I’m On A Social Media Break. Two Weeks No Posting and Only Occasional Dip In’s. Already I feel this….
I’ve known for years that if you breathe too heavily over something, it has no space to grow. By concentrating too hard on something, we starve it of oxygen to surprise us and eventually become deflated.
I learned this in my 20s when working too intensely on one thing at a time. It wasn’t and easy lesson, I was making art in my bedroom, on my bedroom floor in my shared flat. I was broke and working flat out painting my ladies in the hope that they would sell to bring in money.
When the inevitable crash of faith came, and forced to find other work (cleaning, bar work, etc), my work would sell. I learned that if we do our thing (by this I mean making and finishing the work, painting, drawing or such) then bring our thoughts to making other strands of income and set about doing that, the clogged and pent-up energy of needing my work to sell to live just held the process up.
In time, I bought this learning into making other strands of artwork, and over time, this reduced the need to earn by cleaning and serving pints. (I’m talking a good two or three years here). Hence the reason that I make a few different lines of artwork - ink line drawings, dog paintings, narrative artworks, flower paintings, etc. When working altogether, these different strands keep my hand engaged, my mind inspired, and my income live-able.
Instagram for me is a fun, bubbly, supportive space in which I can share my experience. I love it, enjoy dreaming up my posts and making my images. I’ve gained a lovely community of people over the years, and a big boost in numbers recently.
Our feelings always tell us what we need to know. For around 3 weeks, I found I was thinking of my page too intensely. What could I bring, what can I share and could see my images weren’t feeling coherent (one of the things I love about Instagram) so, up went the shutters by way of a post sharing that I was on a Social Media Reboot, and I manually turned my face away from my feed for a couple of weeks.
So here is what I wasn’t expecting.
a feeling of freedom
a job lessened in its power over me
a rekindled love and fresh eyes for my website, and my blog
an ability to think about other things that needed some sunlight by way of thinking time
I’m actively not thinking about how I’m going to return to Instagram yet, how it will look and what I can bring, other than reduced consideration.
Instagram for me is a BRILLIANT tool. A work tool that brings beautiful connections, friendships, and orders for my work. It’s precious to me. But is that really the right place for me to be bringing my best energy? Something to ponder over.
My newsletter is one of the things that needs some thinking space - and some further learning. I felt that I had my mailing list nailed a couple of years ago; today, I’m a bit at sea with it. When people actively allow you into their worlds by way of writing to them, the last thing I want to do is send out unconsidered letters. I need to revisit what I’m sending out, think about the people that have joined me recently, and how I can best serve them, and me by writing letters.
So, to sum this post up - I’ve enjoyed my Instagram breather. I feel clearer about what I’m going to bring back into my social media space. I’m not there yet in returning to the party and am looking forward to looking forward to doing so.
Much love
Sam x
