Being Authentic & What I Won't Show You Online

On authenticity, success, failure, and boundaries as an artist who is chronically online

Authenticity is power – I've said it before but I'll be the first to remind you – there is no better way to both find your art community but also, find yourself as an artist.

The trouble is balancing that fine line between being authentic versus oversharing online. This is something that's had to come to terms with, especially as I am still a novice small business owner and have a social media presence.

Since the start of my art journey, I was honestly afraid to share my personal life and identifying details – my name and where I lived were both a big step to share but deemed it necessary because of –you know– the nature of the work I do, being a percentage commissions-based.

Balancing social media and soul

As someone who is frequently online I've seen the current social media landscape and how, often, the more individuals share of themselves online, the more they are scrutinized for certain behaviours.

You may even argue that social media has always harboured this kind of audience – ones that are ready to jump onto the group mentality that different is strange or insinuate moral 'wrongness' based on a small snippet of you life. I think that's valid! What I've seen recently though, is an often critical space for people, and it's a shift I've seen within the recent months. On my personal Instagram account, for example, I have discouraged myself from doom-scrolling into the comments, as I have often found them overly harsh (I'm sure you've seen them too!).

Boundaries and my personal life

I am not writing this as a retrospective 'Oh no, I shouldn't have shared ___ online to my semi-large audience' but more as a cautionary tale to my future self based on what I've seen happen. Boundaries are important and so is authenticity. Both have some give and take sometimes but I'm learning to reserve bits of my life for myself (i.e., they will not be shared online anymore).

As an example, in my personal life, I'm often the first to mention what it is I do as a full-time job. This is because it has heavily seeped into my personal life (which upon reflection, I'm working to also create this boundary too) and it's something I'm proud of. However, I have created that separation between this small business and sharing that side of me (my full-time profession) as I want to promote a healthy space between the two. Not to mention, the job I have is quite specialized and truly, people in the local area may try to god-forbid look me up or try to trace my physical footprint ni tandem with my digital one (scary right?!)

I suppose this is just a word of advice to those reading as well as myself – authenticity does not come from oversharing things you are uncomfortable sharing. In some spaces, this will be beneficial for you – think therapy, one-on-one discussions with a loved one – but for the larger audience hidden behind screens, it may actually cause more harm than good.

Final thoughts on the matter

In summary, do not trade your authenticity for oversharing – there is far too much of you that deserves space from those who do not know you on a soul-level.

I will keep challenging myself to set these healthy boundaries with myself and remember that social media is not real life and there is so much more to me than what you see online!

Cheers my friends, and until next time!

Jade