Value and oversharing online

In the age of social media it’s easy to overshare. You can go from sharing behind the scenes of your business, hobby or creative work to showing people what you ate for breakfast, how you ruined your manicure and asking for suggestions for your new hair colour.

For some people, it works, they like sharing themselves with people in that way. But for others it would be considered too much.

It’s can be challenging to judge whether you need to push yourself to share more online or if sharing more is the wrong thing for you.

If you find yourself caught up in uncertainty over what to share online, consider why you want to share those details.

Does it add to the work you create, does it add value, is it something you’re comfortable doing or is it just more ‘stuff’ to scroll through?

Vulnerable creativity

A big part of creativity is being vulnerable.

When the work you’re producing is not at the level you’re content with it may be because of one of 2 reasons.

The first is that you’re working in a medium that you’re so used to that you need to dig deeper in order to produce something with an element of vulnerability.

The second is that you’re working in a new, less familiar medium and you haven’t reached that level of comfort where you’re able to be vulnerable with what you create.

As someone who writes a daily blog, has journalled for over a decade, has had various lifestyle blogs over the past 8 years and also writes poetry, I’m quite familiar with expressing vulnerability through my words.

However, I’ve recently been working on taking and styling photos which is something new for me.

I’m still finding my way with taking photots which is why it often feels difficult. But instead of pushing myself to create something interesting, I find myself holding back.

It’s easier just to do something simple instead of putting myself into my work. That takes vulnerability.

There are levels to creativity.

I beleive that I’m able to convey vulnerability through my writing. But as I work with other mediums I find that I’m much less free-flowing. My work is rigid and sometimes uninteresting.

It’s not neccisarily bad but in the creative process I don’t feel like I’m experimenting or pushing the boundary

What it’s like to be an ideas person

Years ago I had an idea to create a lifestyle site based in my city. It would have included things to do and see, restaurant reviews and recommendations, arts and culture, places to shop etc…

That idea never came to life. I wanted it to be a group thing, a site run by team of people. We’d have been writers, editors, photographers and creatives. But I never spoke about the idea, not even once. Plus, at the time I didn’t have any people in my life I could have asked to contribution or run the site with me.

A few years later I had another idea for a collective of sorts. A group of creatives and makers. We’d have been bloggers, graphic designers, fashion designers, photographers, artists, illustrators, web designers…

It would be have been a group of people sharing spaces to work on their projects individually but also together. They’d pay a monthly fee and reinvest the money back into themselves and their work.

Just like the first idea, I never spoke about it and nothing ever came of it.

I think I created these ideas because I craved a community/tribe of people I could relate to.

A few months ago I had another idea (if you can’t already tell I’m quite the ideas person). It was for a society that would hold monthly events and I’d write a monthly newsletter.

When I think about how different my life could have been if I’d pursued these ideas it’s slightly terrifying. It’s not always easy to imagine yourself leading, organising and having the confidence to pick yourself.

But, these ideas are the kinds of things I would’ve wished I’d done if I saw other people doing them, yet I’ve never had the ability to do them myself.

I plan to work on evolving into the kind of person that doesn’t wait to be picked and isn’t afraid to lead over the coming months. And right now that looks like doing things, making things happen and bringing my ideas to life.

Great in theory

The reality of some ideas, projects and plans is that they are only great in theory.

When some things get brought to life they crumble and fall.

Sometimes it’s because we get carried away by the excitement of something new that we overlook or under estimate the time, effort, commitment, dedication and hard work that it takes to bring something to life.

Having a daily blog might sound great in theory but if you haven’t considered that you’ll need to find time to write, have something to say each day, plan ahead etc. The you might not be pleased with the outcome.

If something is great in theory it either means it doesn’t need to be brought to life or you need to take care when you do. It might not always be easy but it’s possible to produce something great.

Maybe writers should try painting

For about a decade I’ve written almost daily and in the past 7 months I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t written.

But I recently started to wonder if I should stop writing. Not altogether but to simply take a break. I’m not sure what the benefits would be but it would definitely be a challenge.

Writing is embedded in me, it’s part of who I am. It’s the thing I do when I’m bored, inspired, overwhelmed, thinking, planning or looking to capture a moment or feeling.

I suppose like with any creative thing it’s good to take breaks and refresh your mind. Or even try creating in a new medium, painting for example.

How strange it would feel to pick up a brush instead of pen. It would be like flexing a new muscle or an old one in a new way.

But perhaps in that space of strangeness, newness and unfamiliarity there’s something worth exploring.