sophieakatz

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Laura, who loves Gilbert & Sullivan operettas - as both an audience member and a performer! Find out more by listening to our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Lauren, who loves birdwatching! Find out why in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we dove back into the world of immersive theatre with Kathryn Yu, co-founder of the Immersive Experience Institute and former Executive Editor of No Proscenium! Find out why she loves this form of storytelling so fricking much by listening to our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

What's better than having something you love so fricking much? Having a community where you can connect with other people who love it! This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Sean Marotta, a partner in the Appellate and Supreme Court practice group at Hogan Lovells, who loves the #AppellateTwitter community! Find out more in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Kim, a writer and avid reader who loves used bookstores! Find out why in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find out more about Kim on Instagram @kimkaralius.

[sophieakatz]

It's time to take storytelling to the next level! This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Jada, a writer who loves immersive theatre. Find out why on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with George Nowik, an audio editor and "voiceoverister" who loves all things audio! Find out why on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link below, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also find out more about George at his website, ⁠GeorgeNowik.com.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Ryan about his love for professional cycling grand tours, like the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España! Find out more in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find Ryan on Twitter ⁠@mcguine_ryan⁠.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Stacy Barton, a writer and performer who loves the audience - every audience of the shows and experiences she creates! Find out why in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Candles

I think people are a lot like candles.

Sometimes we stand tall. Sometimes we get burnt down. But we all have a light - the ability to brighten the world around us - and though it might not look like it at first, under the right circumstances, this light will appear. And, like the shamash - the helper candle - we can use this light to give others a chance to shine, to bring forth their own light.

I think a lot of people don’t want to be a shamash. They want to be the only candle. They’re only happy, only comfortable, if everyone is focused on THEIR light, and so they don’t see the point of giving anyone else a chance to shine. They might even believe that if there are other lights around, then that will somehow make their own light lesser.

But when you use the shamash to light other Hanukkah candles, the shamash’s own light never lessens. It burns bright the whole time, and the world around grows brighter for its generosity. Helping or even simply allowing others to shine does not make your own light fade. We are all candles, and all candles are meant to shine in their time.

May we all be like the shamash, which shines and helps others to shine at the same time.

#thursday thoughts #hanukkah #judaism #candles #writer #writblr #jewblr

[sophieakatz]

It's genuinely blowing my mind right now that ten people listened to my podcast more than any other podcast this year. Like, ten whole people??? Really??? Wow!!!

Here's something that WE love so fricking much - the fact that YOU love this show so fricking much!

Especially the ten of you who listened to "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much" more than any other podcast this year. Wow! Thank you!

#lovethisthingcast #podcast

[sophieakatz]

Where do you go to celebrate the things you love? Pana goes to Dragon Con, and he told us all about it on this week's episode of "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much!" Find out more on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Rabbi Josh Gischner, who loves Torah and Jewish learning! Find out why in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: [insert thoughts here]

I've begun writing four different blog posts for this week, and I just... don't want to write any of them. I have thoughts; I always do. I just don't want to put them into words right now.

That sounds weird, doesn't it? I'm a writer. Putting things into words is what I do best and what I most love to do. But, here and now, I just don't want to. I've been playing hooky from posting my Thursday Thoughts, and I keep skipping out on posting a weekly poem to Instagram, too.

Maybe I'm just tired of feeling like I have to do it. Now, my Thursday Thoughts posts and my Instagram poems are self-imposed deadlines. I started both of them years ago when I needed a way to keep myself writing even when it wasn't my day job. Nothing bad will happen if I stop doing them. I'm not punishing myself for not doing them. I don't want to stop - but, right now, I equally don't want to do.

But it's not just me, myself, telling me to do this, now is it? We're supposed to share our thoughts on the internet. That's the general consensus. We're supposed to have an opinion, now, and be loud about it. This is how we prove that we're right. This is how we make it clear who we are and that we're on the right side of the issues. If we don't do this, well, then we must not care.

But... I don't know if I'm right. My thoughts are my own, and so are my opinions. I have thoughts, but I don't want to be reactive. I care, but I don't want to contribute to the spread of clickbait and misinformation. I want to be right, but on most issues, I don't think that only one side is completely right. And I don't think I need to prove myself to anyone, at least not on social media. That's what my portfolio is for. (And, hey, if you're looking for a writer to work on something and you want to know if I'm the right woman for the job, here's my portfolio.)

I hereby give myself permission to not share my thoughts on the internet.

#thursday thoughts

[sophieakatz]

Calling all Pokémon trainers! This week on "I Love This Thing So Fricking Much," we spoke with Simon, who loves all things Pokémon - the show, the games, the cards, and the creatures! Find out more in our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the link above, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

#lovethisthingcast

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Ace Week – What If People Don’t Believe Me?

