[Main Blog Post] [Book] Thoughts on The Sunlilies - and a Request

[jprussell]

Another fairly short write-up of a book I read of late, this time The Sunlilies by Graham Pardun. Though this book is written from very much within the Eastern Orthodox worldview, I found it to have a number of useful spiritual insights for those of us outside of that, but your mileage may, of course, vary.

Besides the post, I also have a request: I would very much appreciate it if you enjoy my writing if you either a) subscribe to my DIY mailing list, or b) let me know in a comment whatever reasons you'd prefer not to.

While I am mainly writing as a way to gather and sharpen my thoughts, it's nice to have some idea of whether what I'm writing is worthwhile to folks. Email subscriptions tend to be a pretty strong indicator of genuine interest, and should writing ever turn into a part of how I earn my keep, email lists are very helpful (promoting new books, soliciting more direct feedback, and so forth).

So, I'm starting to feel my way around that whole process, but refusing to do it the easy way and just creating a substack. Not that I'm going to start selling anything any time soon, and if I ever do, I will give everyone on the list a chance to get out of Dodge before the shilling commences, and after that, I will do my very best to make it occasional and non-annoying.

Oh, and btw, if you are not interested in subscribing, I will in no way be offended, but I would be just as glad to hear your reasons, as that also helps me understand the landscape I'm dealing with.

Comments

[sdi]

Hi Jeff! I don't subscribe for the simple reason that your posts are hit-or-miss for me—I am only interested in perhaps 20% of what you write about (for example, I am uninterested in society and sociology, actively disinterested in Christianity and any insights gleaned from it, etc.). Because of that signal-to-noise ratio, I consider it more efficient to check in periodically and see if there's content I'm interested in, rather than be pushed content that I probably won't be interested in. That is to say, psychologically, I prefer to find a surprise every so often than to have to filter things I don't want!

And that's not to say you should cater to my interests: it's important to me that everyone does their own weird thing. But because my weird thing is, you know, weird, I tend not to subscribe to very much. :)

[jprussell]

Thanks very much for this feedback, and fair enough! I'm well aware that my interest are quite weird, and I actively work against what causticus below calls "audience capture" by trying to write about whatever I'm interested in, rather than catering to what gets the most comments, positive responses or what have you.

Thanks again, and thank you as well for sharing your thoughts when I do hit the mark (for you)!

Cheers,
Jeff