Sunday, November 25, 2018

864 Emails (or how I never met a self help newsletter I didn't like)


Share a link to an online quiz that will help me discover my inner goddess archetype I’ll happily offer up my email to see the result. 

Maybe you can tell me what inner block is holding me back from being my best self – just send me a link for your free webinar on the five things that hold all women back and I’ll sign up in a flash.  

Better yet, send me an offer for an online meditation/self-compassion/embodiment/learn-how-to-love-yourself conference where I can get access to 96 free webinars ALL WEEK LONG.  I’ll take that, here’s my email address.  Thank you very much. 

Send me something that tells me how you can make me a better, more whole, more happy human being and I’ll hand over my email address without a second thought.  Some might even call me a sucker.  

I, like most of us, am just looking for some answers.  I want to find out why I’m not happy.  Why I’m not the success I want to be.  Why I’m not so many other things that I believe I should be.  And if you want to send me a little hope in my inbox, I’ll take it. 

Even though on some level, I know that hope is not the ultimate goal here.  The goal is to get me to sign up for a workshop, or an online course, or for a women’s spirituality group, or whatever variation of the happiness promise you have to offer.  For only $90-$500 a month I can take your course, connect with others just like me, learn to love myself, manifest my dreams, and, yes, yes (if I buy the bonus package) – I get to be a part of your exclusive Facebook group.  But I sign up anyway because hope is a thing I want to grab on to.  

Which is why this morning I found myself staring at a notification of 864 unread emails.  As I scrolled through my inbox I saw the same addresses over and over again.  Many were some variation of spirit this or that, with subject lines that included everything from astrology to women’s circles to inner peace; keywords – goals, manifest, Yes!, now, and you too can... 

I decided I’d had enough.  

It took me an hour and a half to review my inbox. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing any personal emails buried amongst the self-help hurricane my inbox had become.  I also wanted to keep the few I was actually interested in.   In the end I unsubscribed from 65 email newsletters, most of which I’d never bothered to open let alone read, and I stayed subscribed to 8 that I actually read on a regular basis. 

I know there is no easy solution for depression, anxiety, or self-loathing.  There is no shortcut to processing trauma, reprogramming my brain towards healthier coping patterns, or self-acceptance.  It is all process…process…process…stumble…process…process.  

For me it is also a lot of hard work…but it is work I need to be doing if I want to do more than just exist.  

The fewer distractions, the better. 

Peace.

If you'd like to support my work and my healing journey, please considering joining my Patreon Page:  Joie Grandbois-Creatrix  --  Thank you.


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