The Sober Glow Studio is an extension of what was started on social media circa 2016. As I have evolved, the topics I cover have naturally evolved. Here, I provide stories, recommendations, and resources on the art of living an alcohol-free lifestyle, navigating health & midlife, and anything that simply feels good.
Short playlist for setting the mood.
In this newsletter:
The Substack party I attended + recording of the talk.
My thoughts on using Substack + tips for the nervous system.
How my Dry January is going.
Encouraging words by other writers who have left or limited their social media connections.
The Substack accounts I subscribe to.
The happenings in my offline time + why I will continue using social media in some capacity.
Recently, I attended a party in the belly of Los Angeles. As my husband pulled up to the location on the GPS, I looked around for signs of life. There were none. We were on a very long and lonely street, surrounded by large warehouses surrounded tightly by metal fences with barbwire tops. Are you sure this is it? We asked each other. We hesitantly approached the alleyway and walked down the dark path until we saw another fence with two men standing by a table. It wasn’t until we got right up to them that I could make out the walkie-talkies and guns. I told them my name as I slowly turned my head towards Joe and gave him a look that said - why the hell do these guys have guns? I told you we should have just stayed home; why would I go to a party full of creators? I don’t belong here; let’s get the hell out of here. Without looking at me, because his eyes were locked on one of the holsters, he squeezed my hand with just enough force, telling me to settle down; it’s just a safety measure; we are fine, and we will have a great time. Hmmpf…typical, I squeezed back.
The invitation read: We are gathering LA-based creators who have created a community on Substack for an evening of cocktails, food, lively conversation, and a special performance.
To my knowledge, Substack originally came out with a selling point that they were not a social media platform but a platform for writers and creators to share their work and, more importantly, own their own work. When I finally came around to creating a space here, the major appeal was that it wasn’t anything like Instagram.
The other major selling points for me:
I could write about anything I was interested in. Yes, I am a non-drinker, but there is so much more to me. Also, I get bored as hell only writing about not drinking.
It all but eliminated the riff-raff of social media. I knew that people wouldn’t sign up, let alone pay, to then go out of their way to be rude or obnoxious.
I own it all.
All of my writings, photos, lists, resources, and recommendations are all in one place. It’s a great way for me to keep my interests organized.
Readers can come and go as they wish, and they don’t have to read my newsletter in their email box. There is a home that houses all of it.
There is an app for easy reading. Which I thought was great, but I have since changed my mind. More on that below.
Pictures, words, podcasts, links, playlists. All are usable in this space.
I was a little bummed to see shortly after joining that the app was more for sharing the whole Substack as a community and not just catering to my little private world of Substack. Substack has a feed-like scrolling aspect where you can see other newsletters you are not signed up for. This is great if you want to see what else is out there. But if you were hoping to be completely free of social media-esk behavior and tendencies, you are out of luck.
TIPS FOR SUBSTACK READERS
First, remove the app. The Substack Gods will hate me suggesting that. But seriously, you don’t need it. I thought the app would be super fun and useful, but it turned more into a “checking” rather than a tool to talk to my community or read newsletters that I actually subscribe to. I quickly noticed that once I removed Instagram from my phone, I started going to the Substack app.
Create another email address that is strictly used for all newsletters. I am not someone who can have thousands or even hundreds of emails in her accounts. I need order and organization; otherwise, my head will explode. The pro to this is you won’t be bombarded with all your newsletters in your personal or business accounts, and you have some anonymity. You will also have a place to go, read all these newsletters on your own time, and not feel pressure to do so while trying to go about your personal business or business business. The con is that your friends may not know you read their Substack, so say hello to them to show your support.
Here, Hamish McKenzie, in discussion with Susan MacTavish Best (host of the POSTHOC Salons and who I found to be the most interesting person in the room), addresses that Substack was not nor would it become a social network platform (minute 7:00 in the podcast). I recommend listening to this whole talk (embedded above) if you are interested in starting your own Substack and/or using Substack as a reader. Because as much as Substack is disrupting other social media platforms, it undeniably has social media tendencies.
Here’s the thing. We must watch our behaviors and place boundaries around usage like anything else. This month, as I removed the Instagram app from my phone, I quickly found that I was reaching for my phone and checking Substack. And if it wasn’t Substack, it was Gmail, Hotmail, or WhatsApp. So all of them had to go. Now, my phone is just a phone.
My Dry January: No social media
Regarding social media, I only have Instagram, and I have been off it for 19 days. No, it’s not that long of a time. Yes, it is still pretty f*cking remarkable, considering I’ve always kind of lingered online, even when I wasn’t posting anything for weeks and months at a time. ICYMI
What about you? Have you been considering backing away? Getting off completely? Blowing it up entirely? Or have you got off forever ago, and you have been waiting for me to catch up?
I found the writers below who have written about their own relationships with and without social media to be very encouraging and inspiring. These creators have either completely removed themselves from social media, backed away considerably, or are mindful of how they spend their precious time.