women

Instagram Retargeting FTW

/ Susan Scrupski / Leave a comment

It’s not the first time Zuck’s little project has changed my life or the life of someone I love for the better. The first time is admittedly better, yet this one is worth a mention. It started innocently enough.

As one does, I was sitting in my kitchen in my South Dakota apartment scrolling through my Instagram feed. I had retired and was living as the artist I always wanted to be. You can see blog posts on this site that track that journey.

Now, Instagram probably didn’t know that my life had changed so dramatically– that I no longer was the target for the ads they kept serving me. My income had contracted to a fraction of what I used to earn. I was no longer that devil-may-care shopper who would buy something “spendy” on impulse.

Taos, one of my favorite brands, kept serving me these boots that I had longingly muddled over a few times.

The sad reality that hit me in that moment in my kitchen was, well, all of the above. That I was no longer the person I used to be. I simply could not justify buying these boots at my income level.

It started to sink in.

I would live the rest of my life like this. I would be limited to browsing thrift stores for great finds, maybe handmedowns from my family.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with living that way, and I wasn’t exactly unhappy, but I realized in that moment: this was not me.

I actually had worked really hard in my life, and I deserved to reaquaint myself with the person I knew I was at heart.

Life’s circumstances prevented me from saving for retirement, and let’s just say a lot of eggs I had in baskets never hatched. But I knew I wasn’t completely irrelevant in the market. I started scouting around for opportunities on LinkedIn. I found one, or kind of created one, within a couple weeks.

Ultimately, that position did not work out, but the company relocated me to Austin, TX where I live today. And I was fortunate to find something else that I absolutely love. These days, I’m still careful about what I spend, but I’m in a better place economically. After the New Year, I’m meeting with a financial planner and will start a disciplined approach to contemplating retirement again.

There’s a lot more to this than an expensive pair of boots, Instagram getting it wrong (and ultimately getting it right), and me rethinking my identity.

It’s a lesson in not settling. So many times people feel they’re trapped in impossible situations with no way out. So important to know who you are. Bring your full self to every obstacle. Stay confident, regardless of the hopelessness of the situation.

I bought the damn boots a few months ago. I absolutely love them.

And the lesson they represent.

Merry Christmas to me.

Tout Va Bien!

/ Susan Scrupski / Leave a comment

I last posted on this personal blog at the beginning of 2022. It’s been almost a year, and boy-o-boy have I learned a lot this year. Interestingly, one of the most meaningful insights after a year of introspection is included in my previous post.

  • I want to be ENTERTAINED.

We are living in turbulent times. I remember my mother telling me how important “the movies” were to her generation while they were living through WWII. I feel it’s the same today. I’ve written so many times over the past few years to my Facebook friends, “Writers will save us all.”

There’s nothing more powerful than a good story told really well. Over the course of my life, I can name films that had a profound effect on life choices I made. Films can educate us, enlighten us, delight us, shock us, and lift us up. I’m devoted to helping good films become the best version of their awesome selves they can be.

After my journey out here on the high plains, I am healthy, happy, and whole. I did the work to heal and soul search to determine what’s really important in my life. I arrived at a place where I want to return to work– renewed and refreshed.

I’m heading back to the two areas of “work” that I love: storytelling and technology. I’ve always stayed true to the belief that technology can improve our world for the better. Combining that belief with the intrinsic understanding of the power of film, and it appears the good ole’ Universe has gifted me the perfect opportunity. Merci beaucoup!

I start my new job on Monday.

Tout Va Bien!

I tore this bill off a wall in Paris. It’s a reminder to me that everything works out in the end.

Update: Well? That job was not for me. Whoopsy. The good news is I am here in Austin with all my worldly belongings, and I got a better job. I also learned a heckofalot about the film industry. So, no worries. All good. Better than good. Greatastic.

The Long Game

/ Susan Scrupski / Leave a comment

It’s the day after Christmas. I was going through my old photos of Europe. I found this old unretouched one. It not only brought back a fond memory; it reminded me of why I took the photo in the first place. I wanted to preserve the moment to inform my future self.

This photo was taken on the lawn in back of the Eiffel Tower. You can see my teenage son napping on the lawn in a fetal position in the background.

It was the spring of 2012. I was living in Austin at the time with my son who was a Sophomore in high school. My daughter was studying in Paris enrolled in NYU’s prestigious semester abroad program. Every spring, the second week of March turned the city of Austin into a carnival. One of the country’s best festivals took place downtown: SXSW. Pre-pandemic, SXSW brought hundreds of thousands of festival goers to the Texas Capital. But, if you were an Austin resident, it was chaos and the traffic was more-than-usual insufferable.

I knew someone, okay a rich guy, who had a flat in Paris that he allowed his friends to use when he was not in town. I figured I had nothing to lose by asking if he would allow me to stay there, so I could have a nice Paris holiday with my kids, and avoid the SXSW madness. To my surprise, he did.

I remember exactly when I took this photo. My son was predictably acting like a moody teenager and expressing his indifference to our Parisian excursion. My daughter was happy to see us, and loved staying in the million dollar flat off of the Champs-Élysées. For about a week, we could pretend we lived a different life.

But the fact that we were all together in Paris, my son was well on his way to his own college journey, and my daughter was going to graduate with honors from NYU was a remarkable achievement.

I took this selfie to remind me… IT GETS BETTER.

I had come so far in my life, and I wanted to remind myself that even in times where it looks like there is no hope and no way out, you never know what the future holds. In nearly every circumstance when I’ve hit a low, the successive highs have been demonstrably better.

Life is a long game. Hold out for the upside. Even if you only see it sometimes in the rear-view mirror.