Unsubscribe: ALL

Bye bye, spam

Lately I’ve been spending any small pocket of free time I have—red lights, kids’ bedtimes, walks to the mailbox—repeating one action over and over and over again—hitting Unsubscribe on a crap-ton of emails.

I don’t know when my email inbox became a refugee tent for all digital correspondence dotted with phrases like ***MARKDOWN!!!**… 💥 Sale Alert💥.. Open NOW for 🤯🤯 Craaaaazy Deals!! 🤯🤯 …but it did. And man, it’s messing with my mental health.

As it turns out, my email inbox has been a metaphor for my life: Far too much gets in that just shouldn’t. For years, the motto was, Come on in! I’ll figure out if it’s a fit later.

But both life experience and digital fatigue is now telling me that mantra ain’t it. Now, the fit has to come first.

On that note, I want to share a reminder today that’s as much for me as it may be for you: Bring down the castle gates; not everyone, or everything, deserves to come in.

Be kind, be warm, be open; but also, pay attention to the signs when something, or someone, is draining you.

Here’s the rule of thumb I’m going to try, and maybe it will work for you, too: If it’s not filling my cup, it’s draining it. Spammy emails, difficult relationships, unnecessary work commitments… in the bin they go!

Today I opened my email account that’s usually Spam Central and, voila, only five measly new messages at the top of my inbox, compared to the typical 35. I felt a palpable sense of calm seeing only what I needed, and wanted, to see.

I hope this message has been relevant to you in some way today. Here’s to keeping only what truly matters.

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