Writer’s block. I’ve got it. Right here. Right now.
Starting at this screen wondering what to say. Do I confess how keeping up with social media is literally impossible? I mean, I can answer a few comments and direct messages here and there, but I could spend all day doing so leaving no room for creativity. (Truth be told, it’s my Design Society who needs that time from me. I absolutely LOVE seeing their treasures, their vintage scores, and helping them with their design dilemmas. And I do my best to comment and help out in our forum many times a week.)
But social media?
OIE.
Some mornings I open my phone and I’m drowning in questions. And so, I’m sorry. If I’m quiet or don’t get to yours, it’s not a slight. It’s simply reality.
(Writer’s block fading?)
That being said, YOU are want makes the train run.
No “followers”.
No train.
(Can we pause for a moment and talk about how the word ‘followers’ makes me want to vomit? It’s hard enough to plaster my face all over the internet, let alone use a word like “followers”. It sounds so gross. Messianic? Self-absorbed? Ugh… that word just makes me legit cringe. But I’m grateful for… my F——–. Thank you for F——–.
BUT! I know you have questions and I think you deserve a voice so for the next few weeks on Youtube I’m answering those questions that you’ve been submitting over on Instagram. I LOVED them. What sort of books do I collect? What’s the fuss about the stove? Why don’t I just refinish my floors? What projects do we have going on right now? And I didn’t just answer them, any time I could, I tried to give a good back story to flesh it out…. WHY am I saving for CERTAIN flooring, why in the WORLD would I drive a rusty truck but buy an expensive stove… how long have I been buying particular books and why… – These were great questions. I thank you for them and it gave me a chance to really be creative in filming the B-roll so you could see what we were talking about. These questions also gave me a chance to ponder some of my own design decisions. There were so many questions that we made it a Part I and Part II video and we’ll follow that most likely with a Spring Farmhouse Tour. Because, after all, Youtube is like throwing spaghetti as a wall these days. It’s really sad.
Creators have TOILED to create their channels and now, across the board, views are down. Tik-Tok is where it’s at.
Reels.
6 seconds are trending this week.
30 seconds the next.
Go back in an edit after you’ve posted a reel? That’s a recipe for disaster views-wise.
Pick a song that’s not trending just cause you like it? Same thing. No bueno.
Accommodate the trendy gnat-like attention span? Do I HAVE to do that to stay relevant?
Ick.
In fact, the 2023 Instagram algorithm demands that all comments be responded to AND direct messages if you want any action. That’s crazy. And makes the Amish lifestyle look rather appealing quite frankly. That demand to become a slave (mentally or physically) to an app makes me want to don some drab homespun and make my own soap. For real. …. my soul longs for more. Do you have anything stirring in your soul?
I do.
The reality is, I’m going to be 50 before I know it. I’ve got dreams and plans and goals. I don’t want to spend precious time making sure I tick all the boxes of some social media app that could be gone TOMORROW. It’s true – just like THAT Youtube could pull the plug on my channel, my IG account could get hacked again…. and it’s OVER. All that work… all those “followers” – gone. (I’m not living in a state of panic or anything, but clearly, things like Instagram aren’t promised to be around ten years from now!) I want to be 50 and elegant... not desperate for ‘likes’. I want to take people to Paris, help them with their curtains and paint color choices and make beautiful paintings (something I’ve quietly been doing on the side). I have no desire to play popularity contest games. I only want to make beautiful things and encourage others to do likewise. Beautiful rooms, beautiful trips, beautiful paintings… I refuse to play the game. It’s like my soul is having a tantrum – “I WON’T DO IT”, it’s screaming.
So what’s my plan?
Well, I AM a businesswoman. As much of an artist, as I want to be, ‘Parisienne Farmgirl’ is also a business and I’m blessed to have it. I just have to keep sorting out how to do it in a way that feeds my family and my soul as opposed to robbing my family of time with me and sucking the life from my soul.
Savvy?
I feel like I’ve got a good handle on it and doing things like Q and A videos ticks all the good, fulfilling boxes while giving my audience the voice and attention they deserve too.
You know what, while we’re at it… I had no idea where this blog post was going to go! But here we go –
It’s true. Creators are at the literal mercy of the ap. Youtube. Instagram. Tik Tok…. you name it. If those things go, if we get hacked, – the only thing the creator has is ‘the follower email address’. It’s the reason we all make newsletters, members-only content, substacks, and sign-up pages. If it all goes south, at least the content creator has their email list. So here goes…
I’d LOVE to have you join my newsletter. I’m TERRIBLE about promoting it, but I’m not going to blow up your inbox (I’m way too busy painting:) however, I try to stay in touch once a week, share some fun anecdotes about what’s happening with the family, share a design tip or two and then I simply share what’s going on in the world of Parisienne Farmgirl. Links to the podcast, a video I think you might enjoy, the latest books I’m reading… I want my emails to you to be relevant and to bless your day.
