I really love this, Michael. I think the tension for me has been in the authenticity trap.
That my real self is my writing self and the view that Twitter might require me to be a performative self and how long can I keep that up? It’s a scary thought.
But I also joined Small Bets this month and now I’m ready to get as clear as you are on M…
I really love this, Michael. I think the tension for me has been in the authenticity trap.
That my real self is my writing self and the view that Twitter might require me to be a performative self and how long can I keep that up? It’s a scary thought.
But I also joined Small Bets this month and now I’m ready to get as clear as you are on Michael the marketer vs Michael the writer, so that I might figure out then develop the value add and lean all the way into it. And this will be the freedom that allows me to explore all these projects that exist in my head and in my journals. I’ve written and rewritten them for years and they matter, but they frankly might not ever translate into any recompense or recognition, just that I’ve exorcised them from my physical being and have the reward of now seeing them out in the world. And the ability to consistently do this will likely be commensurate with my level of self-satisfaction my own work/sense of purpose and meaning.
This is a heartening example. I love that you say not either or. Do both. Straddle. And cash in if you hit a lick--Art nouveau Pepsi and cigarettes so you can create the body of work you want/investigate your soul’s imaginings/follow serendipity in and on purpose.
Maybe the Twitter self doesn't have to be a created "performative" false self, but just a limited self. I see it as showing just a sliver of me. That sliver is true, real, part of me. It's not the full picture.
So for example, I have a logging practice, where I jot down all my ideas unfiltered. As I review them and put them onto Substack, I'll take anything that seems writing/craft related, and bring that to Twitter. It's just a filtered version of the whole.
So I have one platform that is complex, unfiltered, and comprehensive (my whole journey and all my interests). Then I have another platform, where I'm curating just a sliver of that journey (the sliver that is most practical). Most people might only know me for the practical stuff, but some will click through to Substack and make sense of the whole person.
I really love this, Michael. I think the tension for me has been in the authenticity trap.
That my real self is my writing self and the view that Twitter might require me to be a performative self and how long can I keep that up? It’s a scary thought.
But I also joined Small Bets this month and now I’m ready to get as clear as you are on Michael the marketer vs Michael the writer, so that I might figure out then develop the value add and lean all the way into it. And this will be the freedom that allows me to explore all these projects that exist in my head and in my journals. I’ve written and rewritten them for years and they matter, but they frankly might not ever translate into any recompense or recognition, just that I’ve exorcised them from my physical being and have the reward of now seeing them out in the world. And the ability to consistently do this will likely be commensurate with my level of self-satisfaction my own work/sense of purpose and meaning.
This is a heartening example. I love that you say not either or. Do both. Straddle. And cash in if you hit a lick--Art nouveau Pepsi and cigarettes so you can create the body of work you want/investigate your soul’s imaginings/follow serendipity in and on purpose.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this Dekera!
Maybe the Twitter self doesn't have to be a created "performative" false self, but just a limited self. I see it as showing just a sliver of me. That sliver is true, real, part of me. It's not the full picture.
So for example, I have a logging practice, where I jot down all my ideas unfiltered. As I review them and put them onto Substack, I'll take anything that seems writing/craft related, and bring that to Twitter. It's just a filtered version of the whole.
So I have one platform that is complex, unfiltered, and comprehensive (my whole journey and all my interests). Then I have another platform, where I'm curating just a sliver of that journey (the sliver that is most practical). Most people might only know me for the practical stuff, but some will click through to Substack and make sense of the whole person.
This makes a lot of sense. Thank you for making that distinction.