I am grateful for thoughtful, progressive, sometimes edgy writing on various platforms. I am not interested in folks who call themselves 'influencers' in order to try to feel important. Neither am I interested in the 7 second or 3 minute empty ramblings of folks who have to post every day in order to keep their fickle audience. I'm glad you are one of the writers who catches my heart with your gut - wrenching reality.
I'm glad you wrote this. I'm always happy to have your emails pop up in my mailbox, because I have been reading your words for almost a decade now, back on the old blog. Keep writing. Lots of us appreciate a well-crafted essay.
If it weren’t for the social media machine that feeds on our attention, I would never have been reading that last line in my inbox. Social media can be many things. A toxic fog, a void to disappear into through endless scrolling, a competition for our eyeballs and time.. but it can also be a portal to more. And at least some people are learning how to use it this way, perhaps not always, but at least sometimes. It doesn’t solve the issues for creators in competition with the endless nothingness, but it’s still real. The good blogs and books and music I’ve discovered through the portal have also added incredible meaning to my life.. it’s a strange place the internet. Amazing and awful. It makes us, and we make it..
Well how about this for arriving late to the party? In my defence, I just ran across your substack about a half hour ago. This article is exactly the kind of writing I’ve been hoping to find on substack, so I can’t resist commenting on your piece.
“...300 words…” caught my attention as that’s the rough average of how long my posts tend to be. They started out a lot longer than that, but it became clear to me they needed to be shorter in order to say what I was trying to say. The words and thoughts were actually getting in the way of each other.
As a society, I think we’ve forgotten that everything doesn’t have to happen in one instantaneous burst. I know that's not the point you were trying to make, but reading your article has led me down this trail.
Even the simplest thoughts have more dimensions and implications than we can imagine. The best conversations go on for days, weeks, months, even years, returning again and again to find new things in seemingly well trodden ground. Like music, it’s the space between our statements that gives those statements context and nuance.
Have you been posting scores of articles on this substack, or are you in the midst of posting one conversation, with lots of room for reflection and for finding random, but meaningful connections in between? Either way, I’m looking forward to reading more.
I read this out loud. All your writing is great out loud. And I’m glad I met you in person a few years ago/ this post makes me long for in person discussions again and longer YouTube formats - or to walk in the woods and remember I know how to live well without checking in.
I do hope you’ll keep writing more than 1 sentence at a time
I’m so grateful for your wondering and writing.
I am grateful for thoughtful, progressive, sometimes edgy writing on various platforms. I am not interested in folks who call themselves 'influencers' in order to try to feel important. Neither am I interested in the 7 second or 3 minute empty ramblings of folks who have to post every day in order to keep their fickle audience. I'm glad you are one of the writers who catches my heart with your gut - wrenching reality.
I'm glad you wrote this. I'm always happy to have your emails pop up in my mailbox, because I have been reading your words for almost a decade now, back on the old blog. Keep writing. Lots of us appreciate a well-crafted essay.
i'm glad you shared this instead of deleting it. really resonates
Couldn't agree more. Write on!
Yes.. And..
If it weren’t for the social media machine that feeds on our attention, I would never have been reading that last line in my inbox. Social media can be many things. A toxic fog, a void to disappear into through endless scrolling, a competition for our eyeballs and time.. but it can also be a portal to more. And at least some people are learning how to use it this way, perhaps not always, but at least sometimes. It doesn’t solve the issues for creators in competition with the endless nothingness, but it’s still real. The good blogs and books and music I’ve discovered through the portal have also added incredible meaning to my life.. it’s a strange place the internet. Amazing and awful. It makes us, and we make it..
Well how about this for arriving late to the party? In my defence, I just ran across your substack about a half hour ago. This article is exactly the kind of writing I’ve been hoping to find on substack, so I can’t resist commenting on your piece.
“...300 words…” caught my attention as that’s the rough average of how long my posts tend to be. They started out a lot longer than that, but it became clear to me they needed to be shorter in order to say what I was trying to say. The words and thoughts were actually getting in the way of each other.
As a society, I think we’ve forgotten that everything doesn’t have to happen in one instantaneous burst. I know that's not the point you were trying to make, but reading your article has led me down this trail.
Even the simplest thoughts have more dimensions and implications than we can imagine. The best conversations go on for days, weeks, months, even years, returning again and again to find new things in seemingly well trodden ground. Like music, it’s the space between our statements that gives those statements context and nuance.
Have you been posting scores of articles on this substack, or are you in the midst of posting one conversation, with lots of room for reflection and for finding random, but meaningful connections in between? Either way, I’m looking forward to reading more.
I read this out loud. All your writing is great out loud. And I’m glad I met you in person a few years ago/ this post makes me long for in person discussions again and longer YouTube formats - or to walk in the woods and remember I know how to live well without checking in.
This.
Yes to all of that. I haven’t come up with the answers either, but it helps to know that others are grappling with the same thing.