It seems Substack is having a(nother) moment. This feels like a good thing to me as I continue to cut away at things I thought I needed, or maybe just wanted for a while, before finding neither to be true.
Case in point: I’ve fallen out of love with Instagram. I was always more into it than vice versa and then after it started hanging out with the Zuckerberg Wrong Crowd, stuff got messy. Last week, tired of the arguments, I decided to end the relationship. Can Insta and me still be friends? I think so, but I need a break.
I love to write but I know that in this age of the app, many people simply don’t go looking for blog posts anymore and there’s been no good aggregator since Reader was cancelled. So while I usually crosspost onto my personal website, this is now the place where everything goes: images, words written and spoken…because the app is, yes, a good reader.
I’m here because my friend Kristen of ten percent productions did it first (as is often the case) and then recommended it. I’d looked in the past and been frightened off by the Serious Journo vibes, but this time it felt more accessible. I signed up for Kristen’s posts and being able to read them in email, on the site or in the app, was easy, clean, and fabulously free from unwanted shit being thrown at me.
What I really love about coming to read here is that it’s slowed me back down. No more mindless scrolling, waiting for something to ping me some dopamine (and get noted by the algorithm guys who will then tag me as obsessed with DIY when actually I was staring at the cute dog in the background). No more looking for people I actually know in amongst ads and suggestions and WHY ARE YOU DANCING IN FRONT OF YOUR PHONE????? Sorry. You go ahead. Enjoy. I know it’s harmless, I just…oh never mind.
It feels peaceful here. Even though it’s still at the stage where I haven’t really found my “corner”, I’m actually enjoying being cornerless because let’s be honest, we only end up backed into them. Missing out on new ideas and voices; hearing our own opinions echoed back at us and slowly slipping into homogenization.
I never want that to happen to me again.
I’m not a regular poster here at the moment and I feel no pressure. I’ve reposted some old blogs and re-routed my podcast because the things I talk about on there, are the things I want to write about now. Life as an older woman; the freedom and challenges that brings; my deepening connection with Earth and earth, and the fulfilment that blooms here at the wild edges. This is my world now and I have the confidence - finally - to not care what other people think about it. I no longer want or need external approval because I approve of my Self. What does remain is the urge to assimilate and process my experience using words, and for the foreseeable future I’ll be putting them here. I’m really happy to see so many others deciding to do the same.
Hello.
Two years ago I left Insta with no hopes to be back. I found myself back there recently for a specific purpose, but being back there confirmed everything I felt, (and all you've said too). I'd go so far as to say it can feel dehumanising even, (as far as our natural human rhythms/brain chemicals and need for connection go). This feels peaceful, but also goose-bumpy in a good way.
It's beyond lovely to read you here : )
I feel calmer just being here and i'm glad we're quietly here together ❤️