Reclaiming Our Time: Culture, Connection, and the Power of Showing Up Substack $5

There’s something about summer that makes us want to hit reset.

Maybe it’s the longer days, or the way the sunlight lingers like it’s in no hurry to leave. Maybe it’s the nostalgia—a sensory mixtape of melted popsicles, radio hits on repeat, and road trips with no GPS, just vibes.

But this summer feels… different.

In the wake of everything—political tension, endless screen time, the mental load of simply being a woman in the world—we’re not just craving rest. We’re craving reclamation.

Reclamation of time.
Reclamation of joy.
Reclamation of our right to dream out loud.

🌍 Culture in Motion: Travel as Resistance and Rebirth

Across social feeds, more women are choosing “slow travel” over bucket lists. They’re curating experiences, not just destinations. Think: solo museum afternoons in Madrid, journaling in local cafés, healing retreats in the desert, dipping into local libraries, farmers markets and mocktail brunches with fluffy pancakes. Or simply sleeping in or taking a nap.

The trip isn’t the goal—the transformation is.

Travel, in this sense, becomes a radical act. It’s saying: I deserve beauty. I deserve space. I deserve to wander and wonder. I deserve a minute to breathe. And I deserve to cross state lines, all the lines, actually.

🎧 Mix Tape Track 1: The idea of women embracing a “delicious life” is beautifully captured in the book Women Living Deliciously, which invites women to slow down, savor their senses, and live with intention, joy, and depth. This ethos aligns seamlessly with the philosophy of slow travel—an approach to experiencing the world that values presence over productivity, connection over consumption. Rather than rushing through tourist checklists, women who choose to live deliciously—and travel slowly—opt for meaningful moments: lingering in a café, exploring a local market, engaging in conversation, or simply pausing to breathe in a new place.

It’s a reclaiming of time, pleasure, and agency in a world that often demands the opposite. Slow travel becomes not just a style of journeying, but a practice of living richly, deeply, and on one's own terms. Love this article GenXers and sex as part of the slow travel and living deliciously ethos because it centers on Gen X women reclaiming pleasure, agency, and presence in their lives—choosing depth, authenticity, and sensuality over speed and expectation.

📚 Indie Bookstores Are the Real MVPs

Let’s hear it for indie bookstores—the original havens for the curious, the creative, and the quietly rebellious. Librarians are heroines, activists and a great binge series.

This summer, they’re not just places to browse—they’re community anchors. Event hubs. Organizer havens. Portals into lives we’ve yet to live.

When you buy a book from your local shop, you’re not just supporting small business. You’re investing in shared story, in connection, in staying weird and wonderful on purpose.

🎧 Mix Tape Track 2 - My recent indie visits, reclaim our local connections.

Invitation Bookshop, Gig Harbor, WA (Insta Reel) - Sometime after their hometown Waldenbooks closed in 2011, Jason & Allyson Howard were driving past the shuttered store, and Allyson off-handedly commented that she wished they could open an independent bookstore in the newly vacant space.

It would take nine years, and a 1,000-mile move for that whim to become a plan that started in much the same way—with a simple comment that their new home of Gig Harbor needed a store for new books.

Jason & Allyson opened the doors of Invitation Bookshop in September 2020 as a way to give back to the community they now call home.

Invitation is a family-owned, woman-run bookshop serving Gig Harbor and the surrounding communities since 2020. They carry a curated selection of new books for all ages in a variety of both fiction and nonfiction genres, alongside puzzles, cards, stationery, and other goods for bookish folks.

Their name comes from the poem "Invitation," the first poem in Shel Silverstein’s collection Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Invitation Bookshop is an inclusive, welcoming, community-focused space. We are committed to supporting our community, including its most vulnerable members. We will not share any customer information with any government agency. We will oppose censorship in all its forms. We will advocate for accessibility. We will always ask ourselves how to reduce harm.

Small World Books, Venice Beach, CA (Insta Reel) - Small World Books, a beloved independent bookstore tucked just off the Venice Beach Boardwalk, has been a literary sanctuary since the early 1970s. Founded by Linda and Bob Ramstead, the shop quickly became a cornerstone of the Venice arts scene, offering an eclectic and carefully curated selection of books that reflect the creative, intellectual, and often rebellious spirit of the neighborhood. Over the decades, it has drawn both locals and visitors with its warm, unpretentious atmosphere and passionate support for diverse voices in literature.

