work Archives - So About What I Said

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

My Essay on The Fix: “Don’t Blame Ariana Grande for Mac Miller’s Death”

Recently, I’ve realized something about my writing : I tend to malinger over some essays for months (like, SIX MONTHS…), but give me a piece of breaking news and I can write a hot-take in a hot-minute!! This was exactly the case for my first essay on The Fix about Mac Miller, death and the dangerous cycle of blame.

When I first heard about Mac Miller’s death last week, I instinctively braced myself for the inevitable shame and blame game. I knew it was about to begin because his death was sudden and unexpected. And when someone dies in that manner, the natural tendency is to scramble and desperately search for answers — to mourn, to heal, to make sense of what’s happened as best we can.

I saw the cruel tweets and Instagram comments aimed at Ariana Grande, Miller’s ex-girlfriend. So over the weekend, I wrote this essay, drawing on my own personal experience following my father’s suicide. Because I’m scared of living in a world where we are so quick to assign blame in someone’s death. I don’t want to live in a world where that sort of shaming is the norm instead of the exception.

Here’s an excerpt of the piece, which I hope will begin to break down that stigma of blame, even if only a little bit…

The best thing we can do for her — and everyone grieving the loss of a loved one — is to let the grieving process take place. Let people mourn in peace without hurling vindictive words at them. Those words are incredibly hurtful, not to mention cruel and damaging. The idea that someone holds another person’s very life in their hands and has the power to determine whether that person lives or dies is a misconception that has no place in the journey following someone’s death.

As much as we’d like to think otherwise, we’re not superheroes who can swoop in and rescue someone. We can do everything to help them, of course, but we don’t have the all-knowing power to save them. And maybe even more importantly, it’s not our job to cure them. We can offer love, hope and compassion, but in the end, everyone on this planet is responsible for their own life.

You can read the full piece here and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me anytime at mellow1422@aol.com and let’s chat! And of course, feel free to share my essay on Facebook, Twitter or even your local refrigerator. If you share on Twitter, be sure to tag me @melissablake so we can connect! I can’t wait to hear from you! Love you all… xoxo

Monday, August 13, 2018

My Essay on CNN Opinion: “What I Learned From Student Journalism Changed Everything”

In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, writing and journalism is my passion. It’s what I fell in love with in high school. It’s what I studied in college and got my degree in. And it’s what I taught to student journalists for nearly five years as a student newspaper adviser.

In my latest for CNN Opinion, I reflect on my time as editor of my college newspaper and then returning to that same paper years later as the adviser. Both experiences taught me the importance of journalism and press freedom, but it was my time as an adviser that showed me the value of training the next generation of journalists!! I’ve been wanting to write this one for quite awhile and, well, the current administration just kept making the topic relevant for me.

As I was writing, I just kept thinking of how important things like the First Amendment and the free press are. They play such a vital role in our democracy and I’m incredibly scared of a world without them. The hard-working journalists out on the front lines are certainly my heroes. Each and every day.

Here’s an excerpt of the piece, which I sort of wrote as a letter of advice to all the young Woodwards and Bernsteins out there…

I can’t help but think of those student journalists when I see work by the thousands of journalists on the front lines today, many of them young. I want to say to them: Those whose voices are talking the loudest and deriding journalism don’t reflect the views of the majority of Americans. Your work is not going unnoticed by people who care.

If my experience walking in both sets of “shoes” — as a reporter and then as an adviser — has taught me anything, it’s how important it is to continue the journalism tradition for the next generation. I had amazing mentors and maybe someday, my former students will be a mentor for someone in return.

Indeed, there is a whole world of stories out there waiting to be told. Journalism makes a difference. Journalism matters. In fact, it might be just the thing that saves us all.

And, how cool is that illustration that went with my piece?? I think it perfectly captures what the press and journalism is all about, but also, the awesome responsibility the journalists of today have to teach the journalists of tomorrow. That’s something I never took lightly and it ended up being one of my proudest career moments.

Monday, June 4, 2018

Guess What?? It’s My 6,000th Blog Post…

YES!!!! You read that title right — today marks my 6,000th blog post on So About What I Said, and I honestly can’t believe it!!

I know I’m going to sound like such a cliche when I say this, but those 6,000 posts have flown by!! The time has flown by faster than anything else I’ve ever done in my entire life — faster than all my years in school, faster than all my surgeries, even faster than all my fun childhood summer vacations! I mean, it seems like it was just yesterday and I was typing my first post and trying to figure out this platform called blogging. Granted, I’m not a pro and, luckily, I feel like I’m still learning something new every day. I’m so glad for that and I hope the learning never stops.

And something else that will never stop?

Writing and sharing my story. I’m sure you all can probably guess that by now (I mean, I’ve been at it this long already, right?), but I think it bears repeating sometimes, if only as a mantra to myself to remember that, yes, I am doing what I love and what I’m meant to do. I feel like I struggle at times to get people to take me seriously as a writer — that this is, in fact, my career and not just some hobby. And even worse, I’ve had people say that my writing is “too much,” and that hurts me more than they probably realize. My writing IS who I am and I am my writing. It’s hard to separate the two, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

But! This post isn’t meant to be a downer. It’s meant to be a celebration. A celebration of where I’ve been. A celebration of where I am. And a celebration of where I’m going as my blogging and writing journey continues. Because no matter what anyone says, I know that my story is far from over.

