“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
I have a confession. Sometimes it’s hard for me to think of ideas to write about. I know you all think of me as a man flowing with brilliance and ideas and wit and wisdom. While you are correct, it doesn’t always translate to topics I can write 2,000 words about. Sometimes I wish I had attended the Bill Withers school of writing. It would be so much easier to crank out a word count. (Listen to Ain’t No Sunshine and Lovely Day to get the genius behind that reference).
They say write what you know. They say to write your feelings because sometimes people write what they can’t say. Today is a gross and rainy day here at the Daily Dispatch Chattanooga office so I’m going to take that feeling and write it down. Let’s start from the beginning shall we? I was born young. As I grew up, I got older. You know what, y’all didn’t come here for a biography, as riveting as it has been so far, you came here for the real, the raw, the vulnerable. I love the game Connections that the New York Times (not a sponsor please don’t read other newsletters) puts out every day. It reminds me that everyone belongs to a group and sometimes it doesn’t make sense but if you just keep guessing you too can find where you belong.
I’m avoiding the real issues. I know. I hide behind my silly little writings because it’s tough to write about the hard stuff. I find it really difficult to write about when my dad left us when I was 10 and how it affected me in a deep way. It’s tough to write about because it isn’t true and didn’t happen. In fact, he’s super supportive and has always been there for me. It’s kind of a bummer really because it doesn’t give me any good material to write about! Give me some baggage to unpack so I don’t have to make up stories all on my own.
Alright, since I can’t write about my struggles as a 28 year old man with supportive parents, a loving wife, and a steady job, maybe we should change gears here. I am going to change tactics from lying about struggle to stealing good ideas. My buddy Andrew sent a message in our guy’s group chat the other day asking everyone to share their victories because he wanted to be happy for and celebrate the boys. Y’all are really getting a peek behind the curtain of how tough it is to be a writer with all this support and love… Think of most rap songs you’ve heard “They told me I wasn’t gonna be anything but now I’m here.” type lyrics. Gosh that would be nice… Alas, it’s all kindness and belief over here so we might as well lean in. I’ve had some ideas for a way to bring the Daily Dispatch community together and allow you all to interact. Though I fear a coup, it could be fun. We need proof of life and engagement though so here is a test: Send me your victories. Like Andrew asked our guys, what are you proud of? What can we celebrate together? I keep making promises of cool stuff, but cool stuff needs participation. pls.
On to the news. Spotify Wrapped just came out so everyone is putting out their top songs and artists. First of all, Spotify is genius. Every app tracks you and takes data. Spotify is the first to make it cool. Second, I get jealous this time every year. Not because I’m one of those losers who uses Apple Music, but because my Spotify listening data always seems skewed and doesn’t fully represent me as a musical consumer. In previous years I moonlighted as a wedding DJ so there was a lot of Black Eyed Peas on my listening history. Not to shade a group that was the soundtrack of high school dances for my generation, but I’m not going on a walk, throwing in my earbuds and listening to Boom Boom Pow. This year, I connected my Spotify to my Alexa because I am with the times and a techy. My mother-in-law came over one day to help us around the house (very thankful) but listened to 10 straight hours of Aerosmith on the Alexa while doing so. Don’t get me wrong, I rode the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney as a kid and fell in love with the music of Aerosmith myself. I even used to make slideshow music video type things on powerpoint to Aerosmith songs. However, it is not representative of my current listening habits. Oh well, maybe next year.
If you believe you have the coolest, most unique Spotify Wrapped, let me know. I’ll listen to your top songs of the year and judge you accordingly. My friend Zach listens to good music so I usually find his top songs of the year and listen to them to find new stuff I’ll like. Please don’t tell him because he will get a big head about it all.
I don’t have much to say today if we’re being honest. Just giving y’all a little check in. Because the content was a little weaker today, and because I mentioned the Connections game earlier, I’ve made a custom Connections game for you all to enjoy! (There is a hint in today’s issue for one of them.)
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Nk_nHX8UpgeScPwNR9dhttps://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Nk_nHX8UpgeScPwNR9d
