Why did you leave your popular Tumblr platform?
Q: Hi Elle!! I have followed you since your Tumblr days and was wondering why you got rid of the platform? I miss your posts a lot, but I’m so glad I found your website!
A: Hi there! =) This is a question I get a lot, so before I start catching up on other questions, I would like to give everyone a comprehensive answer. There are a few reasons why I left Tumblr.
1. I felt like I was spending too much time on it answering questions. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the couple of years I spent speaking into others and letting others speak into me—I value those times! However, it started to feel like more of a chore as questions and comments flooded in… I didn’t want to sacrifice my life for a platform. I could have just limited which questions I answered, but the other reasons below tipped the scales for me.
2. People were starting to worship me, and it freaked me out. For the most part, I had lovely followers who were just really excited about mermaid and starseed things, but over time, I started noticing more of a cult following where people would take everything I said as “god’s truth” and would practically bow down to me for it. I never want to be a guru or cult leader, even if there are times when I step into spiritual leadership. There are also times when I need to sit down and listen too- I don’t know everything. I don’t want to be the next Teal Swan or Ben Massaro. I just want to be a healthy hooman with the spiritual and physical in balance.
3. I started to develop a lot of stalkers who would come to Sedona looking for me… and would occasionally spot me and be very overwhelming about it. I did a post on Tumblr once that said I was against tattoos for myself (I was on the fence about it for a while), but then decided the risks were worth it and got a couple of them! That way when people would come up and recognize me, they would see the tattoos and think: “That can’t be Elle.” It sounds ridiculous, but it worked for a while! Ultimately, the whole experience just became stressful, some people were still finding me regardless of my change-up, and I wanted to take a break and rethink the platform I wanted to use.
4. Lastly, Tumblr started to kind of die out and we got those sexist terms and conditions that drove many people away. Since Tumblr was on its way out, it seemed like a good time for me to make my exit as well and take a lot more time for myself, which this introvert needs. =) A really cool friend saved hundreds of my Tumblr “asks” and answers and sent them to me some time ago. I read through them and they made me smile. =) Some perspectives have changed, some haven’t. It’s like a time capsule for when I first arrived in Sedona and was relaying all the cool experiences I had. It was good while it lasted, but when I left, I felt a lot of relief and had much more time to have even MORE rad experiences and time for myself.
Since I can post whatever I want on a website, it makes more sense for me to have that, rather than regularly investing in a fickle platform that is always subject to someone else’s rules. Some people have followed me over, and it is great to reunite, but I definitely appreciate the more calm and relaxed approach to sharing. I have also gone on a lot of podcasts and radio shows like I did back in 2016 and 2017. =) Because my website is newer with a smaller following than my old Tumblr, it feels manageable and peaceful, and I feel very happy with the current system. =) Thank you for the question! This gave me the opportunity to answer it for everyone once and for all.