Why I'm Joining Patreon

After blogging for more than a decade I'm trying something new this year and joining Patreon. If you're unfamiliar with Patreon, it's a site where you can pay a little bit enough month and become a patron or supporter of your favorite creators. It helps creators like me to continue to create authentic content without ads or compromise. There's different levels of support (which I'll go into detail in a moment) each with different perks, and honestly even the smallest entry level of support has the potential to change the way I create content. I love taking pictures and sharing my work, but in the last few years giving away wallpapers on IG stories and running weekly discussions and posting content around the clock has become unsustainable. It's also hard to stay authentic when you have the  pressures of a large following, all with different desires of what they'd like to see from you. It's also difficult to find that balance between authenticity and advertisements and Patreon has the potential to be a lovely solution--no advertisements, no worrying that someone is wearing or suggesting a brand because they've been gifted it. All of the content I'll be sharing with be ad free, based on what I love and what I feel passionate about sharing--and I want to allow my patrons input in future posts as well. In some tiers there will be options for feedback on future posts--have a hair tutorial you really want me to share (or maybe attempt as I'm not always the slickest at hairstyles!) you can vote for that to happen. The smaller community of Patreon also appeals to me; just thinking of a smaller, more intimate audience of friends has inspired me to write so many posts I've hesitated to share here and there's so much more of an opportunity for us to connect. I'll still be sharing posts here, but not as many as I normally do.
So why should you become a patron? Well, if you've ever felt that my blog has added some value to your day or my content inspires you, I'll hope you'll follow me over to Patreon and continue to support my work. As I said above as well, all of the content will be ad-free so you never have to worry about the authenticity of my responses on the quality of a piece. You'll also have more of a chance to connect with me personally and help me decide what sort of content to create. I've tried to make my tiers very affordable and filled with unique perks; as I'm new to Patreon I'm also open to adjusting perks in the future. If you have an idea for a perk you'd love, let me know and I'll see if it's possible to add it in future months. Like maybe it would be fun to create custom "words in the wild," you can submit your favorite word and I'll pair it with a picture of nature for a unique piece of art just for you.

• My first tier is called "Find Quiet" and is only $2 a month. With that tier you'll get access to exclusive posts, monthly wallpapers, and the chat community. I'm hoping to share seasonal wallpapers to help bring a bit of nature into your phone every month. With the chat community I'd love to have discussions about books and movies and maybe just random topics like who was your first childhood crush or how would your favorite author describe your life in a few lines? There's a lot of potential for new sorts of discussions that don't really flow as naturally on a blog!
• The second tier is "Create Calm" and is $6 a month. You get the same perks as the first tier, but additionally also access to an archive I'm building of wallpapers, words in the wild, etc. You'll also have access to polls for voting on future topics of discussion or shoots, so you can help me decide what sort of content to create. 
• The last tier is "In the Wild" and is $15 a month. If you become a "In the Wild" patron then you'll get the same perks as the previous two tiers, but also a personal, handwritten thank you postcard mailed to you from me, and patron recognition. I'll try to share those patrons every month on my Instagram stories as well. With this tier you'll also get a 10% discount code for use in my shop; right now my shop features my editing presets but soon I'm going to expand my shop to include prints as well!