The hardest part about expressing yourself in the age of the internet is the lack of context. You could be sharing one sentence that refers to a specific set of things you care about, but if the person tapping through your story has no idea what those things are, the message is lost on them. They’ll just tap right through to the next story without a second thought to what you shared.

Or, potentially worse, they could misinterpret what you’re trying to say. They could project their feelings and their knowledge (or lack thereof) on the message you’ve meticulously crafted and dared to set free into the world. They will view your ideas through the frame of their own lived experience, which, while not wrong, aren’t what led to this message being broadcast to all followers.

It’s not going to make sense trying to understand it from what you know and not from what the broadcaster knows.

Does that make sense?

Are my sentences too long?

I’m just trying to narrow down a collection of ideas into something more digestible, while not excluding anything I want to say or imply. That’s what these emails are for. In a sense, it’s to be understood. I put myself out there in your hands with no safety net except the one you give me.

That’s why some days

It’s not every day. But the days it is, boy is it hard.

(It’s every day)

It’s cool though, remember, I’m a chill guy 🚶‍♂️

Sometimes, you gotta just push through it.

You know what they say, “Nobody cares, work harder.”

That’s why I pretend like everything is okay

Like

You might’ve missed it—go back and take a closer look.

Don’t worry, it’s just a little scratch. Nothing some elbow grease can’t fix.

Can I make it to the office? Of course, I can, I’m fine.

This? It’s just the weather. I’m feeling under the weather—I literally have to live under this Florida sun. But there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just push through.

Catch me on my coffee break like

Now they think I don’t enjoy coffee because I can only have one cup a day and when I do, I look like that. But the real reason is they only had hazelnut coffee available.

Seriously?

You do you, boo. Just don’t get mad when you offer me hazelnut again, and I’m quickly looking for a way out

Furthermore, another thing, you might be thinking this, so I’m going to say it

That’s right, I’ll say whatever I want.

It’s my blog!

I MEAN EMAIL NEWSLETTER

IT’S NOT A BLOG

DON’T TELL ANYONE IT’S A BLOG

PLEASE TAKE IT SERIOUSLY

PLEASE TAKE ME SERIOUSLY

It’s a collection of essays and essay poems and other carefully crafted words and sentences. It’s avant-garde, cutting-edge, forward-thinking, challenging everything we know about writing in traditional prose and presenting weekly, curated creative creations that are thought-provoking while simultaneously re-envisioning what it means to express yourself in the age of endless connectivity.

It’s entertaining, it’s refreshing, it’s not worried about being the most correct or factual.

Like most writing these days, I’m just trying to have some fun.

I mean, yeah, that’s one reason. But not the only reason. You can’t put all that on me.

You know what they say

My second favorite book ever is Atlas Shrugged, but not because I agreed with it—because I completely misunderstood what it was trying to say and took all my learnings in the opposite direction.

Any guy who unironically shares “good times make weak men” referring to the progressive men of today are actually the weak man, and they don’t know it.

I always see those posts and I’m like

It’s really a shame because they have potential.

They get mad because I walk up to them and say

I’m just trying to be respectful, not make any assumptions.

They ask what I’m doing with these emails and I tell them

It was actually four years ago in two weeks, but who’s counting?

Anyway, that’s what makes me special. That I’m willing to follow the dream.

But they just look and say

And I’m all like

Maybe that wasn’t the best screenshot to use to call myself special.

Because of things that happened…

Perhaps I’ve let this train of though get away from me, somebody pull me back in

I’m trying to change things!

To make things better!

AVANT-GARDE

CUTTING-EDGE

FORWARD-THINKING

DEFYING CONVENTION AND CHALLENGING THE NORM!

Don’t you want that?

Don’t we all want that?

Keep going…

Interesting…very interesting.

So you’re telling me I should imagine things that no one else can think of because they’re so crazy they seem impossible—but at the same time there’s no way they don’t happen because of how things are going?

Am I getting this right? Kind of like the world today?

I think I understand, but also

But I can make it work.

Also, my dad played.

Just give me a second to sit here and think about it.

Still thinking…

I don’t know if this is working…

Yes, Chef!

On it 🫡

In the meantime, what I think would be really helpful is

It’s not because I need work to feel fulfilled.

Never have, never will.

There are plenty of beautiful things to experience and discover in the world to keep me fulfilled through this lifetime and the next.

That’s actually a shot to all the people who don’t read because if you’re reading this, clearly it doesn’t apply to you (share this newsletter with someone you love).

Yet, sometimes I sit and stare at my screen and wonder….

Am I getting too old for this?

Not the writing, but the ideas, the jokes, the way we look at life and how we go through it. The energy we give to things and the energy we don’t give to things.

Honestly, I have no idea. I’m just going to keep going as best as I can. The one thing I do know is

Even if I have no idea what’s going on or what I’m doing most days, you know what?

That’s a relief.

Even better.

At the end of the day, it’s okay to go through whatever you’re going through because you gotta be real with yourself and say

Don’t be an asshole, though, there’s no need to be an asshole.

Not to anyone in the world, or yourself.

That’s why the next time I look in the mirror, I’m going to say

Tomorrow, I’ll wake up and do it all again.

A new day

A day that I will make sure to remind everyone (and myself)

Don’t get joy confused with something else. It doesn’t have to be the biggest, grandest thing in the world to make you feel joy. Enjoying the little things will be the most significant decision you ever make.

Even when you’re going through life living every second in the moment, never forget that we’re not on this planet by ourselves. We share it with every other person, whether they look like you or not, whether they come from where you come from or not, whether they believe in the same omnipresent being as your or not, all those people from different walks of life

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If you enjoyed the NO CONTEXT EMAIL series, make sure to check out all the TV shows and movies the screenshots came from:

• The Bear (Hulu)

• Mythic Quest (AppleTV+)

• The Walking Dead (Netflix / AMC +)

• Last of Us (HBO)

• White Lotus (HBO)

• Tag (movie)

• Abbott Elementary (Hulu)

• English Teacher (Hulu)

• 2012 (movie)

• Game of Thrones (HBO)

• Andor (Disney+)

• DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Short Film)

• Eastbound & Down (HBO)

• FROM (Epix)

• Renfaire (HBO)

• 1923 (Paramount+)

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Hulu)

• Twin Peaks (Paramount+)

• Criminal Minds: Evolution (Paramount+)

• Severance (AppleTV+)

• Shrinking (AppleTV+)

• Paradise (Hulu)