Why I’m leaving IG & lessons learned
If you have been a part of my journey on Instagram, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I am so grateful for all my peers from Instagram who consistently supported my work, my process, my becoming and really saw me sometimes before I saw myself.
I even feel some sort of way leavingthe lurkers (they know who they are…👀)
This chapter might be coming to an end, but I am reminded that the greater vision I have isn’t bound by social media handles or digital platforms. And now I invite you to come along with me to a new canvas.
IG’s impact on my life
Aside from all of the peers, mentors, friends and collaborators I’ve gotten to know and shaped so much of my worldview, I am mostly grateful for the lessons I’ve learned in trying to actively curate and create on IG for the last few years.
And while I’ve had IG like most, since it’s early days of posting just photos from high school or college life, it was only more recently I had a vision for what I wanted to create, and to intentionally do so grounded in a deeper set of ethos. But if you know me, you know I wouldn’t be caught dead with the cringey label, “instagram influencer.”
Maybe it’s a pride thing, but I have come to soften to the idea that I am, in fact, a creator. Not just on social media, but everywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s in corporate, in community, online or offline, whatever the setting I will always create something.
Being an active creator of what I want to see in the world is not easy work.
It is easy to only react to what you don’t want. It’s easy to only repost passive-aggressive memes and regurgitate doom & gloom. It’s easy to repost other people’s work. It’s easy to complain. It’s easy to doomscroll. I, myself, am not exempt as I’ve had my fair share of that too. But one thing I can say after a few years of doing this: it’s much harder to stand for something you DO want. It’s courageous work to speak, dream and create what you want to see.
So I celebrate myself for doing just that. I also celebrate you if this is you creating your thing.. Let’s celebrate what we been able to create!
My highlight reel of the last few years includes all the people I got to connect to and all the services and tarot readings I’ve had an opportunity to provide my wonderful clients. I’m embracing all the small (or big) impact I got to make through my tiny corner of the IG sphere.
Biggest lesson learned creating on IG:
It’s ok to be CAUGHT TRYING.
No really, you may despise how your face, the lighting quality, the editing, your voice, what you said and how you said it, or how that reel turned out…but you will not die of embarrassment. Well, maybe just a little. But there aren’t loads of angry village mobs showing up with pitchforks demanding you take your post down (although there may be a few). It will really not be so bad and even if it is, it will not be the end of the world.
The worst thing I think though, is never speaking up. The worst thing is going to my deathbed without ever expressing my truth or feeling like it’s not safe to create my work for the world—work that could have been impactful but fear got in the way of being caught trying.
All in all, creating on IG was a net positive in my story because no matter how much I stay complaining about this god awful platform, I’m still so grateful I put myself out there and all the folks I got to connect with along the way.
I’m leaving! And no it’s not you, it’s IG.
After constantly having to watch my own back with heavy self-censoring, oh!! and battling an algorithm that shadowbanned me, I’ve finally had enough.
I reallyyy wanted to (and tried to) make IG work for me but it’s clear its not aligned with the vision I have for what I am trying to build. It just feels futile and wrong to keep sowing energy into this platform.
I’m sure there are many articles highlighting the big fever dream hellscape of social media especially right now (i.e. META is for lobbying against apps like TikTok) but that is not really an article I’m equipped to write. I’ll leave it to the journalists at the Washington Post. But the whole censorship-under-a-fascist-regime is a reason hard to overlook these days. (It remains the primary reason I’m leaving.)
Self-Discovery through Shedding
Lately, the school of hard knocks have really been knocking. Thanks Saturn!
So much of my spiritual journey these days has been one of shedding. We know the cliche: have you tried letting go? Yes! and heavy on the letting go of all these [false] identities and maligned people/places/things—for me, this process has been BRUTAL.
In a recent three part series on my podcast, I talked about the weirdness of being in my funemployment era after a whole career being a techie, after what feels like half-a-lifetime of making work such a pillar of my ego’s identity.
This last year though, life has revealed much of what can’t stay. Not even because I wanted to let go, but because it was too heavy. And no, I was not expecting that a whole social media platform would also be next.
Um…Cheers to a year spent in freefall!
The power of Freedom from
Patrick Star meditating
“Minimalism isn’t about restriction, it’s about freedom"-Shira Gill
The relationship I have with social media hasn’t always been “secure” (in terms of attachment styles). It’s been pretty push-pull and disorganized.
Meditating has helped me see that freedom for me these days looks more like DETACHEMENT. Namely freedom from…
compulsively checking to see who liked my post
doomscrolling to fill the inner void
feeling like I have to react to everything that is happening and give my two cents like I’m a walking PR machine
having Breaking News in my ear telling me all the reasons why the world is ending, before I even had my morning coffee
So what’s Next?
Some future plans involve finishing up my Intuition 101 online course and relaunching my mentorship program, which I’ve been in the labor process of for quite some time (I had the idea years ago to create this course and finally started to make this a reality)
Between that and binging the only streaming subscription left on Discovery+ (I know, it’s a weird guilty pleasure of mine watching Trixie Mattel and her partner buying and renovating their new home while I down handfuls of chocolate dipped almonds.)
I am also working on many other fun things behind the scenes, but keeping it quiet until I launch them!
In Conclusion
This platform has refined how I express from my soul. It has also jumpstarted my creativity, my voice, my business acumen, and the core message I am here to speak and create from. It was just the place to establish the foundation for Christina Soul Services. Sadly, it will not suffice for where I see my brand headed.
TDLR? Don’t hesitate to try new things, don’t be afraid to be caught trying. Whether on social media or elsewhere—it could just change your life.
Wanna keep up with me? here’s a few ways:
➡️ Follow me on TikTok
➡️ Work with me!
➡️ Subscribe to my email newsletter and get announcements and first dibs on blog posts, new services/offers and other musings.
➡️ Follow my pod: IDK Who Needs to Hear This now on Spotify