I fell in love with media when I was younger because I loved to craft things. I enjoyed going to YouTube or to Pinterest to find something that I didn't know how to do and find a tutorial. I loved making things and when I was done making things I would share what I did.
I made and sold flower clips on my Facebook in 2011--I had some made from Ribbon, Target Bags, Cheetoh Bags, and VCR Tape. People bought them and I have a friend who is cousins with Allisyn Arm (she played the quirky young girl on
Sonny with a Chance from Disney Channel) and she bought a bow and wore it to the Lollipop Theater Network Event. When I was younger I loved to learn from others and show what I was doing.
When I was older I had a blog and it was my favorite thing that I did in high school and my first few years of college. I would write pretty honestly about my life and I would share it. Some of the articles I wrote were: “Dates from Hell”, “10 Tips for Mormon Girls Who Just Turned 16 AKA Dating Advice”, “Scholarships and College Apps”, and “Why I want to be a Theatre Teacher”. I did some DIYS, some poetry, but it was mostly myself sharing what I had learned in the hopes that I could help someone feel a little less alone.
Eventually, I stopped because it was overwhelming because I actually had people who would read it and I promised I would write twice a week and often times it didn’t happen. I felt pretty terrible; I felt like if I had something important to say that it wouldn’t be hard for me to write twice a week. My Dad says he misses my blog. I miss my blog too.
I miss writing. I don’t create very much either. Most of my media consumption today is mostly taking. Looking at everything that is being done and just taking that in. Then I get into this little circle—I should write—but no one is going to read it—well to get people to read things you have to write—but what if my best writing is done when no one is reading—what if other people think I am stupid for doing this—what if others think that I am just a wannabe blogger. That’s how it goes.
Media is hard because people are always watching. When we are afraid of trying new things, it can be intimidating to have an audience 24/7.
If I could learn one lesson and pass it on to students, it would be this: media creates a place where we can take create and share; so that the people who will appreciate it can see it. Media should be less about the likes, the views, and the number of followers. I would love to see media connect people in a way that allows people to learn and bring each other up who otherwise would not have no each other. Doing something using media and not having the response we wanted is okay—it is even expected. Just because it didn’t receive the likes you wanted, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have shared that poem, picture, or story. Media is another way that we can create so we should not just treat it as something to entertain us.
