I love when inspiration strikes while partaking in the most menial of activities. In this case, it was scrolling through Insta. As I was looking through the photos I have saved to my account, I had a Jimmy Neutron “brain blast” moment, when I figured out what I wanted today’s post to be about.

In order for my career to continue to grow, I kinda, sorta, absolutely need social media. And I’m going to stay on social media to keep up with friends, family, pop icons (and meme culture). But the social media burnout is very real, as evidenced in a past post. I find that if I’m going to continue to have an existence on social media (such a technological dystopian thought), I need to follow accounts that, as Marie Kondo would say, spark joy.

In this post, I’ve gathered Instagram accounts I find pure enjoyment in following. When I need that social media fix but can’t find the willpower to take a break, I choose to rest my eyes upon something beautiful and meaningful, which I believe this collection of accounts to be. This piece is actually partially inspired by a post titled “How to have a positive experience on Instagram” by Sigh Swoon (who has been featured several times on the blog). There’s a strong chance that you – YES YOU, HEY – reading this are on social media in some capacity, and if so, you too deserve to have a positive experience.

These accounts span across a variety of niches – some are artists, others are a compilation of works by creatives, and some are a collection of beautiful words. (I also did my very best to credit everyone correctly, I’m hoping I succeeded.)

Please also hit me with your own favorite follows via a comment or slide into my DMs.

Happy scrolling ❤

Gabi Abrão aka Sigh Swoon

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The above is from one of my past list reflections, encompassing an unsettling sensation felt in the space that exists between a creator and the consumers of said creation. When a human creates something outside of themself, it transfers into an open space, vulnerable to multiple perceptions, emotions, and attachments. A song, a poem, a lead role in a film. This energy is then consumed by onlookers with their own story. A connection is made, and it is often thought that the connection is with – the singer of the song, the actor in the movie, the writer of the poem. Have you ever deeply resonated with a song, only to watch an interview and realize your interpretation was entirely your own? It is like this. Because the connection you feel is with yourself. Your own story, your own beliefs, spurred from attaching to the energy that looms between audience and creator. It is in your best interest to take that force, ball it up, and use it to enhance your own life, friendships, and creativity. With that being said – Stop holding the people you follow online to the same standard you would hold your friends and family. You only see 10% if not less of what goes on in the lives of the people you observe on a screen. You have absolutely no grasp on who they are or what they owe you, other than kindness and gratitude for your engagement & understanding. Take my outfits, connect to my writing, steal my quotes, laugh at my memes with your friends, use my heartbreak guide to feel better… for YOURSELF. I say it all the time and I’ll say it again. I’m not your woke bae or eternal sun. I do stuff and learn lessons and live like every other 25 year old girl, I just meme and write about it publicly. Sometimes my realizations are super strong and things click BIG. Sometimes I get too wine drunk and FaceTime my ex boyfriend. Lol. And I have never claimed otherwise. I have no responsibility over whatever you have projected onto me or expect of me. I am not holding space for the illusion you’ve created or narrative you desire that exists in your perception alone. Thank you to those who engage healthily with this page, who observe and giggle and only take what they need.

A post shared by Gabi Abrão (@sighswoon) on Oct 8, 2019 at 7:20pm PDT

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Self-awareness guides my life because without it, my indulgent, passionate nature could not be fully realized. With self-awareness you eat the whole peach without accidentally swallowing the pit. With self-awareness you can swim at high tide and leave the waters energized and strong, alive and uncompromised. With self-awareness you can indulge in the whole moment, the whole emotion, while simultaneously watching it unravel at your feet. Like a dog offering its belly, or a tulip cracking open. Maybe you’ll write a poem about it all, days later, an ode to your role as both the performer and the observer. Raw self-expression can be impulsive behavior, and impulsive behavior can be raw self-expression. But if you practice self-awareness, you can soak in all the pleasures and thrills of decadent impulsive indulgence without the regretful parts. You don’t need to tip the scale to experience divine sensation once you practice a rhythm of attention and balance. Self-awareness should not feel like a coping mechanism or glorified form of dissociation from the human experience. It should not be a means to kill your feelings or escape from the weight of your desires. Self-awareness is the ability to hold space for all the chaos and channel it so masterfully that only the most potent truths of the experience touch you. Self-awareness wants you to experience the innate satisfaction of self-expression and the glory of your deep, intimate heart without sacrifice. And you will.

