Real Life of an MSW

I recently read a powerful email about rebranding. The author explained that their current name no longer fit the evolution of their work or the feeling they wanted to convey. It made me pause and reflect on the title of this blog. I realized how much I still love it; it truly encompasses the real-life events that make us pause, laugh, wonder, or even disagree. That is the essence of life.

Being an MSW is a factual part of my identity that I love, both for myself and for those I heal and teach. I hope that when people find my page, they realize the stigma of the “burnt-out social worker” isn’t always the reality. We can live well-rounded, beautiful lives.

I sat on a panel recently where a student asked how I do this work full-time. Drawing on my mindfulness training, I took a breath and gave what might be a controversial answer: I don’t think anyone should do this work—or any job—full-time. Life is shorter than we expect. I encouraged them to find ways to do what they love and create the life they actually want.

When a student asked what that looks like, I told them: freedom and flexibility. For me, that means a mix of teaching, therapy, clinical supervision, and writing. These are all streams of income that bring me joy and spark my creativity.

I also recently read a post by Damyanti Biswas about the challenges of keeping a blog going. It reminded me that I started this blog for myself as a way to “positively purge.” I put it on a public platform simply because someone else might need to hear what I need to hear.

As a reminder, my posts are all preloaded; nothing is written in real time. I love this because I often forget what I’ve scheduled, making the reading experience a serendipitous moment for me when it finally goes live. While I appreciate every like and comment, I don’t worry about the metrics. (To those who have mentioned their comments not appearing: I’m not sure why that happens, but please know I appreciate the engagement!)

That was just my morning reflection. I’ll leave you with a few questions: Have you thought about rebranding your blog? Why or why not? And in your opinion, is blogging still “a thing”?