Since I’m on a number of platforms, I constantly feel like I’m always thinking about content. Where is it going and is it the right or wrong time to be posting this? It’s the kind of thing that occupies more of the space in my mind than is ideal. Lately in quarantine, I’ve been thinking about this idea more often and I’m hyper-sensitive about what I put out. This has always been my parents’ warning. “Everything you share on the internet lives 4ever.” I think about this too, but not as often as they do.

When I started Yow Yow! the ease of being able to write whatever I wanted to write was freeing. Here, I could be my most honest and exude the inner sassiness that I couldn’t necessarily out in public. As we observe what’s happening in the world, we now know that words don’t make us invincible. They come at a cost and have consequences even if we wrote them 10 years ago. I find myself deleting posts more quickly after I post them these days. I may linger on posts a little longer before I ultimately change my mind. Sure, I can go back and delete, but for me, I want to be able to catch these things before I make the mistake.

As the person behind this blog, we’re growing up. It’s not enough to just actively make sure we’re not offending, but to also be inclusive. The other day, I posted an Instagram of a pair of leggings I just ordered from Aritzia. It’s not the first time I’ve posted about a purchase, but my gut told me that I didn’t need to share my size with the entire world. One, it wasn’t anyone’s business and two, I didn’t want anyone to feel a certain way seeing this size. It didn’t add anything to the photograph and it potentially had a risk of harming someone else. Lucky for me, I was able to ask a friend to quickly edit this out for me before posting. While it was an extra step, I knew I wouldn’t feel right if I had posted it as it was. I understand that not everything I post is going to resonate with everyone, but I’d rather everyone feel welcome than not.