Somewhere along the way, I lost myself. Or, perhaps, I never really had the chance to figure out who I was in the first place -not before the voices swirling around both online and in-person seeped into my mind. Regardless, looking back on all the content I have created thus far, I didn’t see myself in them.

My word for 2026 has been “authenticity,” and I’ve been striving to figure out who my authentic self truly is -away from all the noise. And what I was seeing of myself all over the internet was not it. In fact, the very nature of being all over the internet does not fit who I am. Nine months into this focus on authenticity, I finally reached the point of going scorched-earth on the person who I forced myself to become online.

Even though I had put a ton of work into my YouTube channel, it is now entirely deleted. My Instagram and Substack, the only surviving social media platforms I used, are now gone. And here on my website, I have completely removed everything to start anew.

Other than pieces I will post here, I intend to be as offline as possible. It has robbed me of time I could have better spent with my loved ones and on my writing. And I had engaged with it for no other reason than because I believed I had to to accomplish my dreams.

But I had a good hard look around me in recent months and realized I am already living so many of my dreams. Not only am I in a happy marriage with a house and a wonderful little girl, but I am also making a living teaching young people how to read, write, and become thoughtful citizens of the world. In my free time, I get to write the stories burning in my mind and engage in fun, enriching activities with people I care about.

There is literally nothing social media and a life online can give me that I don’t already have in spades. And instead, it was taking from me. Not just my time but my brain space and my contentment.

I no longer care to even hear the arguments for the benefits of social media. It may serve some people for some things, but those arguments to me and my life are merely propaganda at this point. It isn’t true for me. And I’m never going back.

Instead, I’m moving forward, carving out my life within the real world with only the barest of necessities met through the internet. Yes, I still want to become a successfully published author and make my mark within the writing industry. If I have to tread a new path to do this in the era of social media, AI, and online writer platforms, so be it. This is my life, and I will no longer allow others to dictate how I live it.

And I hope whoever reads this is compelled to do the same. You don’t have to follow someone else’s path; you don’t have to do anything that feels wrong deep in your gut or soul. Figure out who you are and just keep making the next right choice for that person.

To end, I shall quote the great Robert Frost with the last stanza of his poem “The Road Not Taken”:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.