Recently, I received an email from the person who designed my web page. “Caroline, is it possible for me to receive your blogs two or three times a week instead of one every day?”
Can she? I don’t know. She created the site. Never mind, I understood what she wanted. “Could I unsubscribe to your blogs without annoying you?”
Of course she could. I have no idea who unsubscribes unless a person asks me to do it for him or her, instead of hitting the “unsubscribe” button to the right on the page. Frankly, I find emails that ask, “will you please unsubscribe me,” cheeky because I’ve paid good money to make breaking up easy. I’m not the kind of person who invites a guest into my home and locks the door.
Subscribing is harder. Not only does a person have to hit the subscriber button, but that person must reply when a second message arrives to ask if the request was serious. After a few days, if there’s no answer, the address gets deleted. I’m a little snobbish that way.
In any case, if anyone thinks receiving these daily emails is a hardship, I understand. Go with my blessing. To be honest, I write primarily for myself. A writer needs to practice every day, just as a pianists needs to sit before a Steinway and run the scales. 500 words of crafted writing on a regular basis is what I do for myself. Anyone who chooses to read along is welcome –cherished even. Good company is a luxury, however, not a necessity. If public approval were the goal, I’d have given up long ago. On Facebook, I’ve seen more “likes” awarded to the photo of a hamburger than to my blogs.
But be warned. If you do drop into my web on any day, I intend for you to break away with a smile or a thought, at least. That’s my gift to the hardy.