BACK TO THE GRAM

In this blog post, I share my reasons for being away from Instagram and social media for most of 2024. As I shared on Instagram, it is divided into three parts. I hope it resonates with some of you. I felt it important to share my feelings and thinking behind it in case it helps someone else, too.

PART one

Hey 👋🏻 It's been a while. How are you?

This is my first time posting on Instagram since January—not just posting; I haven't been on the platform at all! I needed a break. I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, and this year has been more hate than love. I was finding that it was having an incredibly negative impact on me and how I felt day to day, so it was time to stop. I will share more about this over the next few days for anyone interested in my feelings and thoughts about Instagram and my decision to step away.

But for now, I am back! And I am ready to share the God Colours and the splatters—and, you guessed it, it's bauble season!

My absence from Instagram does not mean I have not been painting or creating; it is quite the opposite. I have been involved in an incredible Interior Design project this year, and I have been planning and painting baubles for a few weeks now.

Painting baubles outside in my garden.

PART TWO

I love Instagram of old. I love the people, businesses, and brands I choose to follow, but I am tired of the uncontrollable rubbish that the platform shows me. I am tired of constantly muting, snoozing, and 'marking as not interested' content that I don't want to see. I know so many people feel the same, and it got to the point that every day, I saw content that I found triggering for one reason or another, and it got too much. I was feeling low daily, and for what? Something I saw on Instagram that I didn't even want to see! Enough!

Everything I do in Eat Pray Pedal is about bringing hope, light, joy, and colour to people who need it. In theory, Instagram is an incredible platform for that, but is it? I hear so many people talk about doom scrolling, friends telling me how they found seeing some post upsetting or reading updates that have angered them. For me, I experienced an undercurrent in my daily life of feeling inadequate and low because I didn't meet what I saw on Instagram. I stopped enjoying my actual life because it wasn't as good as what I saw others posting on Instagram.

When I step back and read that statement, it is so twisted! But how many of you feel the same? Even with all the best intentions in the world and 'knowing' that Instagram is showing everyone's 'best bits', sometimes, our hearts and minds can't make that distinction, and some small damage is done, and we feel inadequate.

All of that can be avoided by simply not looking at the platform. It is the simplest solution in the world, and I have done it for almost ten months.

My art studio, also known as my dining room.

PART THREE

But it's not good to avoid the rest of the world forever, and the world is on Instagram. I want to continue to shine a light and share my art and hope with the world. Right now, the best way to do that is still by using Instagram. Until either Instagram recognises that its platform is unhealthy for its user's mental health and implements tools to help us control what we see (like it used to be) or someone creates a new platform. I need to learn how to balance my emotions and feelings while being present on Instagram.

Please don't misunderstand me; there is a lot of good on Instagram. I have missed keeping in touch with customers, business friends, and even long-distance family; the inspiration I get from creative makers is always a joy. This is my experience, and I wanted to give some context and explanation as to why I have been absent from the platform for so long.

Of course, I do not miss the convenience of my timely return for bauble season; Instagram is still an excellent tool for small businesses and is unavoidable if you want to grow a business in 2024. That is a reality I cannot ignore.

So, for those of you who have read this far, baubles are coming on November 10th; put the date in your diary; it's going to be epic.

I look forward to reconnecting with customers, friends, and fellow makers. Send me a message, and let's catch up. I want to hear how your year has been.

Vibrant, colourful posting will resume in the coming weeks 😃

Michelle xx

New 2024 baubles being splattered.