Earlier this week, I came across a video on TikTok that said something like: "If no one is coming to save you, no one is probably coming to stop you either". It's such a simple idea that felt surprisingly powerful and, dare I say... liberating? Maybe this is the friendly advice I needed to start posting?
For some reason, I've been find it terrifying to post here, on Instagram, anywhere.
A few days later, I turned to an online forum and asked if anyone had been reading any art blogs these days or if we're mostly relying on Instagram to talk and read about art. Unsurprisingly, most of the people who answered admitted they'd like to read about it somewhere other than on art criticism sites but the problem was always to find a site to follow.
In previous years, this would have been the end of the conversation, but this time around someone mentioned Substack and then many started exchanging the names of publications to follow with the same enthusiasm as card collectors sharing their stack.
It's clear that Substack seems to be filling a void and I love seeing more friends getting their own platform to share their ideas, though I have to admit something: I've tried to love it and I can't fully get into it.
It might be more of a user's error (my error) but I find it tricky to login to the platform. By default, you automatically create an account the moment you enter your email address, so I've accidentally ended up creating a handful of accounts when I was only trying to remember the email address associated with my original account. I follow a few accounts but I can't be bothered getting yet another email in my inbox, and since I can't remember what's my original account, I don't even know who I follow.
Maybe it's me getting old and holding onto the idea of a traditional blog? You know, a place where all your thoughts can exist under one roof, with tags, categories and a search bar.
Somehow, with little to no writing over here I've managed to get close to a 100k hits per year. Which is not a small feat and makes my younger self a bit giddy.
What if the format is not as important as just getting things done?
There must be something in the air because lately I've noticed more people have started some sort of long form publication, either on Substack or on their main website. Maybe it's a type of protest against all the algorithm fatigue and overstimulation from the short form content flooding our feeds?
The thing about blogs (or any publication) is: you need to be consistent.
And it's easy to lose steam when the likes on an instagram post give more of an instant rush.
That dilemma is probably what's been keeping me a bit in freeze mode. Should I focus on my Instagram account? Should I keep a separate account for the blog? Should I keep everything under my personal account? Should I have a YouTube channel instead? (I do have one, btw!).
This idea of having to make a decision is exhausting. Cause there's no time to experiment. We need to be productive. "There's no time to waste."
Then I think of a talk by artist/designer Tiffany Pratt I listened to at Creative Mornings long time ago, which has been surprisingly helpful over the years. It goes something like this:
Do what you love and don't worry about the title. It will come later."
So... I guess that's what I'm trying to do here. And across my channels, really.
What if we give ourselves freedom to explore our ideas and allow them to exist? What if the most important part is the process? What if being messy is ok? What if by doing that we end up connecting with our most authentic selves? What if this unlocks opportunities to meet likeminded people? What if this brings us the joy that felt elusive while chasing the things society told us we needed to find? Wouldn't it be worth to find out?
