It´s been a while since I last sat down to put my personal thoughts to (digital) paper. I´ve missed it!
For those of you who do not know me, beware that I am someone that isn´t made for small talk. I like to go deep! And weird! If that isn´t for you you might want to close your browser tab! But do head over to my Spotify first! 😉 You might enjoy some of my music, which unlike my blogpost is – straight to the point!
If you´ve read thus far and are still with me, I love you! 😉
I would like to share a little something with you! It has to do with the way an artist like myself choses to commuicate on social media. Particularly Instagram. My Instagram has prooved to be a great place to engage with some of you and I love the little community we have created, and yet, with a lot of my posts I feel uneasy. As we all know, what we upload to these platforms is made to stay. Yes, we can delete posts off our feeds (and I often do) but they remain on those servers! Our pictures, our words, a trace of who we are! People might have screenshot-ed them!
I oftentimes regret some of the things I´ve posted! That is because some days (like today) I am courageous to open up about what is going on inside my mind or heart and I allow myself to be vulnerable. On other days it feels crippling! I am a very private person in “real” life.
It has made me think of the advantages of singing live, in little bars…I love to sing my songs! It makes me happy and to share them with an audience, too! They mean so much! When playing live, we live in the moment! Live shows aren´t stored on servers in perpetuity! (Unless someone films and uploads them of course! haha oh my! what a crazy world).
What I´m trying to say is, that life is easier if your momentary communication doesn´t stick around to haunt you forever! What you say can become a stigma really quickly these days! So, playing live to a little group of people is really cool with regard to that!
For me as a shy chicken on the other hand live stages come with hurdles and the internet, especially Youtube is a great platform to share my music! And I love that we are globally connected! I am so grateful for the friends I made!
I just don´t like the timelessness of dialogue! I am intimidated by the public as well!
Then recently I stumbled across a really interesting interview with Miley Cyrus and realized how much she and I think the same way! I felt so very connected to her! She mentioned saying goodbye to who she was every night, as every day makes her a new person! Change is the only constant, right?
She said, she might say something now and think differenty tomorrow, and I totally get that! She also mentioned an EP of songs she has produced but now can’t release, as her situation and inner life have changed so much, that the songs lost their relevance. I had addressed that before as well. Check here. As an artist we are so driven by change and floating through different stages all the time. It is the foundation that art is built upon! Artists essentially transform and mold certain media (matter) and ideas from one state into another! That´s why art is often blocked by fear! Change and exploration can be scary!
It is weird. The “stories” on Instagram are a great way to share momentary thoughts (and make them disappear publically, even though people can take screenshots). But does that solve it all? I wonder how do other artists balance their personal and public lives and how can they allow themselves to evolve constantly, despite being self-contradictive and “acting weird” under the observation of the public eye? I believe part of being an artist is not really knowing who you are. It´s what keeps you curious to keep digging, right?
Honestly, I love what Miley said! Each day we are someone new! Say goodbye to yesterday´s Katie, and welcome her with new perspectives every day! Don´t judge, don´t expect nothing!
I will link Miley´s interview for you all to watch! You might enjoy it! I had never known how smart and artistic this chic really is.
Thanks for reading!
X
Katie
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie_Wellenberg_music/