{Photos by Doug Switalski}
I’m here to make a few confessions. Some of you may be able to relate, and some of you may think that I’m just crazy or something, but as a blogger and a small business owner, it’s something that has been on my mind for a long time. Here are some thoughts On being connected. It may be a little disjointed so hang in there, I swear it all comes together.
When I get too busy, or when I have days like today too often (overwhelming and emotional…) I wonder if I am too connected. Do we, as a generation (or a community of young successful women, for that matter) make our complaints too public, take others opinions too seriously/personal, our personal lives too transparent, are we too comfortable with strangers because there is a screen of some sort between us? Do we share too much, or do we chose what we want to share? I know that subject has been touched on before, the perfect-life blogger syndrome. I won’t go into that too much, You know how I feel. But I do have some unexplored thoughts on being connected.
When I get too busy, or when I have days like today too often (overwhelming and emotional…) I wonder if I am too connected. Do we, as a generation (or a community of young successful women, for that matter) make our complaints too public, take others opinions too seriously/personal, our personal lives too transparent, are we too comfortable with strangers because there is a screen of some sort between us? Do we share too much, or do we chose what we want to share? I know that subject has been touched on before, the perfect-life blogger syndrome. I won’t go into that too much, You know how I feel. But I do have some unexplored thoughts on being connected.
AS A BLOGGER I tend to lean to the more personal side of blogging. I will throw in the random recipe or outfit post, but my blog is a pretty good reflection of whats happening in my life at the time, what I am doing (usually revolving around our business) and what I care about/love at that moment. It changes often, and I’m okay with that. I’ll tell you when I have a cold or when I get an exciting email, or when I am hungry/tired/happy/sad/grumpy. It’s a way to connect with people and also a way for me to share what’s on my mind. I do wonder sometimes if it’s too much. should I not have said something, will it hurt someones feelings if I say that I hate a certain movie that is their favorite or if I think something is dumb. I worry that somebody will read a joke I write on twitter and take it the wrong way. It’s silly insecurities that make me second guess (or even go as far as delete) something I have said or shared. Am I being true to the nature of social media by self censoring and even altering the past? I don’t really have a answer to that question.
There is an obvious {and deliberate} connection between who I am as a person {blogger} and who I am as a business. My twitter account is full of little pieces of my life, sharing link to things I love, promoting other businesses, my personal opinions on the weather in Chattanooga and Lays potato chips (hot right now and an excellent snack, in case you were wondering.) But sometimes when I take a step back and see the way others approach being a business owner and a blogger, it makes me question my approach. I also wonder if who I am as an individual has ever shaped the way a person judges our business. Is that a good thing or bad? I mean, do you know who Pizza Hut is? Or Anthropology? When “Anthropology” (whoever that is…) has a bad day, I bet they don’t cry to their friends on twitter, but I guess, really, that’s the difference between big business and little old us. At the end of the day, I feel okay about being myself in all aspects of my life. I mean really, how boring would my social media accounts be if they were only about sunglasses. Boooooring. But that’s just me. I know plenty of people who keep separate accounts for their business and their personal life. I know people who hate twitter/blogging for personal reasons and only use it for business, and others who own successful businesses and only use twitter/facebook/blogging for personal reasons. What works best for you?
{via Emily Mcdowell}
I always do everything to the 1000000th degree. I take too many photos, post too much on twitter (I’m not one to be constricted by 140 characters) and I used to be pretty connected on facebook, but that’s become less and less lately. I like talking to friends on twitter and I enjoy seeing and sharing photos on instagram, even if it’s just of what we ate or what my shoes look like. I like that shit. And I like seeing other peoples everyday stuff. I’ve talked on here before about how hard it is for me to maintain friendships. I am a homebody and I am incredibly self conscious. Even if I come across confident, I’m usually beating myself up over every word that comes out of my mouth. So, the friends that I have made through blogging and the Etsy community have really changed my life in a big way. I think that’s the best part about being connected. I can text someone, or send them a tweet, or comment on their blog, and stay connected in all these ways since most of my amazing friends live so far away from me.
As for the business part of it. Oh, business. I am not a born and bred business person. I am an artist. Free spirit, right brain, procrastinator and professional mess maker. But, I have fallen into the role of business lady extraordinaire and baby jesus as my witness, I will do my best to be good at it. How the heck is being too connected related to this. Firstly, when someone posts a photo on twitter or instagram wearing our sunglasses, that they got their sunglasses in the mail, etc, I get giddy! It makes me so happy! I retweet, repost, like on facebook, and spread the link as much as I can. Because I’m stoked that you’re stoked. That kind of social connection is perfect for me. It’s a big party, celebrate! HOORAY!
{via Jeff Hulligan}
The part that is bad (and not even really bad, but more of a problematic aspect) is my addiction to please everyone, all the time. I wake up 2 or 3 times during the night worried about an email I didn’t respond to. I check my email maybe 100 times a day. I also get about 100 emails a day. Never in a million years did I think i would ever get 10 emails a day, much less 100. And I have become obsessed with making sure they all get answered promptly and sweet as pie. Recently, I have fallen behind on it, and I’m almost glad – the speediness, not the sweetness. That is all me… But, really, not every email needs to be answered immediately, or ever, sometimes. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but slowing down has been such a blessing to me. I suppose I am still ultra connected, and most customers say to me “thanks for the speedy/immediate/prompt/quick/etc response” and maybe that should be a lesson to me in itself……most people don’t respond immediately to emails they receive at 4:45am……..I’m a little crazy, I get it. But my point is, and this is more of a reminder to myself than to you or anyone else, waiting to respond to emails for a day will not make me a bad business person. I am not an automated machine….reminder to self. It’s so hard to not being a connected business owner, 100% of the time. Harder than anyone thinks.
The other aspect is learning to take time off and not check my email during a nice dinner with Doug. Leave my phone at home when I take Ollie for a run. I don’t need to instagram/tweet everything. It’s okay to just enjoy the moment and imprint it in my brain. Remember it and enjoy the now. Ah….i finally said it. This really is all about enjoying the now. Less stress. Happiness. If I have earned anything, it’s that true friends can wait for me to respond to their texts, emails are not an urgent life or death thing, and dinner will be much more enjoyable if I leave my phone in my purse. Whew….that was a mouthful, I know, but I have been thinking about this for a while…especially as I get busier, my thoughts on being connected come up more and more…
I am curious on your thoughts on being connected. Do you live and die (and sleep and eat and shower) by your smart phone? Are you an email addict? How has it effected you life, in both positive and negative ways? What are your methods for finding balance in being connected? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And of course, you can always tell me your thoughts through twitter, facebook, email, flickr, blogger, etsy convos, texting, snail mail, smoke signals, carrier pigeons, etc, etc, etc….just kidding. I’m going to bed and keeping my phone turned off.
xo,
Beca