This is brilliant. I would love to see information about the affects of social media on this kind of self-distrust. It seems like we spend so much time hearing from other people on the apps and when we step away, perhaps that allows some quiet and knowing to come back. Do you think that your time away from socials has helped with hearing your inner voice better?
ABSOLUTELY YES. And the other thing was, I thought I was able to hear my inner voice just fine. But it wasn't until I got off social media that I realized that wasn't true. So much of what I thought was my inner voice was a reaction to someone else showing me their pretty thing. So it was a lot of "my inner voice is telling me to get those same pants! to style my home like this! to do [insert so many other things]." And those things weren't too far off from what I might want anyway, but still, they were someone else telling me what I want.
Hey Julie, what do you think about Substack in this context? I gave up LinkedIn and Instagram as part of Reading Deprivation for the Artist's Way, but noticed my Substack reading (and writing) has increased. But I'm mostly e.g. commenting on other people's thoughts vs. coming up with my own. My last post is even a response to someone else's writing.
Substack is a potential problem, is my view of it in this context. For me, at least. One thing I find so interesting is that I got away from social media, but my brain is still wanting something to fill that hole, and something like Substack fits very neatly into it. (Notes, especially!) I do think it is not as sticky and addictive as other social media, but for someone like me, who looked to social media for validation and praise, Substack is something I'm cautious of. For now: I stopped the emails, so I can only read things when I make a point of going onto the site or app. I am very limited in what I read or post in Notes. And I try to notice if I'm reading things because I want to or because I feel like I should, or because I'm trying to do some other work and it's hard so I'm self-distracting.
I made a conscious decision to read almost nothing on Substack during the Artist's Way reading deprivation week. It was hard!
I will say, though, that there is so much interesting and smart writing on here, and I'm happy to be a part of it, both as a writer and a reader. And happy to respond to it and share it, too! It's all about -- are you responding/sharing because you feel like you should? You feel like it might get you likes/clicks/subscribers? Or because you had an honest reaction and you wrote something you're proud of about it? (I'm not saying that to call you out in terms of your last post being a response to someone else's writing -- I've done the same and had these same thoughts, and these are the questions I ask myself).
Haha, what do I do that isn't for likes/clicks/subscribers? 😉
But in all seriousness, it does feel like there is a level of depth in writing happening here that I don't really see on IG or Facebook (beyond seriously niche FB groups and still then it's not the same). But it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff and I wonder why we need a notes feature AND a chat feature. Also I set up the "smart notifications" per Substack help article and that seems to have gotten the emails out of my inbox too.
Overall enjoying having a place to write and engage with other (often/especially women) writers' writings, but noticing some of my tendencies to get stuck on the social features (e.g. reading 700 comments on Anne Helen Peterson's thread about the decision to have children - something I def am thinking about but not sure I need the opinion of 700 strangers on. Reminds me of some of my more dire habits on Reddit/googling). Anyway, thanks for your thoughts hope to connect more.
Yeah, this all resonates with me. It's so hard for me not to read the comments. Because sometimes the comments are lovely! But also sometimes the comments are lovely AND it is not a good use of my time. I definitely have issues with reading the comments to see where I can respond in some perfect, wise way that will cause everyone to, I don't know, buy all my books. But that's chasing a fantasy. And an act of self-distraction. And not a good example of listening. If I'm really listening to the people in the comments, I'll respond only if I have something truly helpful to add, not just so everyone can think, "oh, she's so smart!" or whatever.
I needed to hear you say this today. So thanks! I’ve recently restarted morning pages and this practice helps to calm and center me to hear that inner voice. Usually by the time I get to page three, the voice is clearer and more insistent. Here’s what’s really going on, it says...
Obviously, Julia Cameron played enough when writing morning pages to figure out that sweet spot. Two pages, probably not enough. Four or five pages, too much. Three is doable and gives enough room for busy mind stuff to work its way out of our systems and just crack the window for breezy spirit to enter and carry us on, taking that openness into our projects.
Yeah, you articulate something really important, which is that something (rushing headlong, for instance) might work sometimes and not others, so it's crucial for us to be able to hear our inner voice so that when something that worked in the past isn't working now, we can notice it and shift.
Great reminder ❤️
I can't tell you how much I needed to hear this this very day. Thank you, Julie!
So glad, Anna!
