THE DEATH OF THE CAPTION.

And the Birth of a Sacred Space

There was no sense at all.

Somewhere between the lines of my usual Instagram captions, I found myself trying—relentlessly—to say something meaningful. Something that would echo in the reader’s mind and, in its own delusional way, make a difference.

But it felt as though anything I could write in this oh-so-pretentious space would instantly lose its meaning. The sacralization of the perfect Instagram caption had rendered any content worth sharing... worthless. In a digital age where our social currency is virality, it's become nearly impossible to ask readers—viewers, or rather, followers—to pause and focus on a thought that wasn’t born from their own feed.

Captions have become performative. The potential for a good like/comment ratio now outweighs the message itself. Everything is so codified that an outsider—unfamiliar with the unwritten rules of social media—would struggle to grasp the layers of meaning we try to convey. A song choice becomes a secret message. The right emojis replace full sentences. A poll sticker stands in for conversation. It’s our generation’s secret language. And beneath it all, a single intention: the rentability of our thoughts.

But what if we stripped those codes down? What if we went back to basics? Do we still remember how to write, think, speak, and argue—without the aesthetics?

So I asked myself: How can I make my thoughts count in a place where no one reads anymore?How can I have a voice on a platform where everything is so rushed?

I knew I needed something else. Something new. A safe space—for myself, and for others. A space like social media used to be.

And the answer didn’t come in the form of a campaign, or a strategy, but as a quiet refusal.

LACED IN PETROLEUM was born from that refusal—a need for authenticity, stripped bare.

A space outside the syntax of selling.Outside the economy of attention. A place where I could pour—not package—my thoughts. Where beauty didn’t need to be explained.Where thoughts weren’t performed, but shared. Naked.

As someone who’s been online for the past fifteen years, I remember when social media truly was that space. Before it became the showroom of our personas. Before numbers defined intimacy.

And until it becomes that space again—this is where I’ll speak.This is where I’ll be.