Tag: Northern Virginia Blogger

The other day in a group chat, someone sent photos of a targeted ad based on a product that we had talked about just hours beforehand on a call. I think ALL OF US have seen advertisements on out social media feed that feel *just as if* they came out of the blue. Many of us have received these advertisements that feel like our phones are reading our minds. Admittedly so, I am a consumer (within reason and my own means, though!) and I find joy in purchasing things that will bring me joy over time. Many of the things that I purchase have been influenced by *surprise* … social media. Yes, social media influences me to shop, whether via a targeted advertisement, fellow influencer’s posting, or typing in “J Crew Factory” via my iPhone’s Safari. I may be the first person to say just that, but I personally think that consumerism has become super normalized that we forget to enjoy what we have right in front of us.

Recently on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee), I shared a bit about a recent purchase of mine influenced by … LinkedIn! Yep, you heard me right: I did NOT get influenced by Instagram or Facebook or even Pinterest to buy something, but *none other than* LinkedIn. While I HAVE BEEN admittedly influenced to buy something on practically every single social media site that I am on to make a purchase, I NEVER EVER thought that I would have been influenced by a professional networking app like LinkedIn (which is ALSO social media in its own right by the way!) to shop and even open my wallet. I will note that the purchase I made via LinkedIn is relevant to my 9-5 career as a proud leadership and women in data enthusiast that I am SO excited to have purchased. I also feel A LOT of joy from making this purchase and supporting an organization that empowers women in data and the next generation of women in data by doing so. However, on the same token, if I am getting influenced to make a purchase via a professional networking app, then consumerism has definitely gone to a whole other level than ever seen before.

Currently, I have been doing a ton of reflections on my own privilege in this world and striving to understand those around me in different financial situations from my own. I feel extremely lucky to have chosen a career field that brings me joy and fulfillment and allows me to be a consumer and travel within my own means and save for the future. At the same time, I have been reading up on the impacts that others have faced due to inflation (and myself, too!) in order to gain a better understanding into our ever-evolving world. My biggest concerns nowadays is the huge upwards trend in consumerism and sneaky ways for businesses of all kinds to bring consumers to spend, despite them truly not having the means to do just that.

I recently saw my fellow Instagram friend Stephanie of @slythestylist (go follow her if you haven’t already!!!) share something on her stories that truly resonated with me which was an Instagram reel that begs the question: when did consumerism become something that we praised? Consumerism, while potentially bringing about economic growth and prosperity (what do I know though?!) and truly allowing others to support businesses of all kinds, when brought to a standard of praise for shopping over saving, it can really harm others. Inflation is a real thing in the 2023 economy. At the same time, there are several people in my life that I know and know of that have student loans, towering bills (whether raising rent, groceries, car payments, health insurance, etc.), and other financial hardships that make it tough nowadays. The side effects of inflation are affecting many people in this world today, essentially making being a regular consumer beyond the grocery store and without going into any credit card debt (which is pretty common nowadays) a privilege that many others do not have. SO, in a society where we are praising others for shopping more and more and more when most folks do not have the means to truly do so, we need to make consumerism less about ourselves and more about prioritizing what we want within our own means.

While I will ALWAYS LOVE a good purchase like many of us do, especially those that bring me a ton of joy, I am striving personally to be more conscious about what I spend my money on. I have my own financial goals that I am striving to pursue into 2024 and beyond. I also want to focus more on experiences, whether it be traveling or time with friends and family both close to home or a quick train ride/flight/drive away or even across an ocean. Consumerism is sadly SO easy to get sucked into. BUT, at the end of the day, I want to enjoy and be thankful for what I have right now and continue to be thankful for what I have moving forward. And, also at the end of the day, no matter what we have, it’s who we have to spend our time with. I want to prioritize my loved ones and making memories, whatever I may pick out of my closet to wear with them!

And, in the meantime, I hope that consumerism starts to slow down a little, too. With the greater awareness towards climate change and sustainability, people are slowly beginning to realize the benefits of shopping your own closet and enjoying what you have. More often than not, there is great benefit to wearing the same thing again or lending it/borrowing from a friend to wear instead of heading online to buy something new only to wear it once. It only costs $0 to enjoy what we already have. I’m hoping that this greater awareness against consumerism begins to slow down ALLLL the advertisements for shopping nowadays, especially in a time where people are stretched for cash more often than not.

Overall, I LOVE social media and getting inspired by others’ styles to catapult my own style as it continues to evolve. BUT, on the same token, consumerism via social media especially targets many people’s vulnerabilities when it comes to spending in ways that it shouldn’t. As much as I am a proud consumer and LOVE to shop just as much as the next person, I also see the normalization and praising of consumerism as a major disadvantage in the long term to our society as a while, specifically given inflation and the current economic environment (e.g. student loans, high healthcare costs, high cost of living). I feel lucky to be doing OKAY in today’s world, yet I know many people are not. Moving forward, I am striving to share LESS links for commission and MORE of what others can replicate within their own closets/homes to create a joyful outfit/experience for themselves (thankfully, my hometown of the Washington, DC area has several affordable things to do too!). I hope that given today’s world others will consider to move away from consumerism and towards enjoying the moment what with we already have within our own means.

XOXO – Katie <3

Life is a rollercoaster of up’s and down’s. However, through it all, life is a big adventure and ever-evolving experience where we get to learn and grow and continue to do so every single day. HOW great is that?! In April of this year, I got a bit deep via sharing 10 hard truths that I wished I knew sooner (here). Surprisingly enough, that blog post was a favorite of mine to write! SO, as I continue to learn and grow over these past 7 months via the change of the seasons, I am bringing some MORE hard truths (6 to be exact!) that I have learned since.