(Though a few months ago, one ‘lady’ took the time to reach out and say that War and Peace was a shorter read than my newsletter, and a better one.)
Precious.
Anywhoo – One of the MOST POPULAR questions I receive when I do have time to read those comments or check those DM’s is about paint colors. Every day – “What’s the name of the green?” “What’s the color of your bedroom?” “What color is the kitchen again?” I LOVE THAT YOU LOVE COLOR. Color is SO important to me! So last year I made an official paint color chart with ALL the colors and brands we’ve used in the house and you will receive that automatically when you sign up for my little newsletter. My way of saying THANK YOU. It’s a free newsletter and it simply means I am not at the mercy of social media to have contact with you. They can’t take it away from me:) And as I prepare for the future of ‘Parisienne Farmgirl’ that’s terribly important to me. It will take just a moment and the paint chart will come right to you. I thank you in advance.
Goodness, writer’s block be darned. I guess I had something brewing this morning and it wasn’t just my coffee.
I want to know what you think about all this. And I want to know if you’ve contemplated your personal, creative future. What changes are you making now or what habits are you creating now that will affect the ‘future you’ or help you become the person you want to become? I have no desire to stay stagnant, but for me, that means some serious rumination. I roll things around in my mind over and over again and try to come at an idea from all directions. I guess this social media thing has been weighing on me lately. Audiences are dwindling for everyone unless they go the “six second gnat attention span route” and so, change and accommodation need to happen. I don’t want to keep desperately trying to play the ‘get more followers’ game. I’d rather take care of who I have – you; keep you inspired, take care of my Design Society, walk the streets of Paris with you…. all those good beautiful things.
As always, I’m glad you’re here. I appreciate you so very much.
PS: Speaking of all things beautiful, there are about 200 copies of the Spring magazine left. I’d love to send one your way. Grab yours here.
Amen to everything you typed. I’ve been in a funk as a follower of many and a “creator”. As a “consumer”, my personal feed used to consist of visual things that inspired me – flowers, farms, design, other cultures, books, now – it’s virtue signaling and world news overload in between the content I originally enjoyed. It’s like I’m here, eating my snack of what a British mudlark found from Ancient Rome in the Thames and then I taste a hair in my pudding I just took a bite of That taste a lot like unoriginal devisive rhetoric. As a creator, I reach less and less “followers” because I choose to not post often or daily, or get personal or vulnerable to play the game of “relevancy” or put money into the machine so it keeps spinning my way. It’s not fun anymore. Both consuming and creating has become bland, shallow, and an echoing of same flavors, I mean, topics. (no offense to Sourdough but it’s the one that I keep seeing a lot). I’ve transitioned to infusing my blog with things I enjoy and it makes me so happy to discover others are doing that too like finding out that you have an email list! Thanks for sharing your heart. I think many creators feel like they have to bend but do they really? I don’t think so. Hopefully unadulterated blogging makes a resurgence. i’m here for it.
Sourdough -that made me LAUGH.
We don’t have to bend and we don’t have to get personal, we can keep on creating… keeps that “social media” aspect at arm’s length and simply use it as a tool as opposed to it using us.
Angela, well this post will probably keep me up a while ruminating!! Must be contagious! There is a reason I have been an invisible “follower “ for quite some time! My sister discovered you a couple of years ago and you fit right in to our little club. We would discuss your latest project as if we were in on the decision making process, We began looking for ways to see the world through your lens, insert French words here and there, and imagine our gardens flourishing if we only had half of your energy. You communicate. You can make each “friend” feel like stopping by for a cup of sugar. You have done a terrific job pirouetting through the social gauntlet. I hope you continue to weigh the worth of it all. I’m 10 years older than you, my family of 8 kids are almost all gone like butterflies out of a cocoon. There’s no recapturing the 50’s. It’s a wonderful season, hard, overwhelming, but not to blink and its over! It’s a decade of true class! You’re a beautiful woman to be admired! So many of us are inspired and will never have the opportunity to accomplish a tenth of what we see and try to emulate! I’ve had lots of laughs and feel like I’ve known you for years! Funny thing. I just inherited my grandpas farm in Northern Wisconsin and other than the missing decade, I have plenty of your inspiration to take into my new season! Thanks for it all!!! Regards!!!
Congratulations on your Grandpa’s farm. I am in mourning today as my Grampa’s barn was leveled by the tornados this weekend. I can’t stop weeping.
He sold the farm about five years ago and I wasn’t even done crying about that. So I’m TERRIBLY happy for you.
Your words were so very kind. I read them a few times. Thank you.
