To My Free Subscribers of You Must Have Something on Your Mind
A Greeting and an Encouragement
As the calendar year dissolves into various retrospectives “in review”, I’ll add one of my own. I started writing on Substack in March, and it has only been a pleasure if at times hard work. You can’t always depend on dire need and impulses to write but must sometimes just produce the work that eventually takes on its own dimension and its own momentum. I’ve found almost a hypnotic effect in writing about stories from my own life. Details from the past can emerge magically, filling in the gaps.
And so the greeting - a wish for a great new calendar year for you and for me. I think all years can start on any day, and so any day can be that day of renewal and hope. I’d like to think of it this way. We’re here now, and therein is the fun of it. We can start any time.
Regarding the encouragement - here’s what I’d like to encourage. Upgrade to a paid subscription. The annual subscription is by far the most popular, and it means that all articles are unlocked, and commentary is freely available. The reasons for making this upgrade are good ones.
The money supports my writing time. I work hourly as a musician, but I am generally only paid when I am at work. When I had it I loved earning a salary, but there is a direct correlation now to work performed and money earned. That means that sitting down to write has to be compensated somewhere, assuming enough writing time is used to produce better work.
It’s encouraging. It tells me that you are looking for more communication (a term I use a lot), and communication is a life force for me. It puts us both on the map and secures us in time.
It gives us both a sense of commitment. Blogs have often been started with great fanfare and promise only to die slowly of the friction of time and of tasks. Eventually some blogs are left alone to languish, and because there is little momentum left, nobody bothers to see if there’s anything new. The result is simply an archive of thoughts. And this leads to a further point -
Better writing comes out of a “column” than a blog. If the writer knows there’s really an audience, it’s like coming out on a stage in front of a crowd and setting up at a podium - something I have done. I know how that focuses the mind. It’s pressure, but it’s good pressure. I have to admit that I always liked public speaking, even when my hands shook from fright. Something good came of it, and I could share more of myself.
It’s the right thing to do. You get to pay something for the work you’re enjoying; it’s as simple as that. No pressure, you understand.
I am thrilled with the comments I have received from people regarding this material and hope never to let a reader down. I’ll always do my best. The good thing is that I have a lot on my mind and a lot of memories and stories. I like to write.
In closing, Happy New Year, happy reading, and let’s continue.
As always,
James Steeber