Blogging, journaling, social media, and the search for inner peace
If you’re anything like me, you’ve started journaling or blogging on various platforms hoping to reap any mindful benefits. But wait a minute. I have yet to meet anyone that’s found the pro(verbial) writing holy land. I don’t know anyone who’s started a journal or blog and found some sort of divine inner peace from doing so. I wonder why that is? 🤔
Perhaps it’s that I’m deeply introverted, and I haven’t found that person. That cant be it though. Most of my friends struggle in some way - don’t we all? And of those friends, most are open to trying any and all sorts of coping strategies. Maybe they’ve tried and failed just like I have?
Hmm. Wait! What about those YouTubers and Instagramers who talk about their journaling and carry around those nifty, leather-bound field notes journals. What’s their secret?
So I’m left asking myself - what am I doing wrong?
If anyone’s read this far, I’m sorry to disappoint, but I have no answer. What I can tell you is that social media was, and continues to be, a source of stress and anxiety more-so than anything else that comes across my screen. The more I dissect my relationship with social media, the more I realize it’s become a sequence of ads, glorified self-promotion, and hyper-sexual junk. Do I enjoy going down a rabbit hole, from time to time, of funny posts. I’ve cry-laughed plenty of times as I get stuck in a story-web of people getting scared or some sort of slapstick comedy.
I’ve tried the other end of the spectrum with personal journaling apps such as Day One or Apple Journal. I felt a little closed in, like the content was just kind of... there. I never reflected on it, though it was funny to look back at the ‘on this day’ entries - but nothing that soothed the soul like I’d been hoping for.
I’m four days into old school blogging. I must admit, I love the simplicity of bear blog - and I’m eager to write out my thoughts. This may be a honeymoon period. I guess we’ll see in a week, month or year from now. What I can admit is that I feel like I’m writing for an audience, even though none exists. I’m looking forward to peeling back more layers of my relationship with documenting, writing, reflecting and looking for that inner peace. For now I say hooray for bear blog and iA writer. I’m having a lot of fun with both!