Oh, my gosh, Angela! I am so sorry to hear that the farm was lost! That is a true tragedy, and one that hits close to home. My great-grandpa’s farm (where I lived my early childhood, listening to the squirrels roll the walnuts down the roof of my tiny attic bedroom, and where we didn’t get to play in the parlor because it was the “fancy” room) was sold shortly after my parents bought their own house, and the late-1800s farmhouse was plowed down by the new owners so they could build a Tudor-style house… that caught on fire and burned to the ground mere months after it was completed! Truly a very sad situation. So I completely understand how you feel! I hope you have lots of pictures, but, regardless, you will always have the memories.
Social media and what is has turned into is just so ugly and disappointing. You’re right for not wanting to get involved in that rat race. Protect your peace and happiness and stay true to who Parisian Farmgirl is. I (and many other loyal followers, I assume) will be glad to see any of your content in whichever medium you choose to post it.
Thank you Shelbie. I hope we call all keep ‘rising above’ it all. It tries so hard to suck us down into its muck.
Non merci:)
Social media and what is has turned into is just so ugly and disappointing. You’re right for not wanting to get involved in that rat race. Protect your peace and happiness and stay true to who Parisian Farmgirl is. I (and many other loyal followers, I assume) will be glad to see any of your content in whichever medium you choose to post it.
Angela. You and Shaye are the main YouTubers I watch. I’ve been with you both for about 5 years. I don’t do TikTok. I limit social media also because it sucks our life. I patiently wait for the quality I get from both of you. I adore your videos and home tours. I’m contemplating your design society because there’s so little quality out there. Thank you for what you do give us.
Thank you, Charlotte. I’m stunned how so many of us are on the same page about this… the life-sucking aspect. I appreciate your comment here.
I love your content Angela . I don’t like the world of social media madness either, and don’t understand the need for shorter and shorter bytes.
It’s an art to be able to communicate with like minded souls amd I doubt you’ll find them in Tik Tok- which may be gone before too long in any case.
Just wanted to express my support for you and all you do…
It’s very generous (and true) of you to call it an art form. I feel like I’m annoying sometimes when I’m constantly inviting people to SLOW DOWN and just watch a pretty video or something. From scrolling to channel surfing to one-word text messages – what are we doing to our brains? It feels dumbed down and numbing when we have such a beautiful capacity to take in and appreciate so much more.
Thank you, Siobhan.
Yes! I had recently wrote to you gals on the homemaker chic Instagram about how you deal with awful outside energy that makes me just want to go Tasha Tudor lifestyle. You answered it so perfectly. Just focus on your ideas and create❤️❤️
Yes, sometimes that Tasha Tudor lifestyle looks realllllllly good. I know it’s exhausting (I’ve had friends who tried it) but I bet in the next 50 years or so, more and more people will just pull the plug on modern living.
As always, so proud of you and all you have accomplished. This is definitely the right move. Love you!!
I miss you!
Hi Angela,
Wow, we must be on the same wavelength, I just started a blog and I’m learning the social media side of it. I was looking into starting an Instagram account, I haven’t had one since it was for pictures only! I got really overwhelmed at the thought of being a slave to posting daily, looking for followers, and the reasons you mentioned. Your perspective is helping me make some decisions. You are truly an inspiration to me! Art and beauty DRIVES me! Thanks for all you do, your cause is worthy!!
Cheers,
Annica
I can’t post daily… and I can’t even blog properly. lol I’ve taken blogging classes and the SEO… the need to cross-post on Pinterest… all that… I just can’t do it. Nor do I really want my blog all ugly with ads. I SHOULD put them on here but I can’t bring myself to. It would be much better for me to get just ONE new magazine sub a day or something…. anything to just keep all the mental clutter away.
I hope you make the best decision for you. If you want to blog, I’m sure you can find a way to do it in a way that fuels you and doesn’t drain you. Just look straight forward. Not to what other people are doing. Let us know what you decide:)
Since creating a cooking channel 11/2020 to save my sanity due to the world going crazy (!) we have been astonished at the rudeness of (mostly older) women over meaningless things!! So what if I cut grape for a grape salad! I share recognizible gluten free recipes and if there wasn’t such a strong need I would walk away in a heartbeat! Thank you, Angela, for being a calm voice of reason in a sad, beige world. Thank you also for using color in your home! We have similar styles and it’s so comforting to be surrounded by beauty.
Angela,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and thanks for all the beautiful creativity you have bestowed on us.
No judgement here. I unplugged off all social media except YouTube ( and you were one of my main reasons for staying ) about 2 years ago and I really don’t miss it. I hope that you are able to find the balance that works for you and still meet the needs of your family, which we have enjoyed watching grow up. I remember your video of you out walking while in labor with JR and one of the littles bounces a ball off of your belly and Joel says “let’s be nice to Mom”.
Thanks for taking us along on your journey. Stay true to yourself and don’t lose focus on our Great Creator and He will guide your steps.
Sorry about your Grandpa’s barn…..
Happy Mother’s Day!