It’s a New Day
If you’ve been following me on social media, you may have noticed me posting less and less frequently over time. I have to be honest. It’s been both difficult and confusing navigating the changes in our world over the past several years, starting with COVID and now with so much going on globally it’s been feeling really overwhelming. I want to add to the conversation but not with noise, if you know what I mean.
Consuming so much inflammatory information from what feels like all sides, I have been less and less inclined to allow my energy to get hijacked by sensationalism and consumerism. After all, as I have been teaching for many years:
Where your attention goes, your energy flows. My time and my attention are mine and I have them in limited supply. So I’m taking back my power to choose what I do with them and where I “spend” them.
My time, my choices: I suddenly realized, I really do have a choice. A choice to expose or not expose my nervous system to the brain-numbing, circling drain that feels like the internet these days.
Taking Back My Power: All this to say, I am voting with my feet. And my time and my attention and my advertising dollars. I feel like every other post on some platforms are ads to get me to click or buy or sign up or follow someone just to get the information I want. I’m done letting advertisers and marketers and influencers use me for their personal gain.
Buh-Bye Meta! I’m deleting my social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram, realizing I’ve invested way too much of my concept of self-worth and validation in watching other peoples’ lives and not living my own! It’s not healthy for me and it overworks and overwhelms my nervous system.
What about other platforms? While I still technically have a You Tube Channel (not that I do much with it) as well as a Linked In page (ditto) I am choosing not to make an account on Blue Sky or other alternative platforms at this time as well, so as far as me communicating with you all, my newsletter is going to become my only way to say hello. That, and right here, on my newest blog space.
A recent personal joy inventory reminded me of how much I used to love blogging. Fun fact: I started blogging in 2006 and it brought me so much life and joy, but then social media and short-form/microblogging started to take over the world and my little corner of it felt obsolete, so I let that stop me. I quit blogging, believing that no one cared to listen to what I wanted to say. I let others define me and curate my experience of life. What a waste.
The Algorithm Sinkhole: One of the things that social media did to people and businesses like mine was it made it all about algorithms (which I can’t control) which are all about marketing (which I can’t control) to a target audience (which is determined by a computer program, not organic interest). That made it difficult for someone like me who is multi-passionate. I could never fit into just one niche.
Blogging and ADHD: I used to love that my blog could be about anything. And I’m realizing my neurodivergent brain needs to be able to switch tasks and not get pidgeon-holed, so I’m choosing a format that allows me to write about anything and everything. This also gives YOU the freedom to either read or not read what I write. So, if you’re looking for someone who writes about only one topic in your particular field of interest, there are lots of experts out there who can fulfill that need for you. Here you’ll probably get a little bit of everything: Gardening, Wellness, Nutrition, My Books, Recipes, Energy Work, Motorcycling, Yoga, Breath Work, Dog and Cat photos, my Travel Log… it could literally be anything. In a word: I’m done apologizing for being multidimensional.
Community Building: What I crave, and maybe you do too, is authentic community without the noise and that’s what I’m aiming to build. With this newsletter, and with my brand new blog that I will be hosting on my very own website, I get to control the content you see, and you have the power to not read something if it doesn’t interest you. I want to give more freely. To participate in a reduction of capitalism and a resurgence of a gift economy. But more on that in my next blog post ;)
Release the Kracken! I’m hoping this change will free my creativity and help me get back to writing in the way that has always lit me up. Free to be inspired. To share what I’m thinking about or dreaming about in the moment. Unencumbered by likes or dislikes or internet trolls or concerns about how this or that message does or doesn’t fit my “brand”.
I am my brand. And I’m different. And I’m multi-passionate. And I’m a real human, not a bot. I have feelings. And thoughts. And things I’d love to discuss. And I hope you’ll stick around to be a part of it all.
