Prologue: The Joy of… Nothing
At the outset, let me state for the record that I am not depressed. The title of this first post is not meant to imply that I take no joy in anything.
Rather, it indicates the joy of… nothing. As in having no writing deadlines, no clients breathing down my neck for a draft document that simultaneously has to say everything without actually saying anything. No pressure to create “content” (that’s what everyone is these days – a “content” creator.) No radio show to prepare for, during which I must be smart, witty, funny without a hint of controversy or saying anything that might remotely offend the fast-dwindling cadre of broadcast radio listeners who want to hear the same Foghat song 17 times a week. Oh, and please say whatever it is you want to say in less than 25 seconds because we have nine minutes of commercials READY TO GO!
No, this post – and indeed this newsletter - is about being able to write about anything, anytime on any schedule, just for the sake of writing. It might be a long-winded treatise on the state of our healthcare system from my personal perspective (short version: not good), or a few pithy lines about a favorite new piece of technology or software that I have acquired and is worth sharing so that you too may realize the pleasure of an eighth weather app on your smartphone.
So, this newsletter will be about everything. Or nothing. And nobody can complain, demand or insist that something be done.
There is joy in that.