Do you have a favourite month? One that makes you feel and see the world refreshed, renewed and reflective? I have two favourite months – September and October. Why? Well, September always brings a sense of excitement for the new academic year. The thrill of buying new stationery and a new timetable from my time in education. The leaves are starting to turn fiery, and that distinct autumnal smell in the air gives me a hankering for hot chocolate and cosy cardigans. October, on the other hand, I love professionally, especially over the past few years. This chiller month is Dwarfism Awareness Month, and when most of my project work centring on Dwarfism happens. It’s the last push before I can hibernate for the pending winter.
October – a time for reflection
One of the other areas of my life I’ve been reflecting on is my social media use – for Hello, Little Lady and personally. I’ve become quite aware of the time spent on doom scrolling and not using my time effectively. It has been a great tool to raise the profile of this blog and provide personal support when I’ve experienced hard times. It held me as I recovered. I’m simultaneously grateful yet sad for the time spent on the different platforms I should have used more effectively.
Yet, I’m starting to think more about what constitutes achievement. In a world where productivity measures one’s worth, it can be hard not to feel like one is being left behind professionally or somehow less worthy when health and family life must come first.
Using social media
When I first started blogging, social media was only beginning. The landscape within that space has changed dramatically, even in the past few years. Once a landscape that seemed to be a shorter version of blogging and so much on community-building, we are now smothered in battling with algorithms and trolls that seemingly focus less on letting you see the people who you actually want to follow. From the perspective of time, it’s no wonder we are seeing a resurgence of long-form content and platforms like SubStack.
My personal and professional life is unrecognisable from when I wrote that first blog post. I’m now in my 40s, married, a creative practitioner, and a parent/carer. Just the thought of keeping up with this blog and all its social media platforms, let alone networking and completing the commissions that come my way, usually puts me into overwhelming paralysis. Thankfully, life has settled down somewhat, and headspace is finally beginning to return to focus on Hello Little Lady and my work.
I’ve missed writing… and this blog
It has been lovely to sit down with this website and take in what has been achieved, to see how tenacious I have been in my practice and life. I realised that I hadn’t had a chance to reflect on the significance of my work. Life feels like it has been going at 250mph for a long time, with different demands on my time. I feel a bit teary seeing what I have created despite the setbacks, challenges, and heartbreak that have crossed my path in the last 16 years. Reflecting on the amount of support, development, and mentorship has got me here today, too. My path has gone from being a blogger to a creative practitioner in that time, and this space has evolved with my life. Yet, I feel sad thinking how much more I could have developed this blog if I had dedicated more headspace and time to it.
I’ve also realised I need to catch up on writing time. To get my thoughts down and share my lived experience and journey through art practice that I stumbled into. Whether to focus my time and energy on one platform, like Instagram, with this space as the landing page. But I feel exhausted at the thought of all the time it takes for content creation that is at the whim of the ever-present algorithm. I don’t have the energy nor the inclination at this point in my life.
Tentatively moving forward
I want to create more, write more, draw, and be more present with my practice. Whether it is because of a season, age, or priorities that have changed, I feel the need to go slower and pace myself better. I need to protect my health. There is also power and agency in taking control of how you use technology rather than feeling like it’s the other way around. A new chapter feels like it is ahead. One rooted in creativity, engagement and exploitation on my terms. I hope you will join me.
Below are the current platforms on which HelloLittleLady can be found. I’d appreciate a follow or a subscribe.
Thanks,
Steph
Hello, Little Lady on the socials
- Instagram:
- Threads
- My newsletter – now on SubStack
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- MixCloud