I broke up with Instagram.

And started dating Substack.

A few weeks ago I sat in meditation and the message I received was crystal clear: get off Instagram. I had been having this thought for a while now, but this time, it was a neon blinking sign.

I wrote this post when Threads first came out and it’s resonating again:

honor.thy

A post shared by @honor.thy

Listen, I love Instagram. It’s where I grew my creative expression, community, and business over the past 6 years. It’s where most people hang and support my content. However, I’ve noticed Instagram shift over time, from a place for creatives to get their work seen to prioritizing quick repetitive content that purposely keeps us on the platform longer so they can make more money off of us and ads. Ew.

It is no longer a community that values creativity—and that is not a fun place for me to be. So I broke up with Instagram.

It won’t be forever, I just needed some time apart to figure myself out. Kinda sounds like my relationship pattern if I’m being honest. And just like the serial monogamist I am, I fell straight into the lap of another platform. Let me introduce you to my newest lover—Substack.

To put in the simplest way, Substack is a cross between email newsletter and blog, with a touch of social media. Let me explain…

So this email (or post) you’re reading right now, is coming from Substack. I publish posts and they get sent to my subscribers (that’s you and I love you for being here). My posts also get archived on my publication page, that’s this thing right here.

Here’s where it gets good: you can create a Substack profile to like and comment on posts, turn off email notifications in settings, and discover millions of other writers and creators on this platform. You can do this by signing in with your email to substack.com or downloading the app, and click ‘Create an account’. I highly recommend the app experience.

Why I love Substack & think you might, too:

1. First and foremost, it is a platform made for creators and with our best interests in mind. Period.

2. On that same note, Substack helps you grow an email list, which creators own and can take with us somewhere else. As well as, ownership of our content. This is an important one, people.

3. I can share many mediums here. Such as, long or short form writing, audio (hello, podcast), video, embeds, and of course, my love: photography.

4. Share free or paid content. Almost all of you reading this are free subscribers (or not a subscriber yet, in that case, what are you waiting for? lol). Right now I have one amazing paid subscriber, my old boss at my past agency job (hi, Anthony!) As of now, it is purely reciprocity for the work I share. In the future, I very much plan to share paid content like live classes & workshops, guided audios, and more.

5. There’s a cool social media aspect called ‘Notes‘. If you create your profile, you’ll notice this. Notes is essentially Twitter X or Threads. Scrollable short form posts with restacks (sharing other writers posts), short-form writing, images, and now videos. No crazy algorithm. Ahhh…I can breathe here.

   Andy Adams
   puts it best:

So basically Substack is everything I’ve been looking for to connect with my people. If you’re a reader, writer, and/or creative human who values quality over quantity and doesn’t want to spend all your free time on social media, I think you might like Substack, too.

What am I sharing here?

During my hiatus from Instagram, I’ve been immersed in Substack and really loving the community. Everyone is friendly, creative, intelligent, and shares each others’ work. I joked on an Instagram story and said, “it’s where all the smart people hang out.”

Welcome to He(art)-led Creator, my Substack publication. This is a digital magazine that explores the sensual delights of the body and creating from the heart. My passion is to help people reconnect to their body through art, storytelling, and holistic practices (this thread runs through everything I offer).

I’ll be sharing free posts every week and paid posts in the future. Regular free posts you can look forward to:

Sensual Inventories: a monthly round up of things I love and have been inspired by through the senses. What I’ve seen, heard, touched/felt, smelled, and tasted—that I think you might love, too.

Photo Essays: a series of photos that tell a story—client work or personal work.

Written Essays: personal stories that have taught me life lessons or a shift in perspective that I feel would resonate with you, too.

‘Dear Body…’: a photo journalism series telling guest stories about their relationship with their bodies. My intention for this series is to celebrate diverse bodies, honor the resilience and wisdom of the body, and shine a light on real, authentic stories that shift our cultural narrative. It will be a hybrid podcast-photo essay series starting at the end of May. Read more about it here:

Substack Gems

Lastly, I’d love to share with you some Substack publications I’ve found that I’m absolutely loving:

Andy Adams

of

FlakPhoto Digest

- there aren’t many photographers on Substack and I was happy to find Andy on Notes. His warm welcome is so supportive and dare I say, human? Andy shares his own photography, photo stories from other photographers, and writes thoughtful essays on life.

Claire Venus

of

Creatively Conscious

&

Sparkle on Substack

- I just took a free co-working class with Claire this morning where she helped myself and other creatives make a strategy for focusing on one platform for 6 weeks. Can you guess what mine is? Claire shares about creating consciously and the in & outs of Substack.

The Rewind

is also someone I stumbled upon on Notes. The Rewind shares very intimate and sometimes heartbreaking stories from her personal life on trauma, childhood abuse, and all that comes with it. So beautiful and emotionally charged.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my beautiful friends. I hope you’ll join me on this Substack journey and find what I have to share valuable and inspiring. If you don’t, well, you might want to exit the party.

Sending warm hugs,
Olivia