026… introducing the weather.…
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Be Less Helpful: Goodbye to People-Pleasing
Huh? What? Yep, I can see you all already, through the internet even, head shaking, face scrunched up, like ‘IreneB, are you OK? This sounds bloody awful? I wasn’t raised that way!’ I get it. Neither was I. But times they are a changing… to quote Bob Dylan. Get with it. Be less helpful. It sounds and feels hella mean, like I’m actively working to sway the good people of the world into becoming the terrible ones. The ones who not only watch but take pleasure in watching others struggle, complete with a side of hot, buttery popcorn as they do it. No. I still and will always believe in…
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The Machine Is Learning: Let’s Make Sure We Don’t Stop
Who remembers books? Just kidding! But also… not really.That mystical dimension before everything started finding us and we actually had to go looking for things. On the daily, I say something either out loud or just to me, within earshot of my phone, iPad, or laptop, and here goes my tech, serving up ads, articles, and videos of that thing to me all day long. I know the first few times that happened years ago, I probably thought it was luck. Nowadays we all know our devices are intentionally listening to us. Annoyingly so. Intrusively, even. And not to help us but to sell to us. And by ‘sell,’ I…
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Andropause? Suddenly Menopause Doesn’t Sound So Lonely
When the “Man-Flashes” Enter the Chat Ladies, Babes, Luvs, we need to talk… and now! I don’t know where I’ve been, but only recently did some little internet birdies clue me into the fact that something called andropause exists. Andropause? What’s andropause, you say? In the simplest of words: Menopause for men, kinda. Not gonna lie, I did smirk a little. OK, beam with cheshire-cat full glee. We women, damn near since birth, have had all kinds of shit piled on us. Coming out of nowhere is what it feels like. Jumping us. Sneak-attacking us. Sliding in like skid marks. One minute we’re playing as equals with the boys, then…
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How to Keep Going When You Don’t Feel Like It
Stick to Your Plan, Not Your Mood Well, confession time, for most of last week, I hadn’t worked out in literally five days. Including barely jumping on my rebounder. It was a busy week, it was a short week, and it was my birthday on Monday. Happy Birthday to Meeeeeee! Side note: My birthday year had already been off to a cracking start with ‘My Boys’, Arsenal, lifting the Premier League trophy just the month before. Yeah… I’ll absolutely take that lovely gift! ❤️🤍❤️ But back to this week, when the compressor thingamabob, whatchamacallit thing in our air conditioner unit broke, so it literally felt like I was sleeping in…
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As A Woman, Your Happiness Is Your Power
Why some people get uncomfortable when women are happy. Tell me if this is something you’ve noticed, suspected, or outright discovered, that there’s this special something about a rested woman. An unbothered spirit, a calm woman or even relatively steady woman that you’d think everyone would celebrate. But apparently, according to some corners of these here interwebs and in real life too, a woman who is genuinely content can make far too many people uncomfortable… strangely angered even. Freaking funny, isn’t it? Honestly, it’s a place I’d happily wallow in forever. But since life insists on life-ing, I’m learning to savor the moments, intentional and random, that I get to…
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Big Age, Bigger Growth | Episode 01: Keep Figuring It Out
Quick Post, Real Reminder -Sincerely, Irene B