This is brilliant. I would love to see information about the affects of social media on this kind of self-distrust. It seems like we spend so much time hearing from other people on the apps and when we step away, perhaps that allows some quiet and knowing to come back. Do you think that your time away from socials has helped with hearing your inner voice better?
ABSOLUTELY YES. And the other thing was, I thought I was able to hear my inner voice just fine. But it wasn't until I got off social media that I realized that wasn't true. So much of what I thought was my inner voice was a reaction to someone else showing me their pretty thing. So it was a lot of "my inner voice is telling me to get those same pants! to style my home like this! to do [insert so many other things]." And those things weren't too far off from what I might want anyway, but still, they were someone else telling me what I want.
Hey Julie, what do you think about Substack in this context? I gave up LinkedIn and Instagram as part of Reading Deprivation for the Artist's Way, but noticed my Substack reading (and writing) has increased. But I'm mostly e.g. commenting on other people's thoughts vs. coming up with my own. My last post is even a response to someone else's writing.
Substack is a potential problem, is my view of it in this context. For me, at least. One thing I find so interesting is that I got away from social media, but my brain is still wanting something to fill that hole, and something like Substack fits very neatly into it. (Notes, especially!) I do think it is not as sticky and addictive as other social media, but for someone like me, who looked to social media for validation and praise, Substack is something I'm cautious of. For now: I stopped the emails, so I can only read things when I make a point of going onto the site or app. I am very limited in what I read or post in Notes. And I try to notice if I'm reading things because I want to or because I feel like I should, or because I'm trying to do some other work and it's hard so I'm self-distracting.
I made a conscious decision to read almost nothing on Substack during the Artist's Way reading deprivation week. It was hard!
I will say, though, that there is so much interesting and smart writing on here, and I'm happy to be a part of it, both as a writer and a reader. And happy to respond to it and share it, too! It's all about -- are you responding/sharing because you feel like you should? You feel like it might get you likes/clicks/subscribers? Or because you had an honest reaction and you wrote something you're proud of about it? (I'm not saying that to call you out in terms of your last post being a response to someone else's writing -- I've done the same and had these same thoughts, and these are the questions I ask myself).
Haha, what do I do that isn't for likes/clicks/subscribers? 😉
But in all seriousness, it does feel like there is a level of depth in writing happening here that I don't really see on IG or Facebook (beyond seriously niche FB groups and still then it's not the same). But it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff and I wonder why we need a notes feature AND a chat feature. Also I set up the "smart notifications" per Substack help article and that seems to have gotten the emails out of my inbox too.
Overall enjoying having a place to write and engage with other (often/especially women) writers' writings, but noticing some of my tendencies to get stuck on the social features (e.g. reading 700 comments on Anne Helen Peterson's thread about the decision to have children - something I def am thinking about but not sure I need the opinion of 700 strangers on. Reminds me of some of my more dire habits on Reddit/googling). Anyway, thanks for your thoughts hope to connect more.
Yeah, this all resonates with me. It's so hard for me not to read the comments. Because sometimes the comments are lovely! But also sometimes the comments are lovely AND it is not a good use of my time. I definitely have issues with reading the comments to see where I can respond in some perfect, wise way that will cause everyone to, I don't know, buy all my books. But that's chasing a fantasy. And an act of self-distraction. And not a good example of listening. If I'm really listening to the people in the comments, I'll respond only if I have something truly helpful to add, not just so everyone can think, "oh, she's so smart!" or whatever.
But yeah I guess I don't know how books get sold
But you ARE wise!
I needed to hear you say this today. So thanks! I’ve recently restarted morning pages and this practice helps to calm and center me to hear that inner voice. Usually by the time I get to page three, the voice is clearer and more insistent. Here’s what’s really going on, it says...
It takes me until the last half of the third page to figure it out, every morning.
Yep, that’s about where the good stuff shows up for me, too.
And no matter what I do, it still takes that long every morning. Which is fine, I guess!
Obviously, Julia Cameron played enough when writing morning pages to figure out that sweet spot. Two pages, probably not enough. Four or five pages, too much. Three is doable and gives enough room for busy mind stuff to work its way out of our systems and just crack the window for breezy spirit to enter and carry us on, taking that openness into our projects.
Yeah, you articulate something really important, which is that something (rushing headlong, for instance) might work sometimes and not others, so it's crucial for us to be able to hear our inner voice so that when something that worked in the past isn't working now, we can notice it and shift.