I’ve been thinking about changing my tagline. When I created Shift, my tagline seemed perfect. Shift—because the only thing constant is change. It just . . . flowed.
I was in my late 20s when I started this blog. I was at a stage where I’d recently shifted from being a teenager, to a college student, to a young professional, to an expat, to living at home, to . . . I didn’t know what would come next. But I realized that life was just going to keep shifting. Nothing would ever stay the same—not for very long, anyway.
But of course my blog isn’t only about change. It’s also about connections. It‘s about connecting people, places, ideas, stories, things. It’s about searching for meaning and goodness in this, our crazy world. It’s about conversations and self-expression and challenging my own beliefs by sharing them with you. After all, challenging ourselves is the only way to grow—and that’s something we all should want to do. Even if it’s hard. Especially if it’s hard.
William S. Burroughs perhaps said it best: “When you stop growing, you start dying . . .”
And that reminds me of something else I saw recently . . .
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TV personality Mike Rowe
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I read an article on the Tribunist the other day that was pretty bad-ass. It’s a response from TV narrator Mike Rowe to a critic who wants to get him fired from his job on “How the Universe Works.” Mike is best known for his work on the Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs” and CNN’s “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” and although I’ve never actually watched any of his shows, I’ve seen several things lately that make think that I should. In his response (and in his typical, sarcastic “oh-no-you-didn’t!” Mike Rowe fashion), Mike turns his critic’s words back on her in a way that should make us all think.
Please check out the link below and let me know your thoughts!
Woman Wants Mike Rowe Fired for Being “Ultra-Right-Wing Conservative” – Mike Responds
Note: If you’re pressed for time, look for the paragraph that starts with,
“Anyway, Rebecca, my beef with your post comes down to this—if you go to my boss and ask her to fire me because you can’t stand the sound of my voice, I get it. Narrators with unpleasant voices should probably look for other work anyway, and if enough people share your view, no hard feelings—I’ll make room for Morgan. But if you’re trying to get me fired simply because you don’t like my worldview, well then, I’m going to fight back . . .”
Disclaimer: I don’t mean to say I agree with or condone everything Mike Rowe says. I do, however, agree with his point in this article.
shift 
I have always liked your tagline, Jess. Interesting to hear that you thought about changing it. I think wherever we are in our live, we will experience change. And sometimes, we will be stuck in a certain point for longer than we think, like stuck in rut for longer than we think. It’s like going in circles. That’s how I feel about my writing and certain people in my life, going in circles, always restarting and back to square one. When you’re in that kind of headspace, you feel that change is not something that’s happening – but maybe it is because you are constantly learning what makes you happy and not so happy. Take care, Jess. If I could come over and have a drink or snack with you and talk about life, I would :)
I’m glad to hear you like my tagline, Mabel! That seems to be the sentiment of several of my readers, so perhaps I’ll leave it as is for now. I’ve just felt like I needed a more specific direction for my blog, or a name that encompasses more of what I write about. After all, unless they’re clearly titled “the personal blog of so-and-so,” most blogs have themes–like in yours, you talk about culture, etc. So I dunno…
I think you’re right that we’re always experiencing change, even when we feel we’re in a rut. Every day we get older. That in itself is a change. And life is definitely a continual learning process. I think the more we can try to be open to new experiences and perspectives, the better off we are. I’d love to meet up with you, too! Maybe someday I’ll be able to make my trip to Australia happen. :)
I appreciate Mike Rowe’s take on most of the collective “wisdom”. Like you, I don’t always fully agree with him; but I appreciate that someone (a celebrity) who seems to be relatively well-respected overall doesn’t just fall in line with the Party Propaganda.
That said, your link and Rowe’s comments seem to underscore the need to keep the tagline… or does keeping the tagline mean you’re running the risk of defying the change? Augh! I shouldn’t think about these things before a full cup of coffee.
Thanks for the link to the article, at any rate, Jess. I enjoyed it.
Lol, so glad you liked the article, Matt. No indeed, I have no intentions of defying change. I’m simply looking for a tagline that encompasses the breadth of what I talk about on Shift. That said, most everyone has expressed similar reactions to yours, so I suppose I’ll shelve that idea for now… at least until I start my anonymous blog, lol. ;)
Well… when that happens, you wouldn’t want something so easily recognizable anyway. ;)
I think your tag line is perfect! I don’t know Mike Rowe, he’s not ‘on’ over here I think, but that was an excellent response to a troll.
Haha, thanks Fraggle. You and most of my other readers seem to be in accord. The tagline stays. :)
And yeah, as I said, I’m no expert on Mike Rowe, either, but his response was spot on!
Yep. I used to think I was just about as liberal as one can get. Lately, I’ve realized I’m not even close to those on the far left of the spectrum. But I’m still liberal and I’m growing tired of the efforts of the whacko left to shout down anybody they disagree with. And same from the whacko right. The extremes on both sides are waging a war, while those of us in the middle just want to see some collaboration, cooperation, and problem-solving.
I’ve got no problem with people with different views being able to speak their minds and share their opinions. It’s called freedom and democracy and if people can’t combat bad ideas with better ideas, than that’s on them not on the ones with bad ideas. When Charlottesville happened last year, I supported the right of the racists to march and speak and wished that “our side” had responded with love and ideas of their own, rather than having the event turn into a melee as the extremists on the left tried to shut them down. Let them speak so people can hear the true horror their ideas represent and then overwhelm them with love and tolerance.
Your thoughts on Charlottesville remind me a lot of Christian Picciolini’s comments in his interview with Sarah Silverman from my previous post. I do agree that both sides need to do more listening before speaking, and more loving before criticizing. I think Rowe hit the head on the nail when he said this: “…[Y]our tactics typify a toxic blend of laziness and group-think that are all too common today – a hot mess of hashtags and intolerance that deepen the chasm currently dividing our country.” Group-think is dangerous and is something we should all be aware of and fight against in our personal journeys.
It’s funny. I read a couple of rabid right-wing blogs and a couple of rabid left-wing blogs. I comment on them occasionally … according to the right-wingers, I am just a part of the liberal propaganda machine. According to the left-wingers, I am a Trump supporter.
Picciolini is right about how social media has affected our political discourse and “group-think.” A friend of my son’s retweeted somebody’s comment about how all men are harassers/assaulters. I pointed out what that meant about her father, her brothers, and her boyfriend. People are reacting without thinking critically.
If they ever did. Yellow journalism came into use more than a century ago and social media has taken its principles to a whole new level. I sometimes wonder if we’d be better off in an age of carts and buggies where the only way to send word to someone was snail mail. Perhaps then people would worry less about casting and spreading judgment. No one person or group of people can be an expert on all of the world’s politics and problems. Sometimes I think we’re just in way over our heads.
I definitely liked Rowe’s approach to this critic even though I may not agree with his political positions. But then, what tha hell does his political postures have to do with his TV shows and narration!? LOL 🤔😄
Exactly!!
I love Mike Rowe. We used to watch his Dirty Jobs show all the time..
I like him very much, too. He’d down to earth and seems to have a lot of common sense. :)