Sunflower #6: Three Reasons to Unsubscribe from This (Or Any Other) Newsletter
The last reason will shock you!
“Sunflower” posts are to share inspiration about activism. They are to explore our ideals, passions, and motivations.
Like a young sunflower, it is helpful to orient ourselves towards the sun, letting it guide us during hard times of growth. So that when we are grown, we can face proudly east together, to greet the sunrise we know awaits us in the morning. See past Sunflower posts here. Put compassion into action using the Dandelion Report, or Spring Rain posts.
You can support me in making these Sunflower posts by filling out a short survey.
"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile." ― Mother Teresa
While I am new to writing and publishing a Newsletter, I am old to the internet. I am acutely aware that what may be considered successful to metrics, is not the same as being beneficial to users.
As a new writer, I have been inundated with many articles that claim that the title is the most important part of your article — which is why I have jokingly used a more clickbaity title for this post. Articles promoting the use of AI to generate ideas, and focus on improving SEO rather than content. Articles that are ultimately about how to best grab the most attention, convert it to most money, at the expense of everything else.
I have personally felt the addictive draw of metrics that comes with writing for the social internet. Views, clicks, subs are all nicely arranged on graphs and emailed to me daily by Substack. I am a part of a culture that sees infinite growth as the basic model for success — I also live in a world that is struggling to deal with the ramifications of constantly striving for infinite growth.
Luckily, I do not need, or want to, monetize this Newsletter. I am fortunate enough to see that my payment for my writing comes in you being able to better care for yourself, and in turn, you being able to better care for this world we share.
So while shares, views, comments, likes, re-stacks, are all helpful for the “growth” of this Newsletter:
Here are Three Reasons You Should Unsubscribe from This (or Any Other) Newsletter
1. This Newsletter is Harmful to Your Mental Health
I, personally, have had to be vigilant when it comes to social media to protect my mental health. Even though I write on Substack, and find the Substack app useful, I have removed it from my phone for mental health reasons. Furthermore, I also aggressively unsubscribe from emails and publications, even from people and organizations I am supportive of because I know my mental bandwidth is limited.
I write this Newsletter in part to help us better support our mental health while we engage politically, sharing practices that are supporting me in this work.
But, if you find this Newsletter is demotivating, filling you with despair, or you just need to prioritize mental health 100% for a period. Unsubscribe!
Please unsubscribe from other emails, platforms, “influencers”, and other sources of media that you find to be harmful to your mental health. You may find these mindful media consumption practices helpful.
2. This Newsletter is Redundant.
I hope by dividing up my posts into “Dandelion Reports”, “Spring Rain”, and “Sunflowers” helps people quickly identify what posts are helpful to them, and skip the ones that are not.
But, I am sure some of you already follow sources that provide you with direct-action ideas, time-sensitive and unique opportunities, and inspirational/motivational resources.
If my newsletter is overly redundant, and you always skip over it in your feed, save yourself some time and Unsubscribe!
Please, as you go through your other emails, subscriptions, and platforms and remove ones that you never open, or are a waste of time when you do. Your time and attention is precious, and limited.
Every time I open my email, I have the goal to unsubscribe from at least one thing. I call it “pruning my media tree,” without this practice my inbox would be nearly unusable. When I have multiple sources that cover the same topic, I try to only utilize the one that covers it at the depth (or with the context) I am looking for at that time.
3. This Newsletter is Unhelpful.
Unless you are my parents, who unfortunately I require as test subjects to make sure everything works properly, I only want you to read this Newsletter if you find it helpful.
Not tolerable, not amusing, but useful practically in your daily life.
I don’t expect every post to be helpful for every person. But, I do worry that some of you might be overwhelmed by having another thing to read.
If this Newsletter does not help you to be engaged, or to better support yourself in this difficult time, at least some of the time, please Unsubscribe!
Please, also take some time to thoughtfully look at all of your media consumption and ask yourself if it is serving the purpose you need right now. Are you spending hours on things that ultimately leave you less able to help yourself and the people in need around you?
I know many of you who are subscribed personally, but do not worry about how I will feel about you unsubscribing, I understand.
I will (try) not be sad to see a couple of people unsubscribe, as I really do think that these are important considerations we all need to have of our media consumption right now. And, I believe this Newsletter is only worthwhile if it helps people to take practical steps in their lives. Even if that step is helping you to realize that you do not need this Newsletter.
Thank you for taking the steps you need to better be able to care for yourself and others.
And for those of you who will continue to on this journey with me:
Like! Comment! Re-stack! Subscribe! Share with your 42 closest friends! Post on social media! Don’t miss out on this life-changing advice! Being subscribed is the only way the world will be safe! The more I can make you scared, and then make you think I have the solution to your fear, the more I can monetize your attention!
All jokes aside, I am honored if you find my Newsletter helpful, and I am doubly honored when you share it with others you think will find it helpful.
I am grateful you are here,
Chris
Unrelated to this post, but I love how you describe the pics your mom takes as “taken by my talented mother”. It warms my heart every time I read that
You've got the art of clickbait!
I may not read every article, but I'm glad to have you in my inbox.