Posting as a Spiritual Practice
I was in college when I started posting regularly on social media, sharing pieces of my life as they happened: what I did on the weekends, where we went to eat, the events my friends and I attended. None of what I shared was strategic or intentional in the way I think about these things now; it was something I did simply because I enjoyed it, because it felt natural, and because it brought me a sense of joy and satisfaction.
After I graduated from college, posting on social media became more tied to my business than my personal life. There was more of an end goal involved, more intention behind why I was sharing, though it still felt relatively easeful — something that fit naturally into my life rather than something I had to force myself to do.
Over time, though, my relationship with social media began to change.
The Cost of Visibility
As my audience grew, so did the pressure, along with my awareness of what it actually means to share your life online. I learned that when you’re honest and open with people, those same qualities can be turned against you. Comment sections, Reddit threads, and direct messages can quickly become places where criticism and cruelty feel justified, and over the years, I experienced that reality firsthand. While I understood this was always possible in theory, there’s a real difference between knowing something intellectually and living through it.
As a result, I’ve become more mindful and discerning about what I share online, and, if I’m honest, somewhat disillusioned as well.
Where posting once felt easy and natural, it now requires more care and intention. There’s a part of me that has learned to protect itself, and I’ve come to see that instinct as something I can’t fully dismiss. While some of it may come from fear, some of it also comes from wisdom, from a desire to make my work sustainable and to continue showing up without losing myself in the process.
These days, I post much less, though my posting cadence often depends on the season of life I’m in. Sometimes I feel the urge to share more, and sometimes I need distance. Right now, I’m in a slower season, and that space has allowed me to step back and look at social media with a more objective lens, seeing it not just for what it can offer, but for what it asks of us.
Posting as a Spiritual Practice
What I’ve come to see is that posting — especially when done with intention — functions almost like a spiritual practice.
Many of the clients I work with are building audiences for clear reasons: to sell a book, to share their work, to establish themselves as thought leaders, or to bring their ideas into the world in a meaningful way. There is almost always a why behind the decision to show up online, and that why will inevitably be tested over time.
The longer you do this work, the more the mind begins to have a say. It will tell you things like:
posting isn’t really necessary
visibility isn’t essential for what you want
consistency doesn’t matter as much as you once thought.
It offers convincing reasons to pull back, to prioritize other things, or to disengage altogether. And while not everything the mind offers should be dismissed outright, those thoughts can slowly guide you away from the very reason you started sharing in the first place.
Sensitivity, Shame, and Staying With Ourselves
Something I’ve learned about myself through this process is just how sensitive I am, particularly to criticism and opposition. When I encounter pushback, my instinct is often to turn inward and abandon myself, assuming I should have known better, done it differently, or said it perfectly the first time. Part of my work has been learning how to stay with myself in those moments, to hold myself with steadiness, love, and acceptance rather than collapsing into shame, while still remaining open to accountability and growth.
That work also asks me to resist the easier impulse to quit, to hide, or to withdraw altogether — the option my mind often presents as the most reasonable response. Because the truth is, even though this work has brought real pain at times, I still feel deeply compelled to continue because I believe that on the other side of that discomfort is where my greatest growth as a human being lives.
What This Work Can Offer You
In the end, no matter where you are in your own process — whether you’re just beginning to post, have been doing this for years, or haven’t started at all — I want you to know that what lies ahead is both deeply rewarding and deeply challenging.
This work has a way of revealing your blind spots, showing you where you’re most vulnerable, and bringing awareness to the parts of yourself you might otherwise avoid.
If you’re open to that awareness, if you’re willing to notice what arises without turning away, social media becomes more than a means to an end. It becomes a mirror, a practice, and a pathway into greater self-understanding. And from that awareness, real and lasting change becomes possible.
I share this because I’ve witnessed it unfold in my own life, and I’ve seen it happen again and again in the lives of my clients.
If you find yourself navigating this too — wanting to share, wanting to retreat, wanting to stay consistent without losing yourself — I hope you know that the work isn’t only in what you post. It’s in how you stay with yourself while being seen. And in that way, showing up online can become less about achieving some end goal and more about who you’re becoming in the process.
