It's interesting that you had more opportunities from funding, emails and live shows, rather than social media. That's encouraging. I stay on social media out of fear of missing out on trends and to stave off loneliness, but I think I waste more time than anything. I appreciate your discussion -- your art is beautiful!
thank you! i also have social media FOMO. and the loneliness thing is big, too. i spend a lot of time alone during the week outside of work and i think social media is like a band-aid for it, there's a feeling of connection there but it's not really ~connection~. when i hang out with my boyfriend on weekends, i hardly pick up my phone!
I’ve been journaling since I owned a bunk bed as a kid. If I could read those now!
Social media is up and down for me. It’s the place to be pretty, our thoughts and images are polished. My journal is safe and I know when I’m done unlike the endless scrolling.
A notebook is a place, YES! Notebooks are where I go to shape and craft my own space. It is ever flexible and shapeshifting. Social media is a big stuffy box where the edges of myself get jumbled up in others the longer I stay. Best to be in and out quickly.
in and out quickly is the way! have been finding it hard to do that even with the best of intentions but i think i am turning a corner with it now. notebooks are so much more generous!
yeah sometimes a bullet journal can become more of a chore, that's one of the reasons why I stopped doing it. just having a notebook is a lot less pressure.
social media has also been my worst enemy! i think i am finally turning a corner now and letting it be a much smaller part of my life now.
I really liked Rebecca Marie's recent take on this as well--you probably read it. How social media doesn't necessarily create the sin in my heart (though I think it absolutely can foster it), but it highlights what is already there. In my case, laziness!!!
I barely ever journal. The last time I regularly journaled about my days was in high school. In college, I had strong depression and journaling was only a way for me to wallow in it. Since then, I haven't found a productive way to journal.
I would like to have more self-control and be less dependent, less addicted to the social media that I do have. At times when I do a digital detox, I have absolutely no desire to return. Part of me wants to be a Luddite and never return, but there is so much good I get from it as well. Plus people expect to be able to communicate with me there.
I really love your art journaling! You have a huge creative gift. Thank you for sharing it here, and in your writing as well!
thanks for pointing me towards Rebecca Marie's post! i hadn't read it before now, but i feel like there's a general ~vibe shift~ when it comes to social media, and i'm loving reading everyone's takes on it.
thank you for your kind words, i hope you find a way back to journaling!
Oh yes, I wrote about my relationship with social media not too long ago. But I came here to tell you that you are giving me so much inspiration to do a bullet journal?!!! My journal is a catch all and it’s where I scribble thoughts, lists, terrible doodles, and other random things. I love beautiful things and there’s something in me that strives to make my journal beautiful but it’s not! I think it can be both.
just read your take on it! it's so hard when you post something that you know is gonna do well, isn't it? i think i've come to a good place with Instagram for the moment but i miss posting on stories sometimes and i miss my community there. maybe i should just text people more or something lol
and yes you should give bullet journaling a go! or whatever that looks like for you. something i've been finding that works well recently is just sticking things in a blank page so it looks nice and then when the time comes to use that page i just write a short journal entry.
Thank you for this post, it’s arrived timely to where I’m at with social media and sharing. I used to have a livejournal as a teenager and have found myself longing for a similar outlet that also provided a community to share it with. I recently deleted my instagram after feeling so lonely with every scroll. I think the big social media monopolies have hit a ceiling and hopefully a more earnest alternative will come along. Until then I definitely agree with taking it offline, I’ve started a drawing journal which has become so necessary. Thank-you for sharing!
Recently I realized how much I miss toting around a notebook in which to jot all of the stray thoughts that pop into my head so I ordered one, and it's on the way. It solves the problem of where to house all of the scraps that kindle inspiration. Somehow stuffing them in my desk drawer simply wasn't cutting it.
journal will always be superior. I constantly need to remind myself that my journals are never to be read by others. Sometimes I catch myself telling lies in my own journal to appear a certain way incase someone ever reads it and im like WTF??
the shopping mall analogy truly hit home, and your art is gorgeous and i so enjoyed the way you threaded it through this post. when im jumping from social app to app it makes me dizzy. searching for something to satisfy why i went there in the first place, searching for connection. i do think social media platforms have a time of death once they lose their original ethos - MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have all lost their identities and are now truly nothing more than marketing platforms for brands. as i shy away from IG (the last social i have) i am turning my attn to places like Substack in search of true community. thanks for this post 💙
I deleted all social media from my phone in December. I was wasting way too much time on it, to the point that I thought I had no ideas or desire to write anything of my own (a pretty sad place to be as a working writer). It took a month for the detox to take effect. I'm now committed to keeping social media off my phone for the first 3 months of 2024, and maybe forever. In the meantime, I'm finding creative fulfillment in my various hobbies, trying to learn a new language, and enjoying how much clearer my mind is. The term "digital pacifier" which is used in Netlix's "The Social Dilemma" seems an appropriate term to how you describe social media here, distracting you from whatever emotions you're experiencing IRL. It really is a colossal waste of time. I'm all here for the return to the tangible — art journals, physical photo albums with handwritten labels. Real life is the real deal.
