let's take it back to simpler times

Hello, blog. It's been a while.

I thought blogging was completely dead. Gone. One could say, old fashioned. At least that's what social media will have us all believe. However, with recent trends on social media, like a visual of every crime across the world one finger flick away, every other post an ad for some shit we don't need, and no longer seeing anything my friends post without jumping through hoops, I figured journalling my thoughts on a silly little blog for no reason other than because I want to isn't so bad. At the very least, I can control it. No ads. No bullshit. Just words on a page and images that I choose to share. I am not trying to beat an algorithm. It means anyone who reads these words has had to come directly to my website and take the time to read them. We don't do that much anymore, and I think we need to start being more selective with the information we consume.

I grew up in the generation that used AOL instant messaging in middle school. I am part of the first generation on social media, like Myspace. I remember when Facebook was new, then Instagram, then Snapchat. I have been using social media since it's inception, and though it was, and I guess is incredible in many ways, it has changed. For better or for worse, it is different. I am beginning to realize that I am exhausted by it and I think I need to fully step away. About once a year I will take a month off social media. I'll delete the apps from my phone and I'll only allow myself to focus on creative outlets. One app I usually keep is Pinterest for inspiration, but Pinterest is now just as bad as every other social media app, with every third photo being an ad.

That being said, I love expressing my creativity in many ways. After all, art is meant to be shared, right? Whatever form that comes in. What the internet has given us is the opportunity to be creative in ways like never before. Everyone has a phone with a really good camera at their finger tips, and anyone (I mean literally anyone) can be an artist. There are apps to make music, there are apps to help you draw. There is free information on YouTube so you can self teach yourself just about anything. I know, because I did. Everything I know about photography, and videography, and editing I learned from tutorials on YouTube.

I have some goals with starting to write again. My ethos, if you will.

• To teach, for free. I truly believe information should be free. The only way to progress as a society is to pass on knowledge, and that knowledge shouldn't be behind a paywall. Whatever I share, if not purely for entertainment, I want it to be educational.

• To be unapologetically creative. The goal is to tell stories that mean something to me. What that looks like, I have no idea, but I will figure it out as I go. The majority of the projects will be video based for sure, as it is my favorite medium.

• No AI. Though I love AI and am not a skeptic, I don't think it belongs in my creative process. I don't need it to help me write these posts. Will they have gramatical errors? Yes! That's ok with me. That is the beauty of being human. Imperfection. I write like I speak, and I don't speak in perfect corporate language in my personal life, so the word "fuck" and lots of "..." will appear in my writing.
  

• No ads or sponsorships. I feel like this one is self explanatory, but with every single fucking video or post being an ad these days, the fatigue is real. I could be watching a really good video and all of a sudden the second there is an, "and now here's a word from my sponsor," I'm out. Mentally checked out. Often times I'll fully skip ahead if I can, or I am so annoyed I just click to something else. I get it. People gotta eat. Our world turned hobbies into jobs and I do understand, but I hate it, and I don't want to perpetuate it anymore.

It is time to take back control of my mental health, my life, and I need to get off this runaway train of rage bait, hate, and brain rot. I'm fucking over it. I know I am not the only one.

Sincerely,