on merging my online identities
I have worn many hats on the internet. I find comfort in anonymity, and any attempts I've ever made with revealing my identity on the internet in any shape or form never lasted very long. If my face found its way into my profile picture, I'd delete my account shortly after. If I shared my real name, I'd delete my account shortly after. If I wrote something I felt was a little too personal or revealing, well, you get the picture. Every creative endeavor I ever put out there was under a different pseudonym. I've tried so many different things, shared so much with the world, but as far as my various cultivated audiences are concerned (at least those of which still exist under accounts I forgot to delete), I am a one-trick pony. I draw, I sing, I write stories and essays, but all in different corners of the internet. I was okay with that, until now.
As I've gotten older, I've discovered there's no point in hiding behind so many usernames. Though I don't care much to prove my creative worth to those various communities I cultivated online and left behind (whoops), I often wonder these days that if a friend or someone new I meet should ask to see my work, where do I point them? What do I have to show for myself, for everything I have to give?
Bear Blog has opened up a world to me of artists and songwriters and poets and programmers, and proves that a person can be many things at once online under one blog title. I am in no rush to tell you my real name, nor show you my real face, but I have created so much in my life that deserves to be shared with pride.
For example, I haven't published a single one of the 80 songs I've written in the last three years. Why? What point is there in letting them sit in the voice memos app on my phone? My zines and artwork, my video diaries, the volumes upon volumes of journals I keep, all deserve a home online among each other. This may or may not be the place for that, but I want people to know me, even if that scares me. The Birdhouse has cemented my presence online for what I feel is the first time that counts. So if you want to find what I make going forward, you can.
What does this mean? Well, in practical terms, I'll be sharing more of what I do in real life here. That means links to my music, my zine, and whatever else I feel like. I'm working on a personal website that will hopefully be up and running soon which will link back to here as my blog/home base, but for now, I'm excited to share what I have to give going forward, and to (finally) make my creative work accessible.
Thanks for reading! (꒪˙꒳˙꒪)
ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