being yourself in social media

Being Yourself in Social Media

I wrote this for an american blog, https://mybijoulifeonline.com. Michelle recently divided her blog into two separate ones: mybijoulifeonline is now for her creative projects, and https://funkyfashionstyle.com is for recycle fashion. Unfortunately, the below post, along with heaps of others, disappeared in the translation, so here it is:

My journey into blogland

I started blogging in 2010. At the time I was on a radio show in a weekday spot. Originally it was a few minutes talking about yoga and related topics, to do with mothers and children. I had inherited the radio spot from a friend whom I’d been working with. But very quickly, the DJ wanted chakras and such. The boss of the station heard me talking on air, and moved me to Saturdays. My few minutes quickly became about fifteen minutes. I had so much fun! Anyway, the upshot was that I finally decided to blog whatever we’d been talking about that day. But really, I only did a couple of posts per year, and eventually stopped using that blog. Lack of confidence. Who was interested in what I had to say? Was anyone?

In 2013, I started three other blogs: one for lifestyle, one for yoga (I’m a long time yoga teacher), and one for clairvoyance. Somehow the clairvoyance blog got discontinued. Mainly through my lack of tech savvy. 

The best advice that I got given about social media was from my daughter in law, an international children's book publisher. She told me not to go safe, be a bit outrageous. I couldn’t do it.

Why can’t we be ourselves?

My first problem was fear. You know - what would people say? Would I upset people and then have to handle the aftermath? The other was - where did I fit in? I didn’t seem to fit in anywhere.

• Fashion: Um, no. I don’t have enough money for that. And when I look at all of the fashion bloggers, they are so good at it. Why would I even want to compete?

• Food. I loathe cooking. So, no. No, no, no.

• Crafts. Sigh. I am all fingers and thumbs. This would be a disaster.

• Travelling. My life has kept me local for some years now, but yes I would love to do some travelling overseas posts. But in view of recent years, I’m not holding out for it.

• Gardening. My flat does not have space for a garden. Sadly.

• Family. They 100% would not appreciate being on my blogs.

• Home. Decorating, cleaning, organising. As much as I believe in all of this. No.

So, what can I write about? Given my insecurities. And I do wonder if I am not alone in this.

• I do Maori healing. Most of my readers would not relate to it at all. And I don’t feel that I have the authority to write about it. So that’s another no.

• I’m a clairvoyant. It has taken me since 2013 to feel safe about blogging with it. But this year, I have Come Out, so to speak, with all of this. (be outrageous, be myself)

• I’ve been teaching yoga and all of the spirituality around it, for decades. I trained for years to be able to do so.  I feel quite okay about writing about what I know. It makes me a bit unpopular with organisations, and I know that it doesn’t gel with the newer styles of yoga, but - be outrageous, stop playing safe, be me. My now discontinued blog was swamiratnamurti.blogspot.com.

• When I started my lifestyle blog (you-areunique. blogspot.com) my passion was for people to have a better life. It still is. But until recently, I have totally played safe. 

What made me change?

I realised that the blogs I love, the women were completely being themselves. Original. Different. This made me realise that it’s okay, it’s good, to be oneself in social media. I spent many hours going through the internet to find blogs that would accept me with linkups. Many I am totally unsuited to. That was another ah-ha moment. 

Michelle offered me a guest post. Panic! Was I good enough? Would anyone be interested? What would I write about? I went with the one topic that was hard to write about, and everything around it. (Don’t go safe; be outrageous, just do it!) But most of all, let everyone know to be yourself, in all areas of life.

Link to my talks and meditations on Earth Elders: here.  Click "join" if you haven't already, then click the search icon there, and enter "Ratnamurti Saraswati". 

Link to Global Unity Festivals on you tube, here. I'm in the Wave 1, Asia/Pacific episodes.

Link to a post explaining Global Unity Festivals, here 

This festival is on an hiatus at the moment, will let you know if it resumes. 

Also find me:

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** swami ratnamurti/facebook

** twitter

** instagram

** pinterest