daughter of thunder

December Cocooning

katja cerne

16 Dec 2024 — 3 min read

Friends,

With the holidays approaching, I have decided to take a little break for the rest of December. It’s time for me to retreat into my cocoon, dream of things I want to do in 2025, and bake a ton of cookies for everyone I know.

I have been planning a “looking back at the year” post but… To be honest, I don’t think I have it in me. Maybe in January haha.

But I can say one thing that has been radically beneficial for me this year was spending less time on Instagram. Practically zero. I don’t have the app on my phone so I only occasionally check it out on my computer.

Not to toot the same yes-do-leave-instagram-if-you’ve-been-thinking-about-it horn as many others, but my life has significantly improved just because of this one small change. Those others have a point.

On the other hand, I have been playing around with Substack Notes, which is Substack’s internal social feed. I know what you’re be thinking. We’re just substituting one social media for another.

Perhaps. But it’s good to remember - as I wrote in one of my notes you can see below - you really do have more power over creating your online experience than you think.

For me, the main difference is in how I approach them. On Substack Notes, I have managed to tap into the spontaneous I-don’t-give-a-fuck-ery that I always wanted to have on Instagram but for some reason wasn’t able to connect to. I don’t know. Maybe Substack was just a lovely and much-needed fresh start for me. Besides that, I still see Substack as primarily long-form (and, for me, podcast) focused space.

My own Substack publication is THE main thing.

Notes is just a playground where I can meet fellow writers and readers.

With that being said, it has been pretty fun to play around with posting on Notes. And because I know that many of you are actually not on Substack (as in, actively spending time on the platform itself), I have decided to share a few of my favourite ones with you. Find them below.

What a lovely wrap-up of my Substack year ❄️

Thank you for being here with me. I wish you the most wonderful rest of December and I will see you in January!

Stay creative ✨

Katja

And now, as promised, some notes

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plotting exercise: replace "and then" with "because"

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And now, as promised, some notes

Read more

time loop: the groundhog day formula

when nonlinear structure has issues: shimmer lake case study

plotting exercise: replace "and then" with "because"

plot vs character: the midnight club case study