- Playing
- Midlife Web Diary
- From
- Susan Barrett Price
At the age of 50 I was a colorless corporate malcontent. I decided to engage the world by keeping an anonymous online diary. No one noticed. The initial dangerous thought turned into a challenge to become more entertaining. The result: I wound up being discovered, not by the colorful world of writers and artists, but by ... my mother.
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Piece Description
At the age of 50 I was a colorless corporate malcontent. I decided to engage the world by keeping an anonymous online diary. No one noticed. The initial dangerous thought turned into a challenge to become more entertaining. The result: I wound up being discovered, not by the colorful world of writers and artists, but by ... my mother.
Transcript
I started keeping an internet journal in 1999. I was in such a bad mood. Obsessed with my job. Angry with my colleagues. Hating it that my best writing went into policy statements and my best designs went into work flow diagrams.
It was a risk, going online like that. I was no kid. I was a 50-year-old executive. I was in charge of strategy for a big agency, with decades invested in the job. If I got caught mouthing off by the wrong person, I?d be toast. But, I thought, what the heck?
I had a cover name ? Maddie ? and Rochester became Cloudhaven. I was very careful. On my home page I wrote these words: ?This journal is a progressive work of art. I'm trying to find my voice, not trying to please. If you think you know me, you don't. If you find me, you have to be my friend forever.?
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Weeks passed. I was afraid of getting caught, but then I got mad because nobody found me. Al...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Suggested intro: What happens when you wake up one day to find you've become a bland middle-aged conformist pouring your talents down the corporate drain? What happens when it's your very prosperity that has you trapped? You get angry, but then what? In this piece, Susan Price explains how she tried to reinvent herself at the age of 50 by keeping an anonymous internet diary -- and the surprising results.
Musical Works
Music is all original, composed by author/producer using royalty-free loops
Additional Files
- Small visual (reinventionsq.jpg)
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Cheryl-Anne Millsap
Posted on December 29, 2006 at 08:05 AM | Permalink
Review of Midlife Web Diary
I listened to this piece and then took a minute to think about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.
It's just this kind of quirky, strange-but-true story that makes This American Life so fascinating.
And the fact that Susan's whole online adventure led to a new life, and a new outlook, makes it more appealing to others. Especially women who might be in the same situation.