Despite the surrounding hustle of street performers, tourists, and beachgoers, Small World Books maintains a quiet, reflective charm. The store is known for handpicked selections, knowledgeable staff, and a deep commitment to championing independent publishers and underrepresented authors. Sharing a space with the popular eatery Sidewalk Café, the bookstore has remained resilient through waves of change in Venice, serving as a reminder that stories—like the neighborhood itself—have the power to endure and inspire.

📍Drop your favorite indie bookstore in the comments— love to visit and shout them out in a future post.

🐣 The Earlybird Club: We’re Up. We’re Lit. We’re Writing About Each Other.

You’ve heard of the 5 a.m. club. But the Earlybird Club? That’s something else entirely.

This isn’t about hustle or the crack of dawn—it’s about intention.

It’s about journaling before the inbox opens. It’s morning playlists and messy first drafts. It’s women writing about women—memoirs, blog posts, and newsletter shout-outs.

We’re not waiting to be discovered. We’re narrating our own damn stories.

Let’s hype each other louder.
Let’s quote each other in our newsletters.
Let’s post our friend’s new book next to our morning coffee.
Let’s be the megaphones we always wished for.

🎧 Mix Tape Track 3: Storyteller and venture capitalist wonk, Justine Juillard is a great follow-on LinkedIn. She is passionate about the intersection of venture capital and life sciences, currently exploring biostatistical data science, intellectual property, startup law, and venture deal mechanics. As co-founder of Girls Into VC at Berkeley, she champions visibility and funding for female founders. I am loving her sharing 365 stories about female founders in 2025 to drive inclusivity in the startup ecosystem. Reclaim our stories.

TikTok Trend - “Rumor has it if you post a selfie, the girls will show up with all the love & support.” - yep, yes they will, try it on TikTok.

The “We don’t care club” started by Melani Sanders - Her posts start with welcome to the We Do Not Care Club. If you care, keep swiping. for women going in perimenopause and menopause - you must follow her she is on Instagram and TikTok - and over 897k people are following - she has tapped into a collective craving for freedom from perfection, performance, and people-pleasing—embracing authenticity over approval. #wedonotcare #WDNC - Follow on Instagram/TikTok: https://linktr.ee/justbeingmelani

🎭 The Art and Phun We’re Craving

From Michaela Coel’s genre-defying storytelling to museum exhibitions spotlighting overlooked women artists, scientists, technologists — culture is reshaping itself—remixed, reclaimed, and radically more inclusive. We are now more than ever not only bringing lost stories to light — we are also the Queen beekeepers of our stories as we are being erased from websites, The Pentagon, NASA. This smells Orwellian, where Winston Smith’s job at the Ministry of Truth was to send unwanted truths down the “memory hole” to be obliterated.

What’s rising?
✨ Stories with soul
✨ Projects with purpose
✨ Artists remixing tradition with rebellion

The shift is happening—and it’s gorgeous.

🎧 Mix Tape Track 4: This summer, look for exhibitions that center untold histories. Music festivals with more women-led lineups. Indie bookstores (again!) hosting salons instead of just signings. Websites both personal and business owned by women, reposting, resharing and ensuring that our women veterans, astronauts, scientists, artists, all stories are still being cataloged. For a copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence they are here just in case. Reclaim our histories.

Another trend that is sweeping across the US is a dance party for those who don’t want to be in ‘da club’ at 2am. Earlybirds Club | A Dance Party for Ladies With Shit to Do in the Morning – Co-Founders and high-school friends Laura and Susie fondly remember dancing to their favorite new wave music till the wee hours. Laura and Susie created Earlybirds Club as a celebration of female friendship, dancing as therapy, and finding happiness anywhere you can. In cities across the country women are flocking to these early bird parties from 6-10pm. Shake that thang. Dancing kicks the ass of stress.

💬 The Feminist Thread

Let’s not sugarcoat it: 2025 is a political powder keg.

But here’s the mixtape twist—we’re dancing anyway (earlybird).
Not to avoid the fight.
To energize for it.

Joy is resistance. Rest is strategy. Play is protest.

And Gen X women? We’re done asking for permission.
We’re building businesses. Raising our voices. Inheriting our generational wealth and keeping it. Voting and running for office. (Save Act be banished). Mentoring like our lives—and the next generation’s—depend on it.

Because they do.

🎧 Mix Tape Track 5: Belong to something, find your people, raise your voice – two groups that I belong to include Supermajority and Under the Sisterhood. Reclaim your community.

