About five years ago, 15-year-old me was sitting on Twitter (as per usual), when I came across a video titled “2016,” uploaded by Indy Blue. It was a montage of 19-year-old Indy’s year, which consisted of a lot of beautiful locations, adventures, and moments that made even Olympian Simone Biles reply that she wished she had Indy’s life. I was in awe. I didn’t just want to live a life as spectacular as Indy’s, I wanted to create something as amazing as her video. I wanted to capture a story like that.
India Blue Severe is a popular influencer best known for her videography and blogging. While her videos were what initially captivated me, Indy’s blog is where I really grew to be inspired by her. It turned out that she wasn’t just like every other unrealistic travel vlogger on YouTube—she was relatable. She would write about everything from her travels (which she was able to attain from renting cheap hotels with friends), her decision to not go to college, her relationships and even her depression. I loved that the tone of her writing felt like I was talking to my best friend. I wanted to create a voice in my writing that felt as personable as hers.
Four days ago, 20-year-old me sat here scrolling again when I had a similar epiphany. Indy Blue, who I still follow quite religiously, had returned to her online blog and started writing again. It felt like fate, as I had been itching to get back to writing since the pandemic, and now the one person I idolized since I was a teenager (aside from Harry Styles, of course) was returning to blogging at the same time. I felt the same little spark of inspiration and passion that I did as a teenager oh so long ago.
Indy, now 24, has a following of over 300 thousand people on Instagram. She is now not just a videographer and blogger but an owner of her clothing brand “Lonely Ghost.” Her clothing goes hand in hand with her laidback, relatable tone. Her sweatshirts have cute sayings on them that pertain to pretty much everyone, like “Text Me When You Get Home” and “I Love you Say it Back.” I haven’t mustered up the financial will to buy one yet, but I will let you know the second I do!
There’s something special about following a writer for a while. Suddenly, I’m watching Indy Blue get engaged to the guy she wrote a breakup blog post about in 2018 (I was always rooting for them!). She’s even a mom now. Yet her videos and blog posts still inhibit the same magic and drive that they did when Indy was dancing through Santorini with her best friends like the set of Mamma Mia. To this day, I still go back to her posts to remind myself why I want to do everything I can to write and capture the stories of others in my career.
My favorite post of Indy’s is a video titled “It drives you crazy getting old.” It’s a set of random clips of her and her friends, but its vibe is so different from the rest. As the music plays, we see the group running in a field, then dancing on the city streets, then crying at 3 am in the shower. She explains in the lengthy caption that this video didn’t have a direction or purpose other than she wanted to capture raw moments. She had spent so long focusing on the thrill of becoming “famous” that it had been a while since she’d just picked up the camera and captured real emotion. That is the reason I recommend following Indy Blue. Her page leaves me inspired by her talent yet humbled by her openness about the difficult parts of life, and how those are just as important to talk about and capture.
xo
Sophie