#1 Normal voices
"I hope to create a community in which readers of the newsletter will volunteer to be on the newsletter"
Welcome to the very first edition of Normal voices! Normal voices is a weekly feel-good newsletter, filled with an anonymous conversations with people from all walks of life. The topics appear naturally in the conversation and are not filtered. By taking away who is being interviewed, the depth of your neighbour, cashier, CEO, brother's friend's cousin, can truly appear and all the great tips they can share! Anyone can be on the newsletter by simply leaving a comment.
This week the interviewee is yours truly to give some background about the writer behind this weekly smile (at least that’s what I am going for).
Hope you enjoy the read and seeing you again next week.
#1 Normal voices
Give me three words to introduce yourself
Bubbly vs. Dry and energetic
Bubbly vs. Dry? What do you mean? Describing your favourite wines?
Hahah actually don’t drink so much. What I mean is that it sometimes feels like I have two personalities, completely dependent on my mood. On the one hand I can be extremely “bubbly” (*cue Colbie Callait), but within a minute it can turn and I can be more short/dry and straight forward. According to my mom I can “make” a room (for better or worse depending on the mood).
What influences your mood?
Energy levels, mainly based on the sensations I have had to endure until that moment. After having had many sensations/ interactions, I am tired and shut down and need to be fuelled up again with quiet time.
Cool- we get the gist, next. Favourite book?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, about which I am always compelled to say this has been my favourite since many years before the series came out.
What is so good about it?
It is a complete dystopia, yet it comes very close to reality. It also shows how from an outsider point of view a world can seem (morally) unjustifiable, while for insiders it is ‘just the way it is’.
Is this something that is close to your heart?
Yes and no. I like thinking about such topics, including thinking objectively about the society in which I live, but am not compelled to work in politics for example.
What do you mean with “objectively thinking about society?
Looking at society with Alien lenses
And what is its weirdest thing?
The fact that government workers outside of public institutions, such as policemen, bus drivers and firemen, wear specific outfits. It is like they are Playmobil dolls that have been put in place in ‘our’ world to merely function.
What can you learn from this?
Well, taking it further it is fun to notice that there are more of these ‘roles’ within society. The group of people fulfilling such a role (ranging from teachers to laywers to baristas) all share similar characteristics. It is like we are all playing a part in a big screenplay, in the role that was somehow scripted for us. Even more fun is then realizing that some people have multiple roles (like the moment you realized your mom has a whole different life as someone’s colleague or boss).
What is a key lesson you have learned in the past 12 months?
The need to be rational and the time that can be saved when doing so and not overthinking. In the past 12 months I have had a handful of stressful days followed by sleepless nights overthinking decisions. In hindsight these have been many wasted hours which could have been circumvented by 2 hours of proper rational thinking with a conclusive decision and sticking by that. Easier said than done, but this is the main lesson I have learned and an area if improvement I am continuing to work on.
How do you ‘self-improve’?
I try to be very aware of my actions and objectively reflect on what I have done and how I could do this better in the future. This includes accepting that lessons are learnt the hard way (sometimes very costly and very embarrassingly hard, but hey! at least I should know not to make the same mistake again).
What is the best thing that has happened to you?
Being born in a very fortunate situation with loving family and all the means to live a comfortable life. After the day I saw the light, the fact that I landed a job in the industry in which I want to make my career.
Which is?
Media!! Streaming! Broadcast to OTT! Linear to on-demand (to “suggest me something”)!
What is the coolest thing that happened in this industry in the past 12 months?
Twitch (streaming side for gaming owned by Amazon) acquiring more physical sports rights.
How come?
It is a literal marriage (polygamist mind you) between the old / new world and the physical / digital world. Having the traditional Pay TV sports content on a highly active user base online streaming platform is the tip of the iceberg of how our media landscape will change.
TV series to recommend?
I work for a media company and don’t like recommending shows. However, generally my favourite genre are sports short series documentaries. Perhaps next time you open your streaming service it is a new page you could turn your eye to.
Podcast?
Why Normal voices?
In the current media landscape most attention is given to those who “scream the loudest” and it feels like “normal people” are pushed to the background. On top of that, most of us live in a filter bubble and are only confronted with media, influencers and videos that fit within our demographic. “Normal voices” is something to counter this, with interviews with people from all walks of life, on topics that naturally follow in the conversation. The goal is to create a tolerant community where there are *just* interesting conversation that are not overly political, dramatic, inspirational, but simply fun to read while also hopefully giving a little different perspective in our balloon worlds.