Supermajority is a vibrant, multiracial, intergenerational community of over 500,000 women working to build political power and advance gender equality across the United States. Founded in 2019 by activists Cecile Richards, Ai-jen Poo, and Alicia Garza, Supermajority provides free membership that offers access to exclusive events with influential leaders, training programs to develop organizing and leadership skills, and a supportive network of women committed to creating lasting change. By becoming a member, you can participate in initiatives that amplify women's voices and ensure that issues affecting women are prioritized in the political agenda.

Under the Sisterhood offers a unique opportunity to be part of an inclusive, intergenerational community that celebrates and amplifies women's voices across all life stages. Founded by Elizabeth Elfenbein, this social impact organization provides a platform where women aged 12 to 90+ share their stories, fostering deep connections and mutual empowerment. Through initiatives like the Under the Sisterhood podcast, wellness programming, and the "Under the Hood of Women’s Health" platform, members engage in meaningful dialogues about women's health, mental wellness, and personal growth. By participating, you contribute to a movement dedicated to closing the gender health gap and inspiring change through the transformative power of story-sharing

🗳️ Civic Remix: Know Your Power

As we reclaim our time this summer, let’s also reclaim our civic voice.

Because it’s not just about self-care—it’s about collective care. About knowing what’s at stake, how power operates, and where we fit into it. Especially for Gen X women, who are stepping into a season of influence—financially, politically, and generationally—it’s time to use our voice with clarity and purpose.

You don’t have to be a pundit or a protest leader to make impact. Small, consistent actions build real momentum. Here are some simple ways to begin organizing right where you are:

✅ Start with information.
Follow trusted voices like Shawna Presley Vercher, Jess Craven, Leigh McGowan, and Ariella Elm for smart, clear breakdowns of the issues. Subscribe. Share. Forward.

📚 Learn the system.
The free Harvard EdX course on U.S. Government is a goldmine. No pressure. No test. Just powerful knowledge to help you connect the dots.

📬 Be the bridge.
Host a civic coffee. Text 5 friends about voter deadlines. Use the Five Calls App so much that they have to run more servers. Ask your book club to discuss a current issue. Your circle is your stage.

💙 Find your people.
There are many great organizations that might appeal to you and raising your voice – Common Power, Indivisible, League of Women Voters and Red, Wine and Blue.

📣 Use your platform—even if it’s small.
Repost a resource. Amplify a candidate or cause. Speak up at work or in your kid’s school group. Organizing can be as simple as asking: “Have you heard about this?”

🧭 Follow your outrage but lead with hope.
People don’t need more fear. They need a path. Be the person who says, “Here’s what we can do.”

✊Understand your rights and the rights of others.

There is a ton of mis-information being shared, be a trusted source, have numbers in your phone. Be ready to report suspicious behavior.

Because reclaiming our time isn’t just about slowing down.
It’s about showing up—with clarity, with connection, and with courage.

Reclamation starts with knowing your rights. And your power.

💡 Cue to You: Curate Your Summer Mixtape

This month, I challenge you to curate your Summer mixtape—not of songs, but of moments that matter:

• A long lunch with someone you’ve missed

• A book by a woman who makes you feel brave (support your indie bookstore!)

• A walk with the intention to open your mind and shake off the stress

• A conversation with someone who doesn’t vote like you, but who might listen

• A social media shout-out to a woman who inspires you—because writing about each other is power multiplied

• A group of your own, not just a room, there is strength in numbers are we are more than them and better when we are together, find yours

This isn’t about doing it all.
It’s about choosing with care.

Because the mixtape we make now?
That’s the one we’ll replay when the world feels loud and the path feels unclear.

All of this being said—and because no one is going to take away my joy or my commitment to community—what’s happening right now in my city of Los Angeles is deeply troubling. The fear, the intimidation, the disruption of lives in our neighborhoods is unacceptable. But we are resilient. Our community will continue to come together, support one another, and stand against these harmful overreaches. This summer, I predict our county’s community will keep surpassing 3.5%, making clear to the world—and to one another—what is most important.

And with that I reclaim my time, power and voice to be a concerned citizen and share the beauty and goodness of this world.

Here’s to reclaiming our time.
Here’s to joy.

Here’s to banding together.
Here’s to pressing play again.

🎶 Press Play.

🧵 P.S. Drop your Earlybird rituals, favorite indie bookstores, favorite civic follows, helpful tips about organizing, in the comments. Let’s make this a thread of inspiration and support.