A post shared by Gabi Abrão (@sighswoon) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:39am PDT

Cat Morrison aka __s____o

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@yomagick

A post shared by Cat Morrison (@__s____o) on Sep 8, 2019 at 11:06am PDT

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Drowning in content

A post shared by Cat Morrison (@__s____o) on Oct 19, 2019 at 6:15am PDT

ode an die freude

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If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. Lao Tzu . Where are you living?

A post shared by Contemporary Womxn On Earth🌍 (@odeandiefreude) on Oct 30, 2019 at 3:30pm PDT

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Chapter titles of Pictures and Tears: A History of People Who Have Cried in Front of Paintings by James Elkins

A post shared by Contemporary Womxn On Earth🌍 (@odeandiefreude) on Oct 15, 2019 at 10:33pm PDT

subliming.jpg by Tessa Forrest

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Big fat Sunday Scaries mood reminder

A post shared by @ subliming.jpg on Jul 21, 2019 at 8:14pm PDT

m_d_n_f_

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The shape I’m in.

A post shared by Personal Message (@m_d_n_f_) on Oct 3, 2019 at 9:41pm PDT

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A post shared by Personal Message (@m_d_n_f_) on Oct 16, 2019 at 6:21am PDT

Lisa Olivera

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Read the fluffy book. Move for the love of it. Listen to the funny podcast. Follow the IG artist instead of the therapist. Do the “unproductive” thing. Rest without guilt. Tell a joke instead of an affirmation. Watch the ridiculous TV show. Indulge in dessert. Laugh. Go for a walk just to go for a walk. Spending every moment of your life trying to heal often keeps us from experiencing the presence we actually need to heal. Spending all our energy on trying to get “better” often keeps us from experiencing the here-and-now. Spending all our free time working on “self improvement” often keeps us from remembering we’re already whole and good. Spending all our intake on personal development often keeps us from making room for listening to ourselves. Spending all of our extracurricular time feeling guilty for not doing something “more healing” often keeps us from allowing ourselves to JUST BE. Not everything has to be in direct support of your healing. Make room to just be. Hint: the things we don’t consider “healing” usually add to our healing anyway. ✌🏻

A post shared by Lisa Olivera (@lisaoliveratherapy) on Sep 5, 2019 at 10:37am PDT

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You can honor that up until now, your story has been your story. You can honor who you are in this very moment, even if it isn’t who you wish you were. You can honor who you’ve been and how that version of you has led you to the present. You can honor that your best right now might look different than your best in other seasons. You can honor your messiness and uncertainty and fear. You can honor yourself exactly as you are. And… at the very same time, in the very same breath You can honor what you hope to expand or move within you. You can honor what you hope to let go of. You can honor the ways you want to grow, shift, and change. You can honor what parts of you you’d like to leave behind. You can honor what parts of you you’d like to tend to. You can honor the person you are becoming. When we grant permission to tend to and nourish ourselves now, even in the middle of the mess and confusion and challenge, we make more room for something else to arrive. Even if we aren’t quite sure what that ‘something else’ is yet. Forward movement and bigger dreams and hope for ourselves don’t negate the now; instead, they remind us that now isn’t all there is. I believe one of the most tender acts of support we can offer ourselves is a reclaiming of being enough in this moment, even if it isn’t where we want to be. When we do that, we make more room to move, shift, pivot, and grow not out of shame, but out of integrity and connection to ourselves. It’s hard. It takes work. It takes practice and commitment and discipline and self-forgiveness and compassion and presence. But if we have to put our energy anywhere, putting it in cultivating those parts of us seems like the best option, even when it's hard. We're enough in those moments, too. Cheers to the you that is here now *and* to the you that is on it’s way. Both are enough. Both matter. Both are a part of your ever-changing story. And both deserve to be honored, just as they are. ✨

A post shared by Lisa Olivera (@lisaoliveratherapy) on Aug 1, 2019 at 9:27am PDT