Remember that the lessons that we learn only help to serve us moving forward. There are SO many blessings to what we learn in life, *even* those lessons that may be harder truths to swallow. YOU have the power to live your best life on a daily basis. And, for me, swallowing those painful harder truths have helped me to grow AND live it up!

6 Hard Truths that I Have Learned this Fall:

1 – It doesn’t have to make sense to others. Things I do may look strange to others and things others do may look strange to me. HOWEVER, how someone chooses to live their life is up to them and only them. The same concept goes for us, too. Looking at my own life, there are times where I may be thinking I am rather behind or not in line with others’ lives or timelines, however, I am completely content and enjoying my life. SO, why does it matter?! It surely doesn’t matter that I have chosen to focus on different things (whether it be prioritizing travel over buying a home soon, etc.) than the next person as long as it brings me joy, then I am good. So should YOU be good, too, with HOWEVER you choose to live your life.

2 – Re-align your thoughts is so important to seeing the bigger picture. People will do/say things that may make us upset, when they really didn’t intend to or were focusing on something else altogether such as the bigger picture or were even trying to help us but just missed the mark. Sometimes, I have found it tough when I say something in hopes of getting advice and someone responds in a way that doesn’t resonate. Whether or not someone else’s advice resonates with me, if they are trying to help me in the moment, then it is key to see the bigger picture than simply their non-resonating response. Many times, people want to help us and make an effort to do so, yet it doesn’t quite hit the mark that we’d hoped it would. In this scenario, it is key to see the bigger picture and re-align our thoughts. For example, this person was trying to help us given their own life experiences and perspectives, but it didn’t quite resonate as I’d hoped it would. The same concept goes for someone picking somebody else over you for a promotion at work, for example, as the other person may have had more work experience and skills aligned with the qualifications for a specific promotion to help them get there than ourselves. While it may be painful in the moment, knowing that there is a bigger picture and outlook on things via re-aligning my thoughts has helped me in ALL aspects of life.

3 – Identify your own personal triggers. Yes, you heard me right! And yes, we ALL have our own personal triggers, whether it be something as simple as a wasp flying near you as you sit on a bench or something a little bit deeper. Being transparent over here, growing up, I feared rejection and it is one of my biggest triggers. Rejection is something that I have identified as a personal trigger of mine. I also struggle with imposter syndrome *confessions* and feel great being in like-company to many that I know around me with this one. BUT, knowing that rejection is one of my own personal triggers, I have been able to quickly re-align my nervous thoughts when I do fear rejection via identifying that it is a personal trigger and fear of mine. I ALSO have a fear of wasps when near me, too, so in lighter news, I can know this when they do get around me when I am in the great outdoors (or simply my backyard!). Through it all, knowing my personal triggers has even helped me to re-align my thoughts (via Hard Truth Number 2 up above!) and better serve myself and my own mental health overall.

4 – It’s OKAY to cut back. Whether it be in your personal life, professional life, or everything in between, sometimes, what is best for ourselves is to cut back on things. It is HARD to simply give and give and give and if we don’t take a break, then it will be HARD to keep going. Our mental health is extremely tied to our physical health, whether or not we realize it. Burnout is a real thing and, personally, burnout can make me literally feel sick. Recently, I have been cutting back on things that I have either been involved in in the past or future commitments in hopes of reducing burnout and keeping my mental health in a good place. I have also been setting boundaries when it comes to days I have “off” of activities, whether professional or personal, and travel (including resting in between the time I get home and go back to work). I always hated the phrase, growing up, that you cannot do it all. However, as I have gotten older and cut back more on commitments, I have LOVED and rather EMBRACE this phrase. Our mental health IS our health, so we may as well cut back to keep ourselves afloat and in good health overall.

5 – Don’t settle. The right person is worth waiting for. In recent times, I have seen SOOO many Instagram Reels and TikToks and YouTube compilations along the lines of dating. One of the BIGGEST themes that I have noticed, from ALL kinds of dating content, is that we are better off dating people who treat us the way WE want to be treated and focusing on ourselves and our own goals in the meantime. We want to choose ourselves first before someone else chooses us and willingly pursues us. From watching content on the cheater (cringe!) to the aftermath of ghosting (another cringe!) to ignoring red flags in our partners (yet another cringe!), I have found that so many people settle for less than what they deserve. I have definitely been guilty of settling for others in the past, too, or feeling like being single versus in a relationship is life or death (spoiler: it’s NOT; always do you and put you first). Yet, the experiences I have had and seen others go through have shaped me into someone who doesn’t want to waste time settling for less than what I deserve. I also want to note that there is benefit to dating multiple people over different timespans and learning and growing from it to serve us in the long run. The older I get, the less I want to settle for less than what I deserve. I think you deserve the same, too.

6 – People will judge you, always be you. Whether or not we like it, people WILL judge us. And, we will judge others, too (I find myself guilty of this at times, but am grateful to be aware of this). All of us are human, which means that we will judge others, including ourselves. At the end of the day, the only person’s opinion who matters is YOURS. Remember to try not to make a decision based on what others think, but rather who YOU think. If something brings you joy, then DO IT. On the same token, things may make NO sense to someone else, but if it does to you, then that’s all that counts. Not everything has to make sense to us OR to others (going back to Hard Truth Number 1). ALL that matters at the end of the day is what YOU think.

Remember to continue learning, growing, and being YOU!

XOXO – Katie <3