A New Year & New Intentions | 5 Reasons I’m Changing How I Approach Social Media

A New Approach…

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed that I’ve scaled back a bit on how much I’ve shown up there. The holidays always bring out the longing for me to slow down and be more present. As the years have gone on, and my kids have gotten bigger, I’m finding myself longing for this more and more. It’s no secret that the IG platform has changed immensely over the past 5 years. Last year it felt even more so than ever before to keep up with the numbers game.

I never wanted my business and selling my artwork to rely fully on Instagram alone. Not only is it unhealthy, it's unsustainable for the growth of what I want to do and who I want to become as a brand, an artist, and a person. This is not to say I don’t love the connection it brings and the ways it allows you to be a part of glimpses of my life and share what I’m working on in an up close and personal way. I do love how it’s allowed me to talk directly to people who have enjoyed following along and bring in new ones that may have never found me otherwise. But if the only way for me to keep what I post in front of these followers or find potentially new ones is to spend more and more time on the app and post more than I have time in a day for, then I know something isn’t quite right or working in the way I want to connect with the people that truly want to follow along and hear from me. 

The Calling I have and Why I’m Here…

If you haven’t heard me say it yet, I’ll say it again–you are meant for beauty. Your life, no matter the circumstances, no matter your story, was created for and intended to experience beauty. And it is my heart's deepest desire to see you not only experience it, but to live out the beauty you are meant for. That’s the whole reason I create artwork and write quotes that bring life, and make meaningful products. Whether it’s a greeting card, or a canvas painting, or a simple desk calendar you look at every day, they are all to remind you that beauty is in your midst and waiting for you to experience it. 

No, I’m not going anywhere–but I did think it is important to let you in on how I’ll be showing up slightly differently this year. My hope through all of this is to build more relationships and deeper connections with you as I continue to grow Coley Kuyper Art and create meaningful artwork for the world to see. I want to keep my eyes and heart focused on what I’ve been called to do through creating artwork. So by sharing this with you, I guess I see it as a way to hold myself accountable to all of this and also a way to let you into the journey I’m on and where I’m heading.

So if ever you’re wondering “I wonder what Coley’s been up to?” or “Has Coley put out anything new yet” you can know that the first places you’ll hear the places I listed above in much more thorough and thought out ways. Anything shared on IG will just be snippets of those things along the way. :)

I hope this year brings more beauty than you’ve ever experienced before. Even as the hard or stressful or trying times come, I pray you will lean into them and choose to grow and work through the pain and give yourself grace and see the beauty that’s awaiting you on the other side of it. Can’t wait to see all this year will bring.

Thank you for being here, friends.