I am working on some of the writing that is a paid project and it has me reviewing places where people go for a vacation experience.

The website shows a woman standing on a grassy mountainside in front of a borrowed horse taking a selfie of herself and the horse, presumably to share the experience with her people. It is staged for a promotional photo for the website, and I, the observer, find myself wondering what the hillside, horses, and general public will feel about this picture.

Part of me understands that this sort of self-documentation and display is just how we communicate now, but the other, more cynical part of me asks if it is relevant or meaningful. As is tradition, I’m critically overthinking my place in all of this inception-level marketing.

I have to approach every place I review with a completely objective viewpoint but it is nearly impossible. Just as soon as I set eyes on a website, 40+ years of predisposition come crashing down on the keyboard through my hands and make all of the words heavy. I wish I could just toss this judgment aside but it feels fundamental to my being so I don’t.

…If I could, though, my work would be one hundred times easier and probably equally profitable and relevant.