After eighteen years of running my art, antiques and jewellery business, I’ve decided to do something that feels both exciting and slightly unnerving. From 1 January, I’ll be stepping away from all social media for six months. No posting, no scrolling, no disappearing down rabbit holes. Instead, I’m treating this as a social experiment — a chance to see what happens when I remove myself from the constant digital hum and return to a slower, more intentional way of working and living.

I want to be clear from the start: this isn’t a rejection of social media. I’m deeply grateful for it.

I’ve made genuine friends through these platforms — people I now meet for lunch, collaborate with, laugh with, and lean on. Growing up surrounded by different languages and cultures, and attending an international school, I’ve always been drawn to connection beyond borders. Social media has been a wonderful extension of that — a way of “meeting” people from different countries, backgrounds and creative worlds. It has widened my perspective and enriched my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I first started my business.

But something has shifted.

Lately, I’ve noticed how easily I slip into rabbit holes — spending hours watching what other creators are doing, absorbing endless opinions, following the latest dog tricks, or reading comments where people are unkind to one another. None of this is intentional, and yet it happens so quickly. I’d put my phone down feeling oddly flat, my energy lowered, my creativity dulled.

Without realising it at first, it began to affect my belief in myself and my work. Comparison crept in. Self-doubt followed. The quiet confidence I rely on to curate, create and take risks started to waver.

That’s when I knew a short break wouldn’t be enough.

I’ve stepped away before — six weeks here, a short pause there — and each time I felt better for it. Clearer. Lighter. More connected to my own ideas. But this time feels different. This time, I need space not just to rest, but to truly reset. So I’m committing to a longer pause.

Three words are guiding me into this next chapter: Intentional, Creative, Presence.

I want to work more intentionally, choosing how and where I place my attention instead of letting it be pulled in a hundred directions. I want to protect my creativity — the kind that needs quiet, space and trust to flourish. And I want more presence: with my clients, my friends, my collaborators, and the objects and stories that sit at the heart of my work.

During these six months, I’ll be returning to the foundations that built my business long before social media existed: fairs, collaborations, PR, my mailing list, and word of mouth. I’ll also be opening my home for intimate lunch, shopping experiences and workshops — small gatherings where people can come together, talk, browse, and connect in real life.

I’ll be keeping a diary throughout, noting what changes, what I miss, what surprises me, and how both my business and my sense of self evolve without the constant background noise.

I don’t know what the outcome will be. But I do know this: stepping away feels less like giving something up, and more like making space for something to return.

And that feels worth exploring.

Ill be sharing snippets of my diary with you every month...am really happy about my decision!