Glad to find a post of you talking about this (I’m new to your substack). I feel the same about Instagram, also I tend to left the scrolling stream with negative feelings about myself. I tried to quit last year, spent a few months without it, and came back convinced by other friends. It didn’t feel right, and It’s still doesn’t feel right. It’s not my place to be, I don’t like it and it feels like an obligation for artist to be there, hell, it even feels like not being there is equal of not existing in this earth!
I still don’t know exactly what to do, I want to find a middle ground, but I tend to be radical when I make those kind of desitions.
I was a bullet journaler in the same time you were, and I’m starting to think if it would be a nice excersise to go back to it 🤔
I find your viewpoint very interesting. I like to sketch in my sketchbooks, especially from life - things that are happening around me. At first I enjoyed sharing all these sketches on instagram, but the last two years I have been wanting to keep more and more of these sketches for myself, and posting them on insta started to feel like work. A necessary evil. Until I realised that it is in fact not necessary at all. I am allowed to keep some of my art just for myself. (A bit of background - I’m part of the Urban Sketchers community and the slogan is ‘Show the world, one drawing at a time’. So I think that is where the ‘necessary’ came in for me.)
It's interesting that you had more opportunities from funding, emails and live shows, rather than social media. That's encouraging. I stay on social media out of fear of missing out on trends and to stave off loneliness, but I think I waste more time than anything. I appreciate your discussion -- your art is beautiful!
thank you! i also have social media FOMO. and the loneliness thing is big, too. i spend a lot of time alone during the week outside of work and i think social media is like a band-aid for it, there's a feeling of connection there but it's not really ~connection~. when i hang out with my boyfriend on weekends, i hardly pick up my phone!
I’ve been journaling since I owned a bunk bed as a kid. If I could read those now!
Social media is up and down for me. It’s the place to be pretty, our thoughts and images are polished. My journal is safe and I know when I’m done unlike the endless scrolling.
oh i'm home for christmas and i have all my old journals in my nightstand. one is from my bunk bed days!
A notebook is a place, YES! Notebooks are where I go to shape and craft my own space. It is ever flexible and shapeshifting. Social media is a big stuffy box where the edges of myself get jumbled up in others the longer I stay. Best to be in and out quickly.
in and out quickly is the way! have been finding it hard to do that even with the best of intentions but i think i am turning a corner with it now. notebooks are so much more generous!
I tried Bullet Journal, but I stopped earlier this year. Did it for almost a year. But I got tired of writing, and keep track of things after a while.
But Social media is my worse enemy. Like big time.
yeah sometimes a bullet journal can become more of a chore, that's one of the reasons why I stopped doing it. just having a notebook is a lot less pressure.
social media has also been my worst enemy! i think i am finally turning a corner now and letting it be a much smaller part of my life now.
Love this post!
thank you for reading Tricia! hope it gave you some food for thought.
I really liked Rebecca Marie's recent take on this as well--you probably read it. How social media doesn't necessarily create the sin in my heart (though I think it absolutely can foster it), but it highlights what is already there. In my case, laziness!!!
I barely ever journal. The last time I regularly journaled about my days was in high school. In college, I had strong depression and journaling was only a way for me to wallow in it. Since then, I haven't found a productive way to journal.
I would like to have more self-control and be less dependent, less addicted to the social media that I do have. At times when I do a digital detox, I have absolutely no desire to return. Part of me wants to be a Luddite and never return, but there is so much good I get from it as well. Plus people expect to be able to communicate with me there.
I really love your art journaling! You have a huge creative gift. Thank you for sharing it here, and in your writing as well!
thanks for pointing me towards Rebecca Marie's post! i hadn't read it before now, but i feel like there's a general ~vibe shift~ when it comes to social media, and i'm loving reading everyone's takes on it.
thank you for your kind words, i hope you find a way back to journaling!
