8 Comments
User's avatar
caroline cherry's avatar

absolutely! sometimes, taking a break is the best thing to do. i felt this so deeply and i hope we can all do what we can to make this a low pressure space for creativity!

Rion Ashley's avatar

Exactly! I came here to write and fall in love with it again, not do a repeat burnout and be in the same position as I started out with. Giving myself set times where I’m connected and dedicated to what I’m reading or writing is a priority and if I step away, I need to do it without guilt. Thank you for reading <3

Marie Rose šŸ„€'s avatar

Ooof, I felt all of this HARD. I've put so much of myself here, sometimes it feels like there's nothing else. It was very fun and exciting at first, it gave me the outlet to express myself creatively and sharpen my pen, but it hasn't felt that way in a long time. I take breaks when I feel myself become too frustrated and resentful, because it's a hungry machine we keep generously feeding, but it doesn't help. You're so right in everything you say, there's a balance to find. Instead of disappearing for days and then being back here almost non-stop, I gotta find a middle ground too !

Rion Ashley's avatar

I’m so glad you found something in this! It’s a balance game, one that is always going to be there. I’m right there with you! I’m quickly seeing myself become obsessed and discouraged if someone doesn’t read or check in or when a post doesn’t ā€œtake-offā€ and I have to put myself in my place real quick lol coming here saved my love for writing, but I don’t want it to twist back to the downfall of it

Camilla Zee's avatar

I totally get this, Rion!

I want to ignore the voice that says, ā€œif you step away all will be lost!ā€

Aaaack !

Dopamine, she’s a bitch.

Rion Ashley's avatar

Seriously, girl can chill. Maybe it’s more ego though? I’m not entirely sure

Rey's avatar

The amount of free time I’ve been granted that has been spent doomscrolling on this app is unsettling with me, really. You can say the same with TikTok and instagram. I’ve also been one who’s trying to limit my screen time when it comes to social media — Substack included. So I feel you entirely. This app made me fall in love with poetry. I appreciate all of your guys’s work. But I realize that this app is kinda taking up a good percentage of my day and I hate it (albeit I’ve ran into a bit of a problem lately so I’m kinda trying to stay off this platform as much as possible to focus on my mental health. I still do need to reduce my screen time, in general). I appreciate you writing this post because it’s only made me realize my problem with this kind of issue even more.

Rion Ashley's avatar

Thank you for reading, Rey, I’m glad it helped you! I’m sorry you’re going through some issues, I hope it resolves soon for you so you can find the joy here again!