Welcome to the Is It Just Me Or… newsletter!
Thanks for stopping by! If you’ve accidentally stumbled here looking for discount codes for your online candle purchases, you’re in the wrong place. If you’re here because you’re wondering why tf Megan would start a newsletter and what it’s about, I got you! Let’s get into it…
“In the beginning the internet seemed good.”
Jia Tolentino
Once upon a time, I had a blog. It was a curious, swearing, messy exploration of the new ideas I was piecing together as I dismantled my belief system around dieting and bodies. Not that many people read it. Even fewer commented. It was great.
When we all started migrating towards social media platforms, I took my writing there. There were many more people reading it, and fuck tonnes of people ready to comment with their thoughts – the good, the bad, the didn’t-even-read-it-but-here’s-why-it’s-trash.
There were word limits that made capturing nuance a near impossibility. There were algorithms that rewarded being loud and reactionary over being thoughtful and considered. And then there were all of us: looking for community, inspiration, entertainment and healing.
After a while it felt like there was less and less room for curious, swearing, messy exploration. Grey areas were not appreciated. We wanted one-liners. Clear answers. Clear good guys and clearer bad guys. I think a lot of things got flattened in the process. I know that what I felt able to express definitely did.
Over the last year I’ve found myself desperately wanting to get some of that nuance back, to be able to explore things fully, without buzzwords or slogans that have become so over-posted nobody even knows what they mean anymore. And I’ve been wondering what the best platform to do that on might be…
That leads us here. To another part of the internet that I’m hoping will be good.
This is a newsletter where I’ll be writing the things that I haven’t felt able to say in a while, just in case they’re things that other people might be thinking, too. I want to talk about social media, how it makes us feel and how we treat each other on it. I also want to talk about sex toys and why Ugly Betty was so ahead of its time (unrelated to each other). I want to talk about mental health without the one-liners. I want to talk about relationships and bodies and healing with the nuance that they deserve. And I’d really like for you to come with me, if you feel like it.
So, how does this work?
There are a couple of ways that you could sign up for the newsletter, lemme give you the options:
If you choose to give me the gift of your email address then you’ll get mail from me every week: Is It Just Me Or… will come to you fortnightly, and will alternate weekly with Read, Shake, Appreciate: a round-up of words that make me feel inspired, songs that make me shake my ass, and people who I think deserve some spotlight. Not every week deep content. Signing up this way is totally free, and you can leave anytime without being interrogated at the door.
If you are financially able and would like to support what I do here with some coin, you have the option of signing up as a $5/month subscriber. If you do, you’ll get extra audio content every week, plus access to Q&A message boards where I’ll be hanging out! You’ll also be letting me know that the things I put onto the big world wide web have helped you in some way and you’re here to support me back. I will absolutely also accept support in the form of kind words, but your girl is still trying to make her way within capitalism, too (unfortunately).
If you’ve read this far, thank you for showing up. Thank you for supporting what I do in all the ways you already have, and please, allow me to slide into your inbox once a week and encourage you to either question some shit or shake your ass.
P.s. if you’ve been following me from the early days and would really love a full subscription but can’t swing it right now, please send an email to bodyposipanda@hotmail.com 💜