Sesquipedalian. That’s a hilarious word. It’s an adjective, used to essentially describe people that overuse big words- in many cases under academic reference or just to sound smarter. It’s a lot easier to convince a crowd of something with long, accentuated words that sound important and powerful, but ultimately, they have no idea what they mean. To me it also sounds like a pedaling-squid alien, but alas. Anyway, I’m definitely that- but I’d like to add/propose an alternate reason. I am a big fan of words and of reading, and until about 4 years ago, writing was my favorite hobby.
I would like to quote Anne of Green Gables here, ”But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?”. By the way, this fictitious girl is without a doubt, my hero. Or at the very least, a comfort character. Bullied when she was younger for being an orphan and stocky in appearance, she got dealt the short stick many times throughout the story. But she always has this crazy optimism and genuine kindness that propels her over any obstacle. She’s also a literary genius with a hyperactive imagination that makes all these problems so much more captivating. Its show adaptation (Anne With An E) is always top of my list to put on when I’m feeling low.
Anne highlighted the importance of encapsulating big ideas with big words to express them better. And I agree- because my big ideas need to be transferred in some way to the outside world. So I present to you- with whatever amount of drumrolls your mind can muster conjuring- my new personal project- Just In Her Meta. The name is pretty self-explanatory, I am reflecting through a regurgitation of prose and commentary, my take on what’s going on in my phone. And in your phone. What I’m seeing and consuming in my Meta- and I do a lot of that (Also I was so ecstatic that I got the handle name on IG- @justinhermeta). In addition, I will also be publicating short stories in the form of creative writing, which was one of my favorite things to do growing up (other than singing), and design ideations and moodboards I’ve made for projects that I’ve liked and want to share (or wouldn’t look good in my portfolio). I also will be writing about trend analytics, cultural commentary, fashion, art, digital developments and emerging tech etc. I have a lot to say for a lot of things.
One thing I want to make clear: This project is for me. The ‘core’ purpose of Just In Her Meta is to hold myself accountable for writing and to publicize my words and thoughts. It’s to give myself a space to let some things I’m thinking about go, by transferring into a tangible, archival manner. And I’m pretty sure it’s definitely something that my therapist would advise me to do (for like a mental- health thing) if I had one.
Another reason is for me to store my market research and trend forecast ideas in a place I can revisit- or other people who are interested in this can see. I read a lot about what’s going on in the world, and I have a great interest in the consulting side of things. What event has caused people to react in this way, and think this is cool- and this not- and how brands (can) adapt to this change. A friend described this in a really funny, yet accurate (for those that have been to American curriculum schools)- “this is like a social studies class but talking about things in the present”. In other curriculums, this is history class. These kinds of publications will be posted in ‘Meta Talks’, and the more creative stuff in ‘Inner Musings’.
I’m also happy to announce I am starting a podcast! The name of that one is ‘Just In Her Metapod’:) I am super excited for this one because I’ve been wanting to do this forever and finally got enough motivation to do so. If you’ve watched ‘Midnight Gospel’ on Netflix, you’ll get the idea very fast. For my uncultured friends who have not, I will phrase it like this: Imagine you’re hanging out with a friend, and start getting into a deep talk. It gets to the point where you’re like “Wow, we should have recorded this I wanna go back to it later because we’re dropping some bars right now”, or “I have friends who would love to be in on this conversation”. And it’s a talk about something that actually matters. Whether it be a talk about life, giving advice on problems, or commentating on what’s going on in the world, it’s nice to be able to replay a good time spent with a friend. Also, podcasts are trending FYI (literally now is the best time). As people are getting overwhelmed by the constant intake of short-term content, and with it the inability to pay attention to one thing for too long- podcasts (audio or video) are on the rise. Not to say they haven’t been popular, but over the last 2 years, we have noticed a significant increase in their consumption. Other than it being multi-task friendly and adherent to many user niches/sub-cultures, it also gives the mind a brief respite from constantly being bombarded with new information. From an audio perspective, it’s a great way to still be engaged but let your eyes rest from the screen. A friend of mine loves listening to podcasts when she’s cleaning or out doing errands.
So… that’s all the news.
I feel less anxious now that I’ve written this.
And this felt good. Moving forward, I would like to end this ramble by saying that whatever I write is welcome to any interpretation or alternate perspective. I’d like to think that this space is not only mine but almost as if we’re sitting in my house and talking about the topic. This is my point, what’s yours? Would love to hear it!
Love from My Meta to Yours,
Andrea
Good idea, 👏