Oh yes, I wrote about my relationship with social media not too long ago. But I came here to tell you that you are giving me so much inspiration to do a bullet journal?!!! My journal is a catch all and it’s where I scribble thoughts, lists, terrible doodles, and other random things. I love beautiful things and there’s something in me that strives to make my journal beautiful but it’s not! I think it can be both.
Btw here was my rant on social. I’ve been pretty good about not being sucked into the vortex although I’ve been on Notes more. I’m just shifting my addiction, I guess. https://stephaniecooley.substack.com/p/why-cant-we-quit-instagram
just read your take on it! it's so hard when you post something that you know is gonna do well, isn't it? i think i've come to a good place with Instagram for the moment but i miss posting on stories sometimes and i miss my community there. maybe i should just text people more or something lol
and yes you should give bullet journaling a go! or whatever that looks like for you. something i've been finding that works well recently is just sticking things in a blank page so it looks nice and then when the time comes to use that page i just write a short journal entry.
I love that idea! Do you pull from magazines? Stuff from your daily life? Need inspiration!
need to sit on those questions but this is good shit my dude 🫡 thank you for sharing!!!!!
you are welcome my dude!! honestly if it just gets people thinking, like other people's pieces have for me, then i've done my job.
Thank you for this post, it’s arrived timely to where I’m at with social media and sharing. I used to have a livejournal as a teenager and have found myself longing for a similar outlet that also provided a community to share it with. I recently deleted my instagram after feeling so lonely with every scroll. I think the big social media monopolies have hit a ceiling and hopefully a more earnest alternative will come along. Until then I definitely agree with taking it offline, I’ve started a drawing journal which has become so necessary. Thank-you for sharing!
Recently I realized how much I miss toting around a notebook in which to jot all of the stray thoughts that pop into my head so I ordered one, and it's on the way. It solves the problem of where to house all of the scraps that kindle inspiration. Somehow stuffing them in my desk drawer simply wasn't cutting it.
journal will always be superior. I constantly need to remind myself that my journals are never to be read by others. Sometimes I catch myself telling lies in my own journal to appear a certain way incase someone ever reads it and im like WTF??
I absolutely love the journals spreads you shared through this (and the story of The Book in the dental book).
the shopping mall analogy truly hit home, and your art is gorgeous and i so enjoyed the way you threaded it through this post. when im jumping from social app to app it makes me dizzy. searching for something to satisfy why i went there in the first place, searching for connection. i do think social media platforms have a time of death once they lose their original ethos - MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have all lost their identities and are now truly nothing more than marketing platforms for brands. as i shy away from IG (the last social i have) i am turning my attn to places like Substack in search of true community. thanks for this post 💙
I deleted all social media from my phone in December. I was wasting way too much time on it, to the point that I thought I had no ideas or desire to write anything of my own (a pretty sad place to be as a working writer). It took a month for the detox to take effect. I'm now committed to keeping social media off my phone for the first 3 months of 2024, and maybe forever. In the meantime, I'm finding creative fulfillment in my various hobbies, trying to learn a new language, and enjoying how much clearer my mind is. The term "digital pacifier" which is used in Netlix's "The Social Dilemma" seems an appropriate term to how you describe social media here, distracting you from whatever emotions you're experiencing IRL. It really is a colossal waste of time. I'm all here for the return to the tangible — art journals, physical photo albums with handwritten labels. Real life is the real deal.
Glad to find a post of you talking about this (I’m new to your substack). I feel the same about Instagram, also I tend to left the scrolling stream with negative feelings about myself. I tried to quit last year, spent a few months without it, and came back convinced by other friends. It didn’t feel right, and It’s still doesn’t feel right. It’s not my place to be, I don’t like it and it feels like an obligation for artist to be there, hell, it even feels like not being there is equal of not existing in this earth!
I still don’t know exactly what to do, I want to find a middle ground, but I tend to be radical when I make those kind of desitions.
I was a bullet journaler in the same time you were, and I’m starting to think if it would be a nice excersise to go back to it 🤔
P.D: your notebooks are beautiful!!!
I find your viewpoint very interesting. I like to sketch in my sketchbooks, especially from life - things that are happening around me. At first I enjoyed sharing all these sketches on instagram, but the last two years I have been wanting to keep more and more of these sketches for myself, and posting them on insta started to feel like work. A necessary evil. Until I realised that it is in fact not necessary at all. I am allowed to keep some of my art just for myself. (A bit of background - I’m part of the Urban Sketchers community and the slogan is ‘Show the world, one drawing at a time’. So I think that is where the ‘necessary’ came in for me.)