When you start a creative journey, you don’t really know where it’s going to take you. I started a gaming Instagram with a hope and a dream. What was that dream? To get rich doing my hobby, of course! That’s sarcasm if you can’t tell. Although I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t at least somewhat accurate. I watched my friend amass a massive 50k following on Instagram, posting clips of his gameplay and getting paid by Instagram and collaborating companies. No offense to my friend—and don’t worry, I absolutely say this to his face—he’s kind of an idiot. So, I decided: if he can do it, what’s stopping me?
My first post was of LEGO Star Wars, filmed in my attic. As you can imagine, it was god-awful. The lighting was terrible, the aesthetic was not pleasing—it was impressively bad. However, I did one key thing that saved me: I didn’t tell anyone that I had started an Instagram. Not my friends, not my family. This gave me the ability to improve with a growth mindset and not worry about what people close to me thought. In my experience, many people in your life will be doubtful and ask a lot of questions when you tell them about your creative dreams. I didn’t want that in my head.
And sure, you can be all toxic-positive-influencer about it and say, “Those people aren’t your real friends,” or “Drop your family and create your chosen family.” However, I choose to see it another way: there are logical, calculated people, and there are dreamers. I just so happen to be the latter. They also had legitimate feedback when I eventually told them.
It was strange because I had largely avoided social media throughout my late 20s. I also had no photography experience and minimal experience in front of a camera. So, why in the world would I even try this?
What I didn’t expect was that this would create an itch to be creative that I hadn’t known existed. For the better part of two years, I was posting at least twice a week on Instagram and, at most, six or seven times a week—sometimes even twice in one day. I made friends, and followers amassed. I was probably working on Instagram at a minimum of 30 minutes a day and at most five hours. It took over a lot of my time. Burnout was inevitable.
Eventually, I got to a point where I asked myself, “Wait, why am I doing this again?” I needed an actual goal that meant something to me, instead of “getting another 100 followers” or “earning another $150 from a collab with a company about a controller that isn’t even that good.” The goals started to feel shallow. I also came to realize that while I had gained followers, I hadn’t (really) created a community.
At this point, I asked myself, “What’s important to you?” That question started the end of my Instagram journey. When I asked myself this, I suddenly realized that what I was doing on Instagram wasn’t aligning with my purpose in life. So, I got specific. I spent a lot of time writing out my “Life’s Purpose” or guidelines for how I want to live my life. Here’s what I came up with:
My purpose is to grow continuously and live with integrity, empathy, and balance. Through kindness, service, and mentorship, I strive to help alleviate suffering, uplift others, promote environmental sustainability, and engage in right livelihood. I aim to live mindfully, being fully present in each moment, and to embrace the impermanence of life with resilience and non-attachment. My journey is to be the best version of myself for my family and the world, finding peace in the process while contributing to the well-being of those around me and the health of our planet.
This was what was important to me. At a minimum, the time I was spending on Instagram was taking me away from the things I cared about. At maximum, it was an Instagram account that didn’t include my soul. It was cool, funny at times, and relatable, but I wanted to post about whatever I wanted to.
As many creators find, the algorithm doesn’t like it when you pivot away from the content that allowed you to grow. There’s a good argument to be made that, after an adjustment period, you’ll start to grow again. But I just didn’t have the patience. The big one was that I didn’t feel like being on camera all the time anymore. The process of filming myself was getting old and stale, and Instagram wants you to be on the app constantly. I had better things to do.
So, now I’m a homeless “successful” content creator, drifting in the social media wind. YouTube seems like a cozy place to settle. I could avoid niching down, do whatever I wanted, and still be creative—maybe even establish a community. Along came Bluesky: “Wait, people on here want to talk about what I want to talk about?” And the added bonus of not seeing a single racist comment yet (looking at you, X).
I started creating YouTube videos. However, it’s the same problem as before: I just don’t feel like being on camera all the time, and editing can be a slog. Yes, I’m still doing it! You can follow me here:
But you know what really appeals to me? A catch-all blog. Somewhere I can do whatever I want. If I want to post a video? Sure, I’ll post a video. A podcast? Absolutely!
Diversity of topics—that’s what I want most. To be able to post about whatever I want! So, here’s the start of something new. I hope you’ll join me on my journey.
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