The Instagram Capture Is The Creativity Killer

Creating the space for the lived experience and the creativity to flow through.

Every day I go for a walk with Lily. There are many great things about having a dog, but the fact that she requires regular walks and trips outside is one of my favorite things.

I was recently reflecting on the end of 2022 by scrolling back through all of the photos on my phone from this year. I love this little routine because it provides me the ability to reflect in a way that reminds me of little bits of the year that may have slipped from my mind. A lot of the consistent photos that I have on my phone throughout the year are of Lily on our walks. I got into a habit of taking one almost every day to share on Instagram Stories.

We went for our walk a few days ago on an exceptionally warm December day. I love days like this because they just light me up in a way that only a 60 degree day in December can. The smile erupts from deep within and the icy feeling of the winter season that settles into our bones and joint melts just a bit.

Around the holiday season every year I find myself turned off by social media. I don’t scroll as much and I care to share even less, and often not at all. I don’t know what it is about it, but I just feel the desire to go dark. It might be the darkness of the Solstice and the sacred potency of this time of year, or it may be something much more surface level where I just don’t want to see highlights of people’s holidays and focus more on my own.

Either way, I was walking Lily on this beautiful day and we got to the spot where I often snap a picture. I went to reach for my phone and something within me very clearly told me no. I paused and felt into it a bit more with a curiosity of why. And what came up was also very clear.

The Instagram capture is the creativity killer.

Okay. Dang. Nothing like getting hit with a profound message at 12pm on a random Wednesday walk.

Let’s break that down a bit.

Here I was, just walking. Out in nature and about to reach a bridge with ice and flowing water enmeshed together. I love water. Obsessed. And as I’m out in nature with my dog, we’re just about to reach my favorite part of the walk and what do I do? Reach for my phone to capture a moment to put onto my Instagram stories. For what? Why? What is the purpose? Am I sharing this daily Lily photo because I want to? Or because I just mindlessly got into the habit of it? Or because I feel like I have to?

Why?

For me, the answer was a blend of the last two questions.

I find that I often share because I feel like I have to. We are made to feel like we have to keep up with the algorithms and with the trends of the times to fit in on social media and to grow. So we share out of a place of lack and fear and not out of a place of wanting to connect and serve others. It’s really crazy to think about while also being so easy to fall into.

As I was thinking this through I recognized how much the constant capture kills creativity.

If we’re consistently focused on looking for “content” to share online then that completely eliminates the space for the lived experience and the creativity to flow through. I don’t know how I didn’t really realize this before, or maybe I just didn’t want to admit it out of fear of what would happen if I focused more on long form expression and true creativity compared to the instant gratification and surface level content of social media.

This isn’t to demonize social media and all of the content on it. I love social media and have gained a great deal from it. Like anything though, there is good and bad to it. But what I have been seeing more and more is that everyone wants to be an influencer and so much content is surface level just to get views, likes, and followers which will eventually (potentially) equal cash money and “fame.” A lot of content doesn’t truly inspire, empower, and people to live their best lives and to grow but more so creates the feeling of lack, victimhood, and unworthiness.

Time is so valuable and it’s not something that I want to waste. I don’t want to waste my time creating Instagram Reels and I don’t want to waste my time consuming Instagram Reels. Sure, there is opportunity for business growth in playing the social media game, but that doesn’t have to be the path for everyone who is successful in their work. In fact, it isn’t the path for everyone who is successful in their work. Some of my favorite creators are not active on social media and I love that. It creates an elusiveness that sparks a curiosity within me. It leaves me wanting more. I want to read more of their books, listen to more of their songs, take more of their classes, watch more of their movies. I don’t want to be stuck in the instant gratification of feeling like I’m busy moving the needle in my business growth by posting constantly on Instagram. No. I want to be creating true and lasting content that serves others and that I feel good about. I want to provide experiences, education, and perspectives to help you grow. I don’t want to post a 15 second video of me dancing to a trendy song and see the numbers go up. That isn’t real. What is real is long form content that creates tangible experiences and results. I want you to hold my book in your hand and read it, resonating with it and/or learning from it. I want you to hang up a piece of artwork that I created on your wall that you can look at each day with the essence of beauty that sparks the reminder that creativity is within you too. I want you to take a yoga class that I lead and connect physically and spiritually to your highest self with the ability to take something off the mat with you or to let something go as you flow through class. I see our attention spans diminishing before my very eyes and I hate it. I notice it in myself and it scares me. I want to crave reading every word of articles and going deep in this society of addiction to tantalizing headlines and scroll holes.

And so, I’m on a journey. I’m on a journey of consuming longer form content and creating more of it too. Less surface level Instagram scroll sessions and less fleeting documentation for others and for the sake of feeling productive.

A lot of times, less is more.

When you bring less into your life you provide yourself with the space to create and when that space is clear then you find a different way. You’re no longer following the way that all of the “experts” claim that you need to follow to grow and be successful. Instead, you’re following the way on the path that is paved by you.