Social media. Oh, social media. What a double edged sword.
It connects us, yet it separates us as well.
I’ve been thinking about social media and artists, makers, crafters, etc.
Social media is really hard on a lot of us.
It’s hard on our creativity, our work, our finished product.
It’s so tempting to, after putting in hours of work on a piece and having only one or two people like it, come to the conclusion that your piece, your creation, your thing that you made, is complete garbage.
It’s so easy to reason that if it were truly a good, worthwhile piece then surely more people would have liked it and commented.
It’s very easy to base the value of your finished creation on the number of likes it gets.
It’s hard to pull yourself away from that mindset.
I’ve found myself slipping into it lately.
I don’t like it and the following is what I remind myself of.
I’m sharing because I think it might be helpful for a lot of the makers.
- I create for me.
- I make things because it makes me happy to make things.
- I do it because I love it.
- If you love it too, that’s awesome!
- If you don’t like it? That’s okay.
- I’m not doing it for you.
- It’s for me, myself, and I.
Don’t let the comments and likes (or lack thereof) grind you down. Don’t let other people’s work and apparent success grind you down, either.
Remember your ‘why’. Your why is your reason, your purpose for creating.
My why is because it’s who I am. Creating is an extension of myself. It’s my essence externalized and physically expressed.
There are many reasons why someone would make and create. Those reasons are as different and as varied as the people they belong to.
Don’t fall for the lie that your art is only as good as other people say it is.
Until next time,
Cheese, rice, your dad’s got lice,
Samantha
CoyKoiCrafting 
[…] for the likes, followers, numbers; I actually discuss that in a blog post here. That was the blog post which, after discussing it with a creative friend, inspired me to start […]
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So very true! Many people would be happier if social media didn’t exist. People would actually speak to others, in person, and be polite and considerate. We would not be bombarded with pics of everyone’s meals, selfies from places we will never go, and hearing everyone’s opinion on every subject available simply because they have a platform. And perhaps we wouldn’t overspend on craft supplies that collect dust because we fell victim to all the Instagram Hops, texts, and tweets about the latest products… when we haven’t even used all the supplies we already have. And last but not least, my personal struggle, I spend too much online time looking at what others create than actually creating things myself. I love the crafty community and appreciate seeing what others create. But I feel like I many are nothing more than product promoters, and you see them use a product only once… because there’s another new release right behind that one for them to showcase. Perhaps that is a bit off topic, but I’m tired with being inundated with “things I need to be a better crafter” type videos and posts. You keep doing you… and don’t worry about if others like it (or take the time to let you know they like it). I, for one, think you (and Franz) are doing great. With that, I am going to drop off and go craft. Cheese and rice, Peace out. 🙂
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Thank you for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful reply.
I agree with many of the points that you made, particularly in regards to being inundated with all the latest and greatest craft supplies.
I cannot afford much of what I see others using, honestly.
So I save and save and save and when I do finally have enough to purchase that special stamp set or thing that people were using it’s on clearance (yay!) and meanwhile they’ve all moved onto some new product.
I see the monthly subscription boxes pushed hard. It seems like all you see the entire month are things created from that month’s subscription boxes.
Rinse and repeat the following month.
I’ll be doing more of these sorts of posts and this will be something I’ll talk about more.
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Well said my friend! 💚🤗💚
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Thank you, Jess 💜💚
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