Sundaze 257: Sharing online, Book of Mormon and my new Kindle
Happy Sunday, my loves! (Or Monday, at the time of publishing, heh.)
It feels like I’ve been quieter around here recently, but I think that’s because my posts have mostly been pre-scheduled far in advance. And while the organisation feels good, I do feel disconnected. So I thought I’d share a personal essay that I sent via my newsletter a few weeks ago. This week has been pretty fun: sun-seeking office days in London, evenings spent reading in our garden beside the pond, a day off spent with my sister to see The Book of Mormon and even some cosy gaming time – the first in weeks. As ever, taking random annual leave = my body realising it is burned out, hence a day in bed for me today…!
Let’s catch up…
Notes on sharing and oversharing online
Something has shifted recently, most notably a conscious decision to try and step back from social media and see where that takes me. I think it’s only been two or three weeks, but I’m finding it’s having a really positive effect on me.
As a child of the ‘90s, I really grew up online and offline. I’m a millennial, so I can remember life before the Internet as well as the entire digital age thus far. Plus, of course, I’m an OG blogger circa 2009, so I really remember what it’s like to share the most candid and random moments of my mundane life with complete strangers on the Internet for literally no reason at all.
Fast forward to 2023 and I realised that I barely know what it’s like to not overshare on the Internet. In my personal life, I’m quite a private person. I rarely share my family and friends online and keep my cards close. Online? I’m still interrogating how I got to a stage of wanting to share everything and nothing at once.
In my teenage years, I was gawky and awkward with few friends. I was endlessly teased and bullied and often feel like I was never given a chance to make friends or be myself in a secondary school setting. The Internet – mostly LiveJournal and my Geocities blog – became a safe space where I could express who I was behind a screen, behind a time delay that allowed a shy introvert to hone her public persona. I’d be far more honest in MySpace bulletin quizzes and Geocities ‘About’ pages than I was with anybody at school. Online, people cared and replied and commented that we shared mutual interests. In fact, I’m still friends with some of those of people now!
LiveJournal turned to personal blog over time, then, later, Instagram. But what hasn’t changed is a persistent want and need to share my authentic self with others.
It’s funny, now, to step back and examine this relationship I have with sharing online. Over the years, I’ve formed genuine friendships and relationships where I am forever oversharing. But that leaves me in a tricky place online. What do I share? Why do I share?
My recent break from social media has taught me that I am far happier simply living life and sharing it with my friends and family. Sure, I love checking in on Daisybutter and occasionally via this newsletter, but it feels GOOD to just be me and not worry about trying to show an authentic version of myself to strangers online and earn likes. Now that I’ve given myself some breathing space away from the persistent grind of social media, I realise that I’m already sharing my authentic self – with my loved ones.
I wrote this line in my personal journal last week: “But, then again, I’m realising that you don’t have to share everything with everyone, all the time.”
Maybe it’s fine to experience and explore some feelings all on your own. It’s a valuable part of the self-growth journey: therapy taught me that, after all.
You don’t have to share everything with everyone, all the time.
A sister date in London
It was my sister’s birthday last month and this year’s gift from me was a pair of Book of Mormon tickets. For multiple reasons, mostly the abundance of Bank Holidays in May, I’d booked it for early June and so on Friday we finally made it for a sister date day in London.
The show was so much fun: all the songs are incredible, and it’s a great laugh albeit slightly dark and very inappropriate throughout. We’re already talking about going to see it again! Afterwards, we took a walk through Soho and ended up at KASA+KIN for dinner. This modern Filipino restaurant is one that my boyfriend and I went to last summer and we loved it then, just as I loved it now.
She’s a Kindle girlie!
Friends, I finally caved and stepped into the 21st century: I bought a Kindle. Recently I added to my bookcase and realised that nobody needs this volume of books. I mentioned on my bookstagram recently that I’m now planning only to keep physical books that I adore or that mean something to me. I’ve donated or sold SO many titles recently, titles that were just average, and realised just how much money this hobby of mine consumes. Plus, my new Kindle will be great for one-handed reading on my train and Tube commutes! Looking forward to sharing more about my Kindle adventures over on @daisybutterbookcafe.
How was your week? Any tales from the heatwave to share?