On Rediscovering Substack (and Letting Thoughts Be Messy)

Lately, I’ve been discovering and exploring Substack, and it’s been quietly exciting in a way I didn’t expect. It reminds me of the early Tumblr days resharing, reposting, reading strangers’ thoughts, and putting your own out there without too much pressure or polish. Just ideas, feelings, observations, in their raw form.

I’ve been on Instagram for ages now. It’s still my favourite platform I’ve grown with it, learned through it, built a career around it. And yet, even being in marketing, doing the same thing consistently for myself often feels… like a lot. There’s always something to plan, design, caption, optimise. This year, though, I want to change that. I want to show up more consistently and put my thoughts, perspectives, and mindset out there more openly without overthinking them into silence.

When I started this blog, I thought it would be that space. But over time, I realised I’m a bit conflicted. This is my professional website, and while I want it to reflect who I am, I can’t (or maybe shouldn’t) talk about everything here. Everything starts to feel like it needs to be a “proper” blog post structured, intentional, meaningful. And honestly, that can feel heavy.

Substack feels different. It doesn’t demand explanations or conclusions. It can just be a ramble. A half-formed thought. A feeling captured before it disappears. From everything I know about being on social platforms, the only thing that really matters is consistency and that’s something I’m still learning. Showing up regularly. Writing without waiting for perfection. Letting things be unfinished.

So I’ve started posting on Substack with the hope of being more frequent, more relaxed, and more honest. At the same time, I’m still trying to figure out how I want to divide my content across different platforms what belongs where, and why. Maybe Instagram is for visuals and moments, maybe this space is for considered reflections, and maybe Substack is where thoughts can just exist without a plan.

If any of this resonates and you’d like to read along, I’m writing over on Substack you can find me here:

https://substack.com/@barnitahaldar

I’d also genuinely love to hear your thoughts. How do you decide what you share, and where? Do different platforms hold different parts of you, or do you let everything blur together?

For now, I’m just experimenting and letting myself enjoy it.