10 Comments

Totally the right thing to do. It is exhausting and I don´t think our minds are meant to deal with it all (the entire world). Focus on your family and immediate community. I think that is where it all starts. The virtual world can drain your soul. I will miss your writings and podcasts as they were actually calming for me, the way you wrote and spoke to your guests, with lots of understanding and empathy. You are a gentle soul.

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Thank you for your kind words and all of your support, Karen!

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Well said. From the other side of the coin: I’ve realized that I can’t keep up as a listener/reader/follower with the over abundance of content in just this one platform, let alone elsewhere. It exhausts me. In academia the sabbatical serves a similar purpose: to take a break from producing so the ‘product’ is better. Rest your nervous system and grieve.

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Thank you, Carrie! I completely agree with you about keeping up with so much content- there's so many great writers that I always want to read but often find myself having to skim or skip because things are so busy. I like your analogy to a sabbatical too. Be well!

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I have often wondered how you manage to balance family, home, work, and the consistently creative content you produce here and on your podcasts. Though I join everyone else who commented here in saying that we'll miss your reflections in our inboxes every week, good on you for knowing when to step back. Enjoy your well-deserved season of rest/break/hibernation, however long it may last.

Like you, I've been struggling with how much effort to put into changing people's minds. I recently met someone that I really enjoyed at a mutual friend's birthday party. We exchanged phone numbers and planned on staying in touch -- only for me to discover on social media that she's an enthusiastic and vocal Trump supporter. I immediately lost interest in seeing her again, but is that close-minded of me? Should I be trying to engage her with the goal of possibly helping her to see different perspective?

I wish we could go for a drive to Geneva on the Lake to talk about all this like in the old days :) I hope you'll come back to this space sometime to share your thoughts again, and in the meantime, be well!

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Thank you, Flora! It's always been a labor of love, but lately the emphasis has felt more on the "labor" than the "love" so it felt like a good time for a break.

As for getting along with Trump folks, I've recently had to make peace with the reality that we are all so indoctrinated by so much and for many, their beliefs and world view are based more in that indoctrination than anything else. We aren't taught how to critically think, so undoing it is very challenging for most people. I've come to accept that we all have a journey to make and we're all at different places on that journey. Some people may come around, some never will. The best I can do is respect their journey and model how I want to live. I hope that helps

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I figured something was going on here and I honor and appreciate this pause. Take care and talk soon!

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I am so appreciative of your support always, Kristen! Talk soon

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​I completely hear you brother, and I applaud this action to take a break from the newsletter and podcast. I'm sure it's a decision that weighed heavily on your mind for many months, but I am proud of you for calling out your need to adjust the bandwidth devoted between life and work, and engage more in the experiences that are most important to you within your local community and the overall real world around you.

I have delivered this same type of messaging on my tiny youtube channel that's mostly about the automotive world and the cars I appreciate. I expressed to my audience that I post content whenever I have the bandwidth to do so. It's way more important that I attend to the needs of my real world and community, then to consistently feed the social media/content creator side of my life. This way, when I post, it's genuine and organic, and of course it's more fun overall because I'm not stressing out over deadline goals. I just do it whenever I have the time and energy.

You're spot on about that "hustle culture" that we have all been programmed to strive for. I think it's an awful way to go through life, when you're constantly in that fight mode, only focusing on the harvest/shiny distractions, and forgetting to build in time for rest and community.

Although I will miss seeing new posts from you going forward, knowing that you are on the path to a more balanced work/life setup brings me an equal amount of joy. I, and I'm sure the rest of your subscribers, will be here for you whenever you do post 😁. Wishing you all the best!

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So well put, Rob! Thank you for your support and the good example you are leading with too

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