Well, well, well…
what a beautiful world we are creating. As the first post in the membership site I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support and dedication to all things self growth and inspiration. I wanted to share a little bit about why I wanted to carve out this little space for folks to enjoy my content in a more intentional way.
Firstly, you may be aware that for the month of June I opted to do a month with no social media and it was, frankly, bliss and hard at the same time. I have been posting consistently on instagram for at least 3 years - literal daily posts, if not more than 1 a day. I found myself saying “If I didn’t have a business I wouldn’t have social media” but I was using it in more than just a business-kinda way (like most of us are.) and I needed to see if that was actually true. So, I took the apps off my phone and made them only accessible by computer. Not being on social media, I found myself itchy for things to do. I realized that giving away free content consistently on Instagram, while wonderful for the connections I made, was continuing to feed the narrative I have for myself around the way I value (or don’t value) my time, talent, or gifts. I appreciate that social media gave me the reach that I need to change the lives with my words and images, however, I realized that I was relying on it to feed my validation andidentity of being a “good” girl. In order to avoid disappointing others, I ended up disappointing myself a lot of the time. Did I care about the metrics? At first thought, I would say no - but upon reflection - absolutely yes. I would find myself questioning, how many likes did this post get? Why didn’t this image get more? What types of photos and writing do people want to see/read/hear about? instead of “what do I have to say?” I very much began to curate my work in an effort to appease the social media gods. So, I needed to break away to remind myself that I am still a valuable human without the relevancy of social media. In doing so, I was able to recognize and strategize how I could continue to use the platforms I enjoy in a more productive and joyful way without it interfering with my actual life. I created this membership site because of the things I missed the most it was A)the daily writing practice and B)connecting with like minded individuals over the topics of body image, mindset, and creativity.
I love writing, inspiring, being creative, and helping other folks tap into their unique and authentic selves and I want a space that is going to help me foster that ability in a way that supports the life and dreams that I have for myself and allow me to continue doing this amazing work. While feeding myself on the validation of others felt good, it definitely took a toll on my financial and spiritual bank account. I remember Gary V saying something along the lines of “If you give into the positive feedback, you are goin to give into the negative” and that’s where I found myself, despite me thinking I was immune to it all. When I log in to Facebook or instagram now, I have become aware of just how uncomfortable being those spaces made me feel. When we sit there long enough we become immune to the fact that social media actually makes us feel like trash. Seeing the same heartache, painful stories over and over, repeated multiple times in my newsfeed in the last few days was enough to cause me to log off and clean my room. It’s too much. Our brains and bodies aren’t meant to take on that much fear, stress, and pain all day every day. This is another reason for this space. Carving out a sacred space on the internet that you have to be intentional about visiting, you will be teaching yourself to purposefully shift gears into learning, inspiring, or being positive instead of waiting for it to fall into your lap. The problem with social media is that our feeds become directed by the social media Gods more than our actual desires - so having to be intentional about where I spend my time empowers me to understand that I am in control of fulfilling my own needs. I realized that I would scroll mindlessly hoping to find something that filled my cup, only to fully accept whatever was presented to me in the newsfeed. And just because you aren’t engaging with the content, doesn’t mean your eyes/brain aren’t processing it. I don’t want to be something that just falls into people’s eyelines by happenstance - I want my work to be something that is sought out as a form of medicine to soothe the soul.
So, what can you expect being in this membership site?
The type of content I was doling out daily on Instagram is what you will find here. There is going to be A LOT of writing - poetry & prose. There will be videos and audio to give you inspiration. There will be self love challenges throughout the year designed to help you get closer to your most authentic self and of course, you will see a lot of beautiful photography and imagery. We will have ZOOM meetups and webinars. Whether you are looking for help with your body image, creativity or mindset you are going to find the goods here. I can’t wait to share the tools, techniques, and resources that I use and enjoy in addition to book reviews and suggestions and excerpts from my upcoming books! I am certain other things will come down the pipeline, but for now this will be the best way to get access to most of my content and I am so glad that you are here!
