Decisions that last
On making choices that outlive the next cycle of app updates
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Hello, readers! It is I, returning from a long unanticipated hiatus.
Retracing my steps, I think it all started after reading a series of Substack posts, themselves served up to me by the mysterious algorithm, that emphasized the futility of participating in algorithmically mediated social media. Long ago disillusioned by Instagram and Twitter and TikTok and all those other obviously bad apps, I fell into the trap of believing Substack was “not like other platforms.” Then somewhere between the introduction of the “for you” feed and reading all those “why I’m leaving Substack” posts, the scales fell from my eyes. I went silent. I touched grass.
Still, this is not a post about leaving Substack. Frankly, I’ve done the “leaving this app” song and dance enough times to realize that skipping town for some other pick-me platform is not the way. I also realize publishing my writing in a populated space where it can, you know, actually reach people matters enough to me to stop me from leaving (at least for now). This is a post about the bigger picture. About priorities.
So, where was I when you didn’t see my footprints in the sand? Emphatically not making any where you could see them. I did a lot of journaling and reading, took some long walks, contracted a stomach bug that knocked all the energy out of my body for a week, redesigned my website, accepted a job offer, underwent a minor but necessary surgical procedure, and created an exercise plan that I occasionally followed. Through it all, the phrase “decisions that last” haunted me like a friendly ghost.
I’m still working out exactly what it means to me, but that won’t stop me from gesturing loosely toward a definition.
Updating my website is a good place to start, because I did it in direct reaction to my disillusionment with Substack. It came as a package deal with downloading my subscriber list and copying all my posts and drafts to Word documents (so if I do ever want to leave, my bag is packed) and as the flowering of a thought: I’ve devoted so much time to managing my presence on platforms that change with the weather and so little to managing it in spaces that more easily yield to my management. What if this dynamic were flipped? What if I made updating my website my primary concern and updating social media second — and didn’t stop there? What if, in general, I devoted more energy to processes over which I have more creative control and less to those whose governance is out of my hands?
I suspect the result would be more “decisions that last,” by which I mean something like “choices that bear fruit over long stretches of time,” not just for minutes or days or until the next cycle of app updates.
One practical result of this mindset is dropping my self-imposed requirement to publish on this platform every two weeks. I’ve decided I’d rather take as much time to write a piece as that piece warrants, and I’d rather write nothing at all if I have nothing to say. That’s not just about doing less. It’s about leaving room for actions that matter more: making new art, improving the quality of Print Club mailings, writing essays whose relevance outlasts the latest trending topic. This decision is not designed to maximize engagement and will probably yield less of it than posting frequently does, but it will create the conditions for a more sustainable creative practice. This is a hobby, after all: If it’s more draining than energizing, what’s the point?
At risk of mangling a metaphor built on a topic I know little about, too many areas of my life resemble mono-crop agriculture: repetitive, resource-intensive, ultimately self-depleting. It’s time to do some crop-rotation, so to speak, to encourage new growth. 2026 will be my year of decisions that last.
Thank you for reading Art Life Balance.
If you have thoughts about this post, I’d love to know. Sound off in the comments!
This all sounds *extremely* sound. And your website looks great!
I'm really intrigued by the phrase "decisions that last". I often think - change is constant in life, so I take comfort in floating along without a set direction, so it's easier to pivot when change comes. But that doesn't work for all facets of life, and in fact that mindset makes it quite difficult for me to make decisions that will have long-term life impacts. I will be so interested to hear what kinds of crops you cultivate in 2026, and how you thought through which to choose and how to cultivate them!