long time no see,
no, you aren’t dreaming. this is the second email i’ve sent out in the past couple days… wild, i know! i’m as shocked as you are. but i was serious about the whole “building a community” thing, as you can probably tell by the simple fact that you’re reading these words right now. genuinely i wasn’t sure how often i wanted to write you, but i suppose i’ll do it whenever.

i won’t ask how you are, since i got some enthusiastic emails from a bunch of you asking how *i* was instead. (thanks, by the way… been a very odd transition back into “at home” life and i’m grateful a few of you went out of your way to ask.) i also got a bunch in response to what i had posed at the end of the last email i sent — building a little email community here — and it seems you’re on board.

so, we’re doing it! consider this issue #2 (i’m not going to be keeping track after this, though. that’s your job!)

social media is a dark place. influencers fight with one another, horrible things overflow the trending tab, people leave hateful and hurtful comments (or do the same with @mentions) on each other’s pages… it’s not right. i haven’t wanted part of it for years. i’ve wanted out. but social media is a main form of communication for so many people. and i get why, but i can’t do that. call me old school, but email is my thing. occasional viewing is my thing. checking an app every hour and seeing all the horrible, unavoidable news on my timeline: that’s not.

i’m going to be restricting my comments/replies/whatever they’re called these days on social media going forward. there are several things that will change, but most things will stay the same. i’ll still be replying to friends, i’ll be allowing others to post for me more often than i used to, even though i’ll still be on often, etc., etc. there’s a whole list, but you’ll see what i mean when the change gets applied.

i’m going to give this new format a chance… not spending so much time on social media makes me feel like i’m able to focus, breathe, do my own thing. like i can mentally get my head together. it’s freedom unlike any kind i’ve felt before. i certainly hope you’ll give it a chance, too.

think we could all use a little mental health reset sometimes. this is my way of getting myself centered again. you can reply to this email with your thoughts, of course. perhaps i’ll answer a few in the next issue. whenever that might be, could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be next month…. we’ll see…

stay safe. sending you virtual hugs and high fives…

— Slade