A Place for Self Expression

Hi, my name is Gabby. I’m not really sure what this space is going to be yet but I was so inspired by a recent video that I stumbled across on YouTube. The video was put together by Lauren Kim who makes the compelling case that we should all delete our Social Media and build our own websites instead. One of the reasons she cites in her video is that having our own website gives us so much more creative freedom. Images and the content we share don’t have to be constrained to a specific size ratios and limited in quality or structure. We can add as many photos as we’d like, choose color schemes, follow guidelines that only we get to define and so much more.

Another point she makes is that it cultivates an environment for self expression rather than social validation. She gives several more reasons as to why building our own website is such a brilliant idea and I absolutely loved them all. I won’t go into everything but I’ll share her video below and highly encourage anyone to give it a watch! It is quite amazing how social media has taken the world by storm. Conversely I think it’s concerning how much it’s taken us out of the present moment. It’s made it easy to be less intentional about maintain relationships with the people we care about. Who knows what the long term consequences on our mental health this practice of compulsively scrolling feeds will have?

All of these things aside, I don’t know that I’m ready to fully delete all of my social media accounts. I do know, however, that I love the idea of having a website of my own instead of a profile on somebody else’s platforms. I’m excited to start posting here and to make this a year of self expression. I still don’t know what this space is going to transform into, but I have some ideas. I would like to continue writing more. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing but have gotten away from. In the age of AI I think it’s important more now than ever not to rely too heavily on it. I want to maintain the skills that I have despite the tools that exist to make us less reliant. I write because I enjoy writing.

I also want to have a place to share what I’m working on. I am a gemini through and through which makes me a chronic explorer of all of the things all of the time. I always have some kind of craft I’m working on or a topic I’m learning about or a new goal I’m trying to reach. I enjoy the idea of having my own place to share these things.

I know that probably seemed like a lot of rambling, but to reel it back in and tie it all together, I’m excited about this new venture. I don’t know how it will evolve and transform over time, but I’m excited for a fresh start in a new space of my own. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! Please don’t forget to check out Lauren’s video on why you should build your own website if you feel so called. I personally think it’s brilliant.