This year for Ace Week, I want to address a concern I’ve seen expressed a lot recently in asexual-spectrum communities and forums: What do I do if people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m ace, or just as commonly, I told someone I’m ace, and they don’t believe me. What do I do now?

I have been in this position – both the preemptive anxiety, and the reality. Other people’s responses to me coming out as ace over the years have included, “I don’t think that’s really a thing,” “You just haven’t met the right person yet,” “That’s just how it is for girls,” and “I just don’t see why we need to have all these labels.”

There are harsher responses that I’m fortunate enough to have never experienced personally – like someone telling the newly-out ace that they should see a doctor for medication, or that they should be raped and then they won’t be ace anymore.

But even when the response is tamer, or even well-meaning (to be clear, someone who says that you should be assaulted does not mean well), they can still leave a harsh impact on the ace person who hears it. When someone says, “I don’t think that’s a thing,” we hear, “I don’t believe you. I know better than you about what you feel and what you want. I don’t see you, I’m not listening to you, and I don’t want to understand you.”

And that sucks, right? Wanting to be understood is the most natural thing in the world. That’s why we come out, why we use labels for our sexual identity at all – so that other people can understand us! So that we can find people like us! So we can all understand the true diversity and beautiful complexity of the world a little better!

The unfortunate truth is that not everyone is equally ready to understand that complexity. I am ace, and I still didn’t know that that was an option until I was a legal adult! If I hadn’t joined my university’s Feminist Union ten years ago, and if I hadn’t happened to stumble across that Tumblr post that mentioned demisexuality around the same time, who knows how long it might have taken me to figure it out? A lot of people have never had the opportunity to learn about the asexual spectrum before, or never “needed” to know that ace identities exist as a completely healthy kind of normal.

Unfortunately, we can’t expect someone who has never heard of something before to immediately be on board with it. We can hope they will be, and we should give them the chance to be, but we can’t expect it.

So what do you do if you tell someone you’re ace, and they don’t believe you?

You live your life.

It’s okay if they don’t believe you. It’s okay if they don’t completely understand you. Yes, we crave that perfect understanding – but there’s a lot that we as human beings just don’t get about each other. People can care about you, and you can care about them, without you completely understanding each other. As long as they’re not hurting you, it’s okay if they don’t believe you.

Now, if they are hurting you, take that seriously. You get to choose who to spend time with, after all, and it’s better to spend time with people who treat you well. If all this person wants to do now is talk about how you need to see a doctor and get your asexuality fixed, you have every right to walk away from them. If they try to force you to have sex with them, run the hell away from that person.

The thing is, your ace identity doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else. It has everything to do with YOU. So live your best ace life. Go about your day. Be as visibly ace as you’d like to be, be as vocal about it as you’d like to be, and do all the other things that you do every day, like work, or school, or reading books, or going on walks, or playing video games. Live your life.

Speaking from experience, it’s difficult for people who love you to keep believing that there’s something wrong with you when you’re clearly not suffering. Someone who loves you or cares about you is someone who is invested in your happiness. So live your life – do what makes you happy – and show that what makes you happy includes being true to yourself and your sexual identity. They’ll figure it out eventually, and how long it takes them to figure it out doesn’t change anything about you.

You’re going to be okay.

#thursday thoughts #writblr #ace #acespec #ace week #ace pride #coming out #asexual #asexuality #demisexuality

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Holes

I do what I can to stay informed. To understand the context and history. But all I see are the holes.

A history of Israel and Palestine that does not mention the Nakba is incomplete. A history of Israel and Palestine that does not mention how five Arab nations invaded Israel immediately after Israel declared its independence is also incomplete.

It’s always one or the other that goes unmentioned, depending on the source. Either hole discredits the source. Either hole is an attempt to pretend that only one side here is motivated by trauma, that only one side has suffered, that only one side is now committing unjustifiable atrocities and human rights violations.

I get it. We’re storytelling creatures. We want so badly to see the world as neat and tidy - good guy and bad guy - one always the attacker and the other always on the defense. We don’t want things to be complicated.

The truth is that pretending that things are simple helps no one. Pretending that only some deaths are real, only some suffering is real, helps no one. If we can’t see the world as it is, then we cannot end suffering, we cannot end fear, and we cannot end death.

I refuse to pretend that any life lost is justified. I refuse to pretend that any home invaded or stolen is justified. I refuse to pretend that any trauma is insignificant. I refuse to pretend that this is the only way the world can be.

If you want things to be simple so badly, here is the simple truth:

No one deserves to be killed. No one deserves to live in squalor. No one deserves to be forced from their homes. Never again means never again to anyone, now and forever.

#thursday thoughts #israel palestine