On my mark, get set - CREATE!

If you didn’t have social media to help your business…what would you do to generate income?

Last night, I came to a very clear conclusion that my efforts on the internet were best spent building my own media in a place that I own. For this reason, I have decided to take an internet sabbatical.

For the next 30 days, the only outlet I have to the "media world" is word of mouth, newspapers, and other blogs. This time is meant to help me:

1. Understand my place in the world as a content creator
2. Help me understand what value social media has in my life (or if it does at all)
3. Aid in the reformation of my creative process

For nearly 2 years, I have been working on a social media profile through Instagram. During this time, I've not only lost a significant amount of followers, but my engagement overall has continued to diminish.

Author Cal Newport discusses in his book Deep Work how audiences have been designed, through the marketing and direction of large media corporations, to believe in the idea that they are "special" or in some way "an influencer" of thought and creativity.

This could not be further from the truth.

In a very stark reality, these media platforms are designed to breed users, not creators. At the very least, this can be said of the Facebook business model. In return for my countless hours on Instagram and Facebook, creating hundreds of pieces of content, I have yet to receive a single penny for my efforts. What some people care to say is a hobby or a  "step in the direction of something more" is, instead, an anchor of weight holding down the ship.

In life, there will be times that we will feel "stuck" or "in a rut." This is a mindset remedied by swift action and revolutionary creativity.

This sabbatical is the embodiment of these procedures.

Being "stuck" is not a death sentence. In fact, being stuck is fantastic reminder that we are growing and the environment that we currently live has been outgrown. For some, that means moving out of the house. For others, growing means finding new friends or new work opportunities.

As I embrace the relentless nature of personal and professional growth, I am beginning to understand my value and place within the construct of the media model. It is vital, therefore, that the value that I generate is warehoused somewhere that I own and distributed when and where it would be most impactful to others.

This blog post is the real-time action of cutting away from my "anchor," letting my creative winds cary me out to sea, and trusting that I will land somewhere very new, different, and exciting.

Out with the old, in the with the new, as they say.

If you didn’t have social media to help your business…what would you do to generate income?

This quote was conceived on a walk around my neighborhood the other night. It left me feeling hopeful and optimistic in the face of the challenges posed by the vast internet landscape.

I motivated to try. I'm driven to understand. Most importantly, I'm super excited to try something new. My hope is that this journey will challenge me to be better than the day before - not for "likes" and "follows," but to prove to myself that creativity, storytelling, and the human experience is worth documenting and sharing.

I'm excited. I'm curious. I'm ready to see what I can do.

On my mark, get set - CREATE.

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