My folks are in their 70s. Although they have a cell phone they continue to rely on their trusty landline to connect them with the outside world. The cell phone, although with them when they venture out, is a piece of technology they worry they will have to one day use. It provides them with peace of mind and the $35/month fee is worth it "just in case." Explaining how to use the cell phone, let alone a computer or any technology, is akin to teaching a foreign student English; it's a challenge. Despite many efforts on showing them how to use it they forget shortly afterwards claiming "they'll likely never need it anyway." They are set in their ways. They were raised in a pre-techology driven era - much like myself. Which brings me to my issues...
I grew up with MySpace. Tom was my first friend. Although I didn't use it all that much, it was cool and was all the buzz when first released. A few years later, Facebook was the newest thing and MySpace went ....into space. I set up a Facebook page and was aware- even then, that I did not want to share every meal I ate, every trip I took, or every relationship update with the world.
Throughout my years of travel I met people from around the world and before asking my name, they would ask me if I was on Facebook; they wanted me to add me to their "friend collection" as I called them. At one point I quickly amassed over 3000 friends. After my travel adventures I asked myself if these "friends" even so much as knew my last name - let alone where they met me. Delete, delete, delete. I unfriended all but 300 people. These people didn't care where I was or how I was. I realized I was merely a number in their ego-driven popularity contest. This Gen-Xer was going to have none of that. I didn't care of I was scoffed at for my triple digit friend list. I still don't. Although I posted a few treasured photos of my travels- which I'm grateful now to have done as my harddrive with all those photos succombed to a flood- I was mindful even then about privacy and what I wanted to share online.
Which brings me to the now. We have Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, X, Discord, Youtube, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn - AND Facebook- amongst others. Although I finally made it onto TikTok after much persuasion and encouragement from my nieces (they think I'm a cool aunt), it took many years of convincing. After all, I'm not even into selfies. Somehow, I amassed over 50,000 people in my TikTok community in less than 9 months! That was after I deleted the 2k or so sus accounts and 45 Elon Musks.
Fast forward exactly one year since I started going live regularly- I regularly get asked when I will post on other platforms, namely Instagram and YouTube. My accounts are somewhat set up. A couple videos have been posted. But consistent I am anything but. Part of me loves the idea of sharing my art - and blogs - with the world. Part of me has this irrational fear that if I get too "big" too fast, I won't be able to handle the orders, shipments, and new artwork that will expected of me. It's quite the problem to have. It's a fine line between having too few sales and having too many. Where that happy line is I still have to figure it out. It's only been 2 months since I've launched I often remind myself. Am I like my folks? Am I just avoiding learning something new thinking I won't "really" need it? Do I not want to invest the time in learning thinking I can manage without? Perhaps.
One thing is certain; at this stage in my life having left a corporate career and ventured into the world of self-employment (again), I do not get affected adversely by numbers. Not the number of followers, not the numbers of zeros in my bank account. I am the same person through and through. What you see is what you get. I don't pretend that some nights I don't wake up in panic because I've had 2 days with no sales. I am just as grateful for they $25 sale as I am the $2500 sale. I realize some months will be better than others. I anticipate that the trajectory of growth is upwards month after month - as do all entrepreneurs. I make it a practice to express gratitude as every single sale comes in no matter how big it is. For me, it signifies that people like what I do, they like my art, the want to support me and my vision. I am thankful for the life I have. I appreciate that I can do what I love and share it with the world while making memories with my son and being home nightly for dinner. I understand not many people have this luxury. I am truly blessed.
As I grow as an artist and as my community grows I can only hope to continue to inspire others to share their true selves with the world and to share their light in this precarious time we live in. I truly do appreciate every single one of you; you help make what I do that much more enjoyable. Thank you for sharing in my mission to make this world a more positive place, for collecting my creations, and celebrating this crazy life through my art. I know that you have a choice of who to support, what art to collect, what emails to read and what creators to follow- and if you've made it this far, I appreciate you being part of my ongoing journey. Until next time.
-Julie
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