I’m so thankful that you’ve been on this journey with me, friends!!! After all, I think we make a pretty good team, don’t you think?? Here’s to another 6,000 posts, sharing our stories and making lasting memories!! xoxo

Monday, April 30, 2018

My Essay on CNN Opinion: “How Could Trump Be So Clueless About Community Colleges?”

I’m not sure what it is with me and writing hot-takes lately, but I’m just going to go with it!! My latest for CNN is about the lifelong benefits of community colleges and how attending one shaped my life. My time there, both as a student and then as adviser to the student newspaper (talk about getting to go home again!), has given me so many fond memories!!

And to think, I got the inspiration for the piece from the guy who lives in the White House! That, umm, seems to be a pattern lately, doesn’t it? Anyway, when I heard that he didn’t understand the value of community colleges, I was floored, to say the least. I know so many people who have gone to community colleges and my formative years were spent in those hallowed halls. I still live close to my alma mater and still love going there every once and awhile. These places of higher learning are so much more than just classrooms and teachers and students — they’re life-changers, the place where you form your path or build the foundation of a new one.

Here’s an excerpt of the piece, because, obviously, I could rave about the wonderfulness of community colleges all day long. You know I can’t say enough good things about them…

So what exactly does “community college” mean? Many things to many people. Different things to different people. It means a chance for a single parent who works full-time to take night classes and work toward a degree. It means someone who’s retired can experience the excitement of continuing education classes. It means someone fresh out of high school can save money on tuition and explore their options while taking general education classes at a two-year college.

And I doubt I’d be the writer I am today if it weren’t for the time I spent as a staff writer (and later, editor-in-chief) of my college’s student newspaper. I was able to get hands-on experience in all facets of newspaper production, from writing to interviewing sources to editing to design, as well as learning leadership skills that extended far beyond the classroom.

[Photo via We Heart It]

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Thoughts on Being a Disability Advocate

Earlier today, I sat in the cafeteria for my usual noon lunch. Between sips of Mountain Dew, I began scrolling through social media and noticed someone had tagged me in one of their posts. She was sharing one of my CNN pieces and in her post, she called me a “disability advocate.”

Me? A disability advocate?

I know no one ever believes celebrities when they get all humble-braggy (and, YES, I’m admittedly cringing as I type this!), but I’m being 100 percent honest when I say that I’ve never thought of myself as a disability advocate. I mean, I’m disabled (obviously!), but to be called an advocate is pretty massive. I’m not so sure I’m deserving of that title in the grand scheme of things because there are SO many amazing people in the disability community who are making a positive impact every day.

A fellow writer interviewed me recently for an article she was writing on incorporating your disability into your personal brand. Such an interesting subject, don’t you think? Honestly, I’m not really sure that I ever made a conscious choice to have my disability be part of my personal brand. My disability is such a part of who I am, so I think it’s only natural that it would be a part of my writing and brand too. My life with a disability and disability issues are two of the main things I write about, in addition to relationships and pop culture. But at the same time, the those three areas (relationships, disabilities and pop culture) are all intertwined because I’ve written relationship pieces that looked at the disability angle and pop culture pieces that looked at disability issues within pop culture. So basically, my disability does permeate many aspects of my life, so the fact that it’s a huge part of my brand isn’t surprising at all.

From the beginning, it was really important for me to find my niche as a writer. I’ve also blogged for almost 10 years and I’ve blogged extensively about my life with a disability. Being so open and vulnerable in sharing my story has helped me grow an audience. I’ve gotten emails from readers who told me that I helped them see things in a different way or let them know they’re not alone. And I’ve even connected with companies who are doing great things for the disability community and it was an honor to be able to write about those companies on my blog and raise awareness when it comes to disability issues that are often overlooked.

My disability is a part of my identity — there’s no denying that or getting around it. I can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist — for one thing, my red wheelchair gives me away right away! So if I can represent the disability community, it’s really important to me that I be a positive voice. There are so many negative stereotypes about people with disabilities and I hope I can shatter even just some of those stereotypes through my writing.

It’s actually incredibly cathartic to write so much about my disability. As much as I write for other people, writing about my disability has also helped me process so much and come to terms with my disability and the role it plays in my life. I also hope people with disabilities see my story and think “if she can do it, I can do it!”

My advice? Everyone has to do what they feel comfortable doing. The important thing is to be yourself; that’s really what branding is all about, so I think it’s important to inject some part of your identity into your brand. Don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not because people will pick up on that right away. Be authentic and genuine — that’s really what people are drawn to at the end of the day. I think that’s part of the reason people identify and relate to my blog so much. You can’t go wrong when you’re just being yourself!

There’s power in sharing a piece of yourself, and that’s been one of the most rewarding parts of my writing journey over the years! xoxo

[Photos via Unsplash]