The Art of Slow Creativity – Why I’m Choosing Blogging Over Social Media

For years, I believed that success as a designer meant showing up consistently on social media—posting, engaging, and keeping up with trends. Instagram was once a place of inspiration, a space to showcase photography, art, and connect with fellow creatives. But in recent years, it has started to feel like an exhausting hamster wheel, constantly demanding more and giving back less.

With every new update, we are told to change the way we show up. The algorithm dictates not only how often we post but also the type of content we must create just to remain visible. As creatives, this has a profound effect, not just on how we share our work, but on how we create it in the first place.

Creating for the Algorithm vs. Creating for Ourselves

I’d be lying if I said numbers didn’t matter. We all crave validation in some form, whether it’s through likes, comments, or engagement from those who appreciate our work. But the more frequently we are expected to post, the less it becomes about the quality of what we create. The act of sharing has shifted from showcasing finished work to creating just for the sake of having something to share.

There is an urgency now, an unspoken pressure to create quickly, to stay relevant. But what happens to our creativity when it is rushed? When the focus is no longer on self-expression and experimentation, but on producing content that will perform well?

I think back to artists throughout history, those who would retreat into their studios for months, even years, before emerging with a fully realized body of work. Their process was slow, immersive, and deeply introspective. They had time to critique, refine, and evolve their work without the immediate and often overwhelming influence of outside opinions.

I fully believe in the beauty of sharing the creative process. There’s something inspiring about glimpsing inside an artist’s studio and witnessing the raw stages of creation. But somewhere along the way, we have lost the space for true deep thinking and artistic exploration.

The Influence of Social Media on Creativity

I wonder: how much of our work is influenced by what we consume rather than what we truly want to create? How often are our creative decisions shaped by trends, engagement metrics, and external validation rather than our own artistic instincts?

We live in an age of constant input, where thousands of images, designs, and ideas flash before us daily. There is less space for slowness, for reflection, for allowing our minds to wander uninterrupted. In the past, artists spent hours lost in thought. Now, we struggle to sit with our own ideas for even five minutes before reaching for our phones.

This realization struck me recently as I was reading Jane Eyre. Jane would spend entire afternoons simply reflecting, just thinking through her emotions, ideas, and circumstances. Her inner world was rich and complex because she allowed herself the time to pause, ponder, and process. It made me wonder, how much creative depth are we losing by never giving ourselves the space to just think?

A Shift Towards Slow Creativity

In the past few months, I’ve noticed something. More and more people, especially younger generations, are beginning to question the constant pull of digital life. There’s been a resurgence in reading, journaling, long-form content, and a return to more analogue ways of creating. A shift away from the frantic pace of social media, towards something slower, more intentional.

Which brings me to this blog.

I’ve always loved writing, and I want to embrace it again, not just through fleeting social media captions but in long-form storytelling, where thoughts can unfold naturally. Blogging allows for something social media doesn’t: depth, nuance, and reflection. It’s a space where ideas can linger, where creativity doesn’t need to be compressed into a 30-second reel.

Commonplace Books: A Return to Thoughtful Creation

As I move towards slower creativity, I’ve been drawn to keeping a commonplace book, a practice once used by philosophers, artists, and scholars to collect thoughts, ideas, and inspiration. It was a way to observe patterns between seemingly unrelated topics and to make sense of the world in a deeply personal way.

I discovered the idea through a YouTube video, and immediately, I was fascinated. I want to create a space where I can collect historical research, folklore, pattern design inspirations, art, literature, plants, and nature, and weaving connections between them. A physical archive of creativity, untouched by algorithms or fleeting trends.

I’ll be writing a blog post soon to share my journey into commonplace books, how I’m starting mine, what I’m including, and how it’s shaping my creative process.

A New Way Forward

This blog is an experiment in slow creativity. A space for deeper storytelling, creative musings, and insights into my design process. If you, too, have been feeling the pull away from social media and towards something more meaningful, I’d love for you to follow along.