It’s OK not to share: This seems like a bit of an odd subject for a social media post, but bear with me.
At the start of the year I set up a private Instagram account, just for me. The intention was to deliberately take a photo every day, to document what I’m calling a ‘tiny delight’ - nothing momentous, nothing earth shattering, it might just be a bowl of granola. But it’s a daily record of something I’ve done or seen that day, that made me happy and that I appreciated.
This was inspired, at least in part by the writings of two women:
Laura Pasha - author of Little Stories of Your Life - all about noticing the beauty in the mundane, everyday things.
Jo Dimmock - of @ochreandflax - and her gratitude and journaling practice.
So, if it’s private why am I telling you about it?
Ah - good question - I’m so pleased you asked.
It occurred to me while I was out walking this morning that, in an age where we are encouraged to share so much of ourselves and our thoughts online, that the deliberate choice to keep something back, to hold it just for ourselves is a really bold, assertive thing to do. It feels like a tiny act of rebellion in a world where oversharing is not just accepted but is actively encouraged.
I wanted a place to share my ‘tiny delights’ in a way that was visual but that wasn’t just on my phone or in my journal. I wanted it to be somewhere separate from all of my other online activities but also somewhere just for me. A place where I can scroll through and see a permanent record of all of my daily ‘tiny delights’ that will hopefully help to perk me up, during those low moments which we all experience.
I’m keeping in mind the image of a determined toddler, with a very set expression on her face, arms crossed, saying calmly but fiercely “no, that’s mine”.
And I’m carrying that energy forwards into a few aspects of my online life this year, most notably with my Twitter usage. Twitter has been for the most part, my favourite online social media platform, the place where I am most free to be myself. Sadly though, for me at least, it’s become an increasingly noisy and hostile place where it’s all too easy to lose yourself amid the outpourings of so many other angry and frightened people.
As an empath, it’s something I have been increasingly aware of and the negative impact of Twitter on my mental health is no longer something that I can ignore.
This isn’t a grand ‘I’m leaving’ statement or anything like that. But simply a gradual realisation that I need to move towards something that serves me better - and 2hrs of daily twitter scrolling does not serve me well - at all.
Instead I’ve replaced the twitter app on my phone with the Kindle reader app (to supplement my Kindle and the physical books I have) and if I feel a scrolling urge I read a book instead.
I have set myself the target of reading 52 books this year (having read 25 in 2021) and I’ve surprised myself by reading 4 already. It turns out that 2hrs a day can really add up - who knew?
I’ll still be around on Twitter, and indeed I’ve curated a (private) list of knitty friends so that I don’t miss any updates, but I will be much more intentional about the debates and accounts I engage with. Reserving my energy and my attention for that which I can control, not that which I can’t.
I haven’t set any knitting-related goals this year - I’m not quite sure what that says about me - but there’s still time. For now I’m just happy that I have had a bit of a reset and I’m hoping that being more mindful in where I direct my energies will help me to be more present in other areas of my life - including my crafting.
How about you? Do you have any big (or small) goals this year?
If you’d like to find out what I’m reading I’ll be sharing this on my Instagram stories (and saved to my highlights) or I’ll be chatting about it in my bi-weekly newsletter too).
