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Can Artists Succeed Without Social Media? I’m Finding Out
An artist’s thoughts on Instagram, burnout, algorithms, and learning to create without the pressure to constantly be seen. Social media can be a wonderful thing for artists. It can help us build communities, connect with other creatives, share our work, find customers, and turn something we love into an actual business. But it can also be absolutely exhausting. Especially when you’re a small artist trying to build something meaningful while competing with algorithms, trends, influencers, and thousands of other creators who are all trying to be seen. And lately, I’ve been asking myself a question: Can artists still find success in the digital age without relying on social media? I…
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Am I a Night Owl, or Does My Brain Just Come Alive at Night?
3 AM Thoughts From a Millennial Living With Anxiety, Schizophrenia, and a Very Creative Mind There’s something about nighttime that makes my brain come alive. During the day? I’m exhausted. Sometimes I struggle to find motivation. I overthink everything, worry about things that haven’t even happened, and feel like my brain is running a thousand different tabs at once. But then nighttime arrives. Suddenly, I want to write. I want to create art. I want to redesign my website, work on my business, brainstorm new projects, or start something completely random at 11 PM. And I’m sitting there thinking… Where was this motivation six hours ago?! Seriously, brain. We need…
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I Was Told I Couldn’t Make Money With Photoshop. Ten Years Later, I’m Still Creating.
On finding myself through art, rebuilding my creative business, and why I’ve stopped trying to squeeze my entire personality into one niche. In 2016, someone told me I couldn’t make money with just Photoshop. And looking back? I think that might have been one of the most important things anyone ever said to me. Not because they were necessarily trying to inspire me. But because I loved creating, and I wasn’t ready to give that up simply because someone else didn’t see the possibilities. By that point, I’d already taken three different Photoshop courses between high school and college. And somewhere along the way, I’d completely fallen in love with…
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Let Yourself Make Bad Art. Seriously, It’s Good for You.
On perfectionism, the inner critic, and why sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is create something without worrying about whether it’s good. Can I tell you something as an artist? Not everything you create needs to be good. Seriously. Not every drawing needs to become a masterpiece. Not every photograph needs to be perfectly composed. Not every painting needs to look like something you’d hang in a gallery. And not every creative idea needs to become a product, a social media post, or something you can sell. Sometimes you can just create. That’s it. No expectations. No pressure. No worrying about whether anyone else will…
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I Was Raised to Push Through Everything. Now I’m Learning That I Need to Pause.
On generational expectations, mental exhaustion, burnout, and realizing that what helped previous generations survive doesn’t always help us heal. Lately, I’ve been thinking about something that’s been weighing on me. What happens when the advice you grew up hearing no longer works for the person you’ve become? You know the advice. Just keep going. Push through it. Don’t think about it so much. You’ll be fine. Everyone gets tired. That’s just life. I grew up around that kind of mindset. And honestly, I understand where it comes from. Our parents and grandparents lived through their own challenges. They had responsibilities. Bills. Families. Jobs. And situations where slowing down might not…
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I Believe in Letting People Be Themselves, So Why Am I Still Unlearning How I Was Raised?
AM Thoughts | Faith, Diversity, Acceptance, and the Complicated Process of Unlearning There’s something I’ve been thinking about lately, and honestly, I don’t know if I’m going to explain it perfectly. But that’s kind of the point of this Substack, isn’t it? Having conversations about things we’re still figuring out, even when those conversations are uncomfortable, complicated, or difficult to put into words. I consider myself a fairly open-minded person. I believe people deserve kindness, respect, understanding, and the freedom to live their own lives. I believe people should be able to love who they love, express themselves, and discover who they truly are. But here’s where things get complicated…
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We’re Human. We’re Not Supposed to Be Perfect. But We Could Be Kinder.
Maybe the world doesn’t need more perfect people. Maybe it just needs more people willing to treat each other with kindness. I’ve been thinking about something lately. When did we start expecting everyone to be perfect? Perfect lives. Perfect appearances. Perfect careers. Perfect relationships. Perfect opinions. Perfect responses. It’s exhausting. We’re human beings. We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to have bad days. We’re going to say things we wish we hadn’t. We’re going to misunderstand people, make questionable decisions, struggle with our emotions, and occasionally have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. And you know what? That’s part of being human. But there’s something else I’ve been thinking…
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The Side of Anxiety Nobody Sees
Just because I look like I’m functioning doesn’t mean my mind isn’t fighting a hundred invisible battles. One of the hardest things about living with anxiety is that people don’t always see it. They see me going to work. They see me helping customers. They see me smiling, having conversations, completing responsibilities, and doing everything I’m supposed to do. They see someone who appears to be functioning. Someone who is capable. Someone who is managing. But what they don’t see is everything happening inside my head. The constant worrying. The overthinking. The imaginary conversations. The fears that don’t always make sense. The mental exhaustion that comes from trying to act…
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Protecting My Peace Doesn’t Mean I Stopped Caring. It Means I Finally Started Caring About Myself.
On people-pleasing, anxiety, outgrowing relationships, and learning that being a good person doesn’t mean being available to everyone all the time. There was a time when I thought being a good person meant always being available. Answering every message. Listening to everyone’s problems. Saying yes when I really wanted to say no. Giving people chance after chance because I believed that’s what kindness looked like. And honestly? I think part of me was afraid of what would happen if I stopped. Would people think I was selfish? Would they get upset? Would they stop talking to me? Would I somehow become the bad person simply because I started putting myself…
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The Lonely Life of an Introverted Artist Who Struggles With Mental Health
We love our solitude, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get lonely. Sometimes, we just want someone who understands. There’s something people don’t always understand about being an introverted artist. Yes, we enjoy being alone. But yes, it gets lonely. Very lonely. We can spend hours sitting in our rooms, tucked away in coffee shops, listening to our favorite music, creating something meaningful, or getting lost in our own little worlds. And honestly? Most of the time, we love it. There’s something comforting about being alone with your thoughts, your creativity, and a good playlist. But here’s the part people don’t always see. Sometimes, behind all that creativity, there’s someone…
Everyone solves their life issues at 3AM right?!