It usually starts on a Monday. Sometimes we don’t even speak because the vibes are off and words aren’t it. On a good day we’ll have our morning smoke session, then something happens… an email I don’t want to answer, a last minute dilemma thrown into my lap, the misery of watching the sky do something gorgeous through a window while I’m shackled to my desk. I mention how pointless it feels and my mother reminds me that complaining is not an escape plan.
Antonia: I make $36 an hour and I still feel like I can’t get ahead.
Valerie: You know what J-O-B stands for? Just. Over. Broke. That’s what a job is designed to do. Pay you just enough so you won’t quit, and you work just hard enough not to get fired.
Antonia: I’m spending 40 hours every week, working just to pay bills at this point. We’re stuck inside from 8-5, and only get 2 days to actually live our life. They don’t even want to give my generation Social Security, we’ll never retire. This can’t be what God put us on earth for. They think we’re just going to work until we die? Ain’t no way.
Valerie: And you won’t have to. But you have to understand what the job actually is right now. It’s not the destination, it’s funding your dreams. Keep going, it feels like it’s going to last forever but things change suddenly. One day you’ll have everything you’re asking for.
Antonia: Things don’t just happen all of a sudden…
Unpopular Opinion: Retirement Is Boring
For 30 years I had the same morning routine. The hustle and bustle of getting dressed, socializing in the breakroom, praying that one day I can get out of the rat race.
Now, as a retiree I see hundreds and hundreds of people with things to do and places to be. It feels like life is passing me by. On a random Wednesday, the boredom kicks in, and I start looking for something to do or somewhere to go.
This is where my daughter usually chimes in to say “most people are going to and from work today… that’s it. You have freedom, all your time belongs to you. Trust me, we wish we didn’t have anything to do today. Enjoy it!”
I’m an empath, I don’t want to brag about the joys of retirement while she’s feeling stuck on the rat race. She says I should bask in my blessings.
That puts it into perspective. She’s right, I don’t miss the performance reviews, staff meetings, and all the deadlines, but I’m not done making my mark on the world.
Starting this business and learning Canva, CapCut, Asana, and whatever else my daughter speeds through while screen sharing is keeping my mind sharp as I age. I’ve been out of the workforce so long, I’m not used to working on something every day. My next challenge is to be more consistent.
Every Monday at 5AM I post music. Something to get you in your bag before the week tries to grab you first.
The drill era was dark and stagnant — killing each other isn’t getting us closer to anything but a casket ourselves. But hustle culture and money music was full of affirmations. It was aspirational and made you feel like the thing you were working toward was already yours. The chains, the diamonds, the cars and money — we were speaking it into existence. The higher vibrations made you dance, gave you motion and the energy to keep grinding. That energy took care of families and built businesses. We need it back.
Dating In My 60s: I Don’t Date Men Who Don’t Listen To Trap Music
As a reader, I fell in love with rap music the moment I discovered the wordplay and lyricism. When I hear someone my age say they don’t like rap music — red flag.
There are a few songs I skip every time they play. I’m not saying you have to like it all, but with so many different artists, so many styles, topics, beats, and clever bars, it sounds closed minded (and a little anti-Black) to apply one big blanket statement to the entire genre.
A long time ago I promised myself I wouldn’t let my mind get old and stuck in its ways. And so far, I’ve stuck to my word.
