I'm So Glad I Found You Bear
Last year, I started a Substack. I wanted it to be a space where I could share my caregiving stories and solutions but it became a high-pressured wasteland of inconsistent stories of that particular day's caregiving. It became a venting trash bin and let's face it, that doesn't draw in readers or people like me who are looking for similar caregiving disasters stories to figure out creative ways to go about it.
I thought it would be a positive space for me but it wasn't. As someone who hates the algorithm, social media, and figuring out the right keywords — it became a platform I detested. Too saturated, high maintenance, and it made me feel performative.
I found you on a whim Bear, and I'm so grateful.
I was transported back to the early days of the internet... just before AOL profiles transitioned into AIM away messages (mine was usually: "BrB \m/") and when learning html was the only way to customize your Xanga or Blogspot (and also in my case, Asian Avenue... if any fellow Azns remember that).
Oh, how I've missed those simpler times when having your business on the internet was more of self-expression and not to influence, sell, or drag you into an endless scrolling rabbit hole.
After tinkering away at my blog for the past week and honing in on the idea that I'm absolutely not going to make this a venting space but rather flip it and make my bear blog a healing space for myself — my days have been a bit brighter. A tiny pocket of the internet that I can claim for myself and no one but other bears can find it.
I love learning markdown and seeing how I can break my page without meaning to. I love copying and pasting in codes that I have no idea will work or not!
I love visiting the Trending and Most Recent posts!
I love seeing other bear sites and getting new ideas on what to share on mine. I love seeing other people who like making lists! I love seeing how people alter the themes! I love seeing the pictures of peoples' day! I love reading thoughts and reviews and opinions!
I love that I don't care what anyone thinks about my posts and that I'm not moved to have a way to contact me or comment on what I'm sharing!
I can literally feel new neural pathways forming in my brain and I have Herman + Bear Blog to thank for it.