Onely.Org

Some Like It Single: Special K March 20, 2009

Welcome to yet another installment in our new series, Some Like It Single, where we profile (relatively) small, independent blogs dedicated to exploring what it means to be “single” in American culture and, we hope, around the world.

This week, we’re featuring Special K, where you’re sure to receive a healthy dose of introspective, intriguing, and just plain good writing about what it means to be a single woman meandering through life around the age of 30. K describes, in highly readable and prosaic language, what it means to negotiate between what she wants (or thinks she wants) and what American culture seems to expect of her.

K describes herself as a professional in her 30s who not only has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology but who is also a self described “best friend/daughter/sister/partyplanner/traveler/avidreader/psychologist/researcher/listmaker/baker/peanut-butteraddict/runner.” We eagerly partake of the Special K “treatment” because of all of these things, and most of all because she’s constantly contemplating what it means to be alive, especially as a single woman. We think most of our readers could use the dose of like-minded rumination that Special K offers.

K remains motivated to blog because:

I served as editor in chief of my high school newspaper when I discovered a penchant for recording my opinions and spewing them forth into the collected masses. Writing is a creative outlet for me, which often means a place to hash out my thoguths and validate bitching or praising something I’ve experienced. Writing fleshes my life out, but not in a “I strive to be self-actualized” sort of way. More, it helps me feel anchored and not just bobbing around. It is one pleasure that I partake in that makes me feel alive, amazed at my complex humanity and development, and content with the here and now of life.

And she thinks her blog’s worth reading because:

We are more lonely today than ever, despite facebook, meetups, our degrees from google university–that’s not just a “I am 30 and still single” problem, that’s a global problem. Readers of this blog will hopefully be stimultated to connect. The social dialouge perhaps is only writer (me) to reader (you), but maybe the content poses a question that readers then throw out to the guy delivering their java in the morning, or at the cafeteria table. The blog offers a compass that steers a reader in the direction of social contentment.

If that isn’t enough, K also keeps a twin blog, called Special K’s 101 in 1001 Days, where she describes completing 101 tasks completely new to her: “The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).” So far, K’s about a quarter of the way through, so there’s plenty more to come. We can’t wait until she hikes Mt. Rainier!

We find ourselves inspired by Special K, and we hope you will too!

— L & CC