Turning the Page of My #Life
Like my relationships with women, my skills with social media have never been strong. It’s not that I didn’t try, I just didn’t seem to be…
Like my relationships with women, my skills with social media have never been strong. It’s not that I didn’t try, I just didn’t seem to be any good at it. For example, when YouTube started, I was quick to join, but couldn’t grow an audience. Soon, teenagers became millionaires, and I was working for $10 an hour in an Apple retail store. I joined Twitter when the “fail-whale” made daily appearances, but my follower count never took off. After so many social networks came and went, I convinced myself I wasn’t good at social media. I knew I was either not interesting enough, not good looking enough, or just too old. The desire to make a difference in people’s lives was there already, but I was missing something, and I didn’t know what it was.
In March 2022, I didn’t know much about Mastodon other than it was supposed to be like Twitter, but better. I posted once or twice and gave up. While decentralization was entertaining and interesting, I just didn’t have the heart for yet another social failure. I had turned 40 the previous fall and didn’t want to start my 40s with another network of people who would ignore me. I wanted to be left alone and reflect on my years as a parent. I began to feel like I spent too much time online and slowly untangled my life from the web.
With Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, however, Mastodon started to make the news. Rather than join the large server where my first Mastodon account existed, I decided to host my own server focused on my belief in Taoism. So, on January 18, 2023, I purchased and registered domain name: thetaoist.online — a Mastodon instance.
My new #life had officially begun…again. However, one month into running my own instance and only six members had joined the server. It looked like history would repeat itself in another social network failure I couldn’t quite grasp. But this time, something was different.
I started identifying as a Taoist four years prior after a cancer scare, anxiety, and depression. Becoming a Taoist gave me the emotional tools I needed to live a more profound and relaxing life. Right after I joined Mastodon, I began writing online under ‘The Taoist Online’ title. I started posting personal thoughts, and reflections on my life which I shared on Mastodon.
Unlike my previous attempts at social media, this time I wanted to help elevate the Taoist belief system and communicate everything it had given me. It wasn’t writing to hear myself rant or to make money. I told my stories truthfully and from the heart. I poured my soul into articles about my broken family, disabilities, and lost loved ones until I my hands cramped. I stayed up drinking coffee until 2am deciding how best to word emotional sentences I never thought I’d express publicly online. I wanted a place I could give back everything the Taoist community had given me; a place I could tell my stories and share my thoughts with like-minded readers. This time, I promised myself it would be different.
Then something magical happened; I was gaining followers!
To my surprise, readership also increased every day! I couldn’t believe my eyes how fast my writing was starting to reach people. Compared to influencers, my follower total was tiny, but never had I imagined telling stories would resonate with so many people. But hosting my own website and Mastodon server was not a beneficial long-term solution as I was growing tired of updating my site every time I wrote. Also, I missed the community of online life. I wanted a platform I could simply call home, write every day, and find friends.
I saw other bloggers post links to a website called Medium and I remembered I had a Medium account from nearly eight years ago. At the time, I knew nothing about it other than you could “blog,” and based on a few Google searches, I knew there were things called publications which made your article receive more views, supposedly. Since I fell in love with The Taoist Online name, I created my own publication, moved over my articles, and pointed the domain to the new Medium publication.
Fast forward to June, and after 20 years of telling myself I’d never make it as a creator online, I now earn a small, growing, income with enough to finally give back to everyone who has helped me. My teacher George Thompson who has provided years of access to Taoism teachings for free, our new monthly featured writers section, and a new guest writer will all be paid from my Medium earnings. And if they don’t have a method to tip, I plan on donating to their charity of choice.
Looking back at my previous social media attempts, it’s clear the problem was my ego. I kept trying to build a network off of my life, who I was, and my personality. So far, however, I am not what resonated with others. Other people’s stories are what resonated with me instead. This time, I set out to elevate others above myself. Yes, I wanted to share my story too or else I wouldn’t have started writing online, but more importantly, I wanted a community around a common idea — we are more than our bodies and brains.
Our souls and spirits broadcast outward through our actions and words, but sometimes we need a mountain top to shout from.
The Taoist Online is our mountain top, and like a mountain, I hope it will outlive my time here. That sentiment might be wishful thinking, but so was the idea of having a single person who cared about any of this six months ago.
So, go forward in your own journey, no matter how crazy it seems.