I’m what people call a “millennial.” Like many other millennials, I spend much of my time on social media.

Recently, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, and a succession of photos from the outdoor gear and apparel retailer L.L. Bean caught my attention. Viewed one by one as they appeared in my feed, the photos appeared as oddly close-up segments, some with sections of large type on them, of what appear to be a larger image. When I went to L.L. Bean’s account to investigate, I was presented with this:

Recently, I attended an event focused on millennials’ views on a variety of education-related issues. The event’s panelists discussed results released as part of GenForward’s education survey. Survey results were included in a report titled Education in America: The Views of Millennials, released by GenForward in September. According to the report, GenForward surveyed over 1,750 young adults ages 18-34 with a particular focus on “how race and ethnicity influence how young adults or Millennials experience and think about the world.”

One of the highlights of my recent attendance at the ComNet17 conference in Miami Beach, Florida, was the opening keynote session. Michelle Obama’s chief speech writer, Sarah Hurwitz was interviewed by Melanie Newman, the Chief Public Engagement and Communications Strategist for NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

I was dependent on opioids. For a week. Two summers ago, following foot surgery, I experienced excruciating, constant pain that made four childbirths—including one C-section recovery—seem like an inconvenient headache. I took the opioid painkiller that my surgeon provided. It didn’t erase the pain but it did make it slightly more bearable. After a week, I finally felt better enough to switch to extra strength Tylenol. When I made that switch, I felt absolutely awful. Nausea, tiredness, sweats, depression, etc. At first, I thought it was the flu but that made no sense because I hadn’t left the house at all and no one in my house was sick. Then I started to put two and two together and I did some research on the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. With the exception of opiate cravings, I had them all. I was shocked that this happened after taking prescribed painkillers for just one week.

It’s that time of year again – time for football, pumpkin-spice lattes, and more importantly, time to cozy up to the annual Washington Women in Public Relations Media Roundtable. This year’s panel features reporters and editors from some of the top news outlets in the country and I can hardly wait to moderate.