Sheils Writes

You know who didn’t have Instagram? TikTok? Threads?

Leonardo da Vinci didn’t have any of them. Can you picture him posting the Mona Lisa to his Instagram and quitting art because he got only 14 ‘likes’ and 1 comment, that said ‘hey bud, follow for a follow’ – he might’ve quit altogether.

Any idea how long it took Bram Stoker to write his famous novel, Dracula?  It took him 7 years. He was 50 years old at the time of publication. What if he quit because he was working too many hours as a personal assistant to actor, Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End’s Lyceum theatre which Irving owned?  Long days and nights right there. He must’ve wanted to just crawl into bed at the end of his workday with a bottle of pinot noir and drown his sorrows. But guess what Bram didn’t do? He didn’t quit. He wrote Dracula instead, after work and on weekends is my guess.

16 years! It took Michelangelo 16 years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Imagine if he snapped a pic on his mobile phone midway through and no one hit loves this and put 3 heart emojis in the comments. He might’ve given up on that project.  Heck with painting a ceiling. Maybe I’ll just binge watch Netflix for the next 8 years and let that go unfinished for eternity.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 years old when she published her first book, Little House on the Prairie. She published her last book at 76. Quite sure a grande mocha espresso from Starbucks and a doom scroll through Facebook didn’t get in her way.  She managed to push through all on her own when she didn’t think anyone would be interested in her life on a prairie.  Glad she didn’t quit.

The list goes on and on. The point is this, screw the algorithm on social media. Let’s normalize not being defined by how many followers we have.  How many likes we get.  Yes, I like social media because it’s a way I can get my writing out, by myself, to a few people who like to read what I write.  With hope that someday, it will find its way to a bigger platform.  But you know what? I’m in no hurry. I’m not in a race for likes, follows, and shares.  I’m here to do something I enjoy. Write. Create. Dream.

Maybe it’s time for a notebook, a pen, and a candle, well, or maybe not that extreme, but it’s definitely time to remind myself that there’s no such thing as an overnight sensation.  It’s ok to take my time and just keep doing what I enjoy.  Thanks to all those before me for paving the way that it’s not about how many likes one gets, but it’s about the joy in doing what gives you purpose.