exciting and happy change is in the air. i have thought about this for years, and have even written other blogs about it and am finally ready to RELEASE my ties and attachments to social media! (whoooohoooo!!) my first thought is how free i ALREADY feel. i am still in the process of connecting with people i really want to stay connected with and taking note of accounts i enjoy and can follow in other ways before deleting my account. i am a huge fan and sender of snail mail and surprise packages, so i will continue to do that a well.
i wanted to share my process, as i've heard from so many friends that they are tired of social media. a little while ago, i got on 'blue sky' and wasn't entirely inspired by the content as it's more political posts than art and other. it's a platform that many people are switching to from X and FB.
first, the why's....
why get off social media?
the link above to a blog post i wrote 5 years ago talks a little about it all. in addition, i am feeling triggered by so many misinformation posts and so much negativity on instagram. the algorithms keep me from seeing people i DO want to see, but i'm constantly seeing ads and posts i DON'T want to see. i am being followed by bots daily! it's a job just to block them all... okay, i waste time on instagram! just sayin'....i'm not on as much as i have been in the past, but it still takes time away from my day that i could be doing other things that feel more like true connections. i feel like if i'm just posting what i want to share, but not looking at what other people are sharing, that's not very fair or considerate of me, so it presents a dilemma! i truly enjoy following and staying in touch with my artist friends and seeing little demos for crochet, knitting, mixed media etc. AND i love staying in touch with people via instant messaging, and sharing posts i love for other people to enjoy too. i really love sharing to support other artists or causes. i will miss that.
this is what i have done to begin the process of letting go of social media. i did screen shots of my instagram of all photos that i didn't still have on my phone or in my photo file. i've been on instagram since 2012 i think? it took a while to go through all the photos! i do like how it docouments over time and loved going back in time to photos i hadnt seen in a while! now they are all on my phone and in my photo library on my computer.
this is just a few of the photos. next,i went through my feed and made note of the people i would like to continue to follow. most all of them have a website! a few didn't but they had etsy shops, so i followed the etsy shops and made a folder on my computer (STAY CONNECTED) and put all the websites, blogs, etsy shops in the folder. i can go to them any time to see what's up and what's new! some of them have newsletters, so i subscribed to all those as well. already, i feel lighter.... i can go to these websites any time and check in, but not be inundated with scrolling and seeing things i don't want to see. and finally, i reached out to a lot of people on instagram messaging to let them know i was deleting my account and would love to stay in touch. i have new subscribers to my newsletter (which is random and not too often) and hope that folks will also see my blog if they want to take a peak at that as well. i will post photos and little blog posts randomly and as i have things i would love to share. a few friends gave me their mailing address and phone number as well. international friends, i will connect with on whatsapp.
in other news..... we are starting a house building project! after my dad died, we kept his property and are going to start building this week. a little bungalow very similar to our first house we ever lived in on summer haven avenue. we are excited to be building our first house together and especially happy that it is my dad's land! i will share a few of the photos as we go along here on the blog. :)
and finally......
many of my friends wouldn't dare write a blogpost with anything political... they would think of it as a 'death sentence' for an artist's career. i totally get it...and used to feel the same way. for me, this is art. resistence is art. activism is art. moving forward is art. honesty is art. art journaling is more powerful than ever before .... my therapy. my way of processing. art is whatever you need it to be. using your voice is whatever you need it to be....
it's taken me this long to even think about writing and sharing my thoughts. i have to admit i was hopeful. i really was. hopeful that americans would not elect a felon. that didn't happen and here we are again. we are in for a ride and only time will tell how bad that ride will be. there are plenty of people that will fight for rights and our democracy. what struck me days after the election was how mean and bold some of the right wing extremist are. flying nazi flags, masking their faces, wearing ku klux klan robes.... one guy (nick fuentes) saying "your body - my choice" about women... racism out loud in so many ways. 'he' has made it okay to be racist, to be a womanizer, to be a criminal and for no one to care. damn, if my mom wouldn't have been cremated, she would be rolling in her grave. as time has gone on, more and more things are unfolding that are ludicrous and frustrating. it's very clear that elon m. has a lot of power and that is not good news. also clear is that mr. t made lots of promises to his voters and is now saying that actually it will be very hard to lower the price of groceries. UGH.... i would say to everyone who voted for him, 'you got duped'....it's really quite sad and many people will be paying the price. literally. in many ways.
i cannot stand to see or hear 'him' so i hardly watch any news these days. heather cox richardson has a newsletter that i read often. facts. that's all. what a brilliant woman.
where are YOU and how are you feeling? what are you doing to stay sane? if you are interested in snail mail / pen pals... staying in touch the old fashioned way, let me know! remember, i LOVE sending snail mail and surprise packages. :)
SOooooooo. enough about that.
back to the new year. i hope yours is filled with all that you want it to be filled with. especially community, love and peace. oh, and art. always art! stay tuned, as i will soon be sharing a special project i'm working on and ways to participate.
xx
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