What I Learned When I Worked Up the Courage to Check Why People Unsubscribe

The anxiety of the last few months is slowly being replaced with resolve

Hello Friends,

Yesterday was the first day of summer vacation 2025 for my children. In the morning we got up and walked to the park. I’ve paced out a 1 mile course, and the three of us did it as fast as we can.

My younger daughter is into cross-country and basketball. She keeps telling me she wants to be more competitive this year. I keep telling her that running isn’t the kind of exam you can cram for. You have to study every day.

My older daughter is a swimmer. She’s not as concerned with direct running speed, but the aerobic challenge of running is also good for her sport. Yesterday, she took the dog with her. We laughed as she told us that he kept stopping and then sprinting off at full speed.

My younger daughter finished the mile in 7:57. I was 8:35. My older daughter didn’t keep her time but she was just behind us. We’ve been doing this a few weeks and we’ve shaved about a minute off our mile time.

When the run is over, we walk back home. All told, it’s about a 3 mile loop. It took about 40 minutes, but I got a high from it that lasted throughout the day.

With all the uncertainty in the world and all the anxiety we’re facing, it’s important not to let the awful people in far off places destroy your joy. I have to remember to be grateful that we had a reprieve during the Biden administration. Remember how we had 4 years where we could actually prepare for a future for our children?

It seems like a long time ago doesn’t it? But time goes fast, even 4 miserable years that will be colored with incompetence and villainy. It’s already June. Primaries for the midterms start in March. Keep going.

I intend to keep fighting, but I can already tell that there’s something different in the air. The creative energy that has propelled me since November 4th has left me feeling worn down. I’m going to keep writing (that never stops), but I’m not going to hold myself to 3 posts a day, at least during the summer.

That being said, as of right now I have 65 posts scheduled, so I could stop writing right now and you wouldn’t even notice until July. I’ve also got a folder on my desktop with around 30 voice note transcripts that I’ve been meaning to finish.

All I’m saying is that it’s summer, so I’m going to take a few days off for river trips with the girls. I already know that all the wonderful people on my list are nodding to themselves and saying, “Damn right! Go out and make great memories with those kids!”

I’ve been a little concerned with the idea of throttling down my output, but there’s a scenario where this actually assists this newsletter. My thoughts have been that we have to answer all the lies and propaganda that are coming out of the various right wing extremist groups that have been emboldened in our nation.

The problem is that there’s so much to address.

It’s just lie after lie after lie.

I can overflow your inboxes with rebuttals to all the garbage that’s out there. Honestly, I don’t expect anyone to read everything I write. That’s not really the point. The point is that all of you know there are a few people out there who are at least trying to give voice to an alternate viewpoint.

Read the ones that you can. Take breaks when you need to. We’re carrying each other through this hard time.

The other day I worked up my courage and clicked on the “unsubscribes” tab in the stats page. I am curious to get feedback on why people would unsubscribe, but until now, I haven’t wanted to endure the strain on my mental health.

There are enough things for me to be upset about!

But I was feeling strong the other day, so I went and had a look. The reasons people left for leaving actually made me feel a lot better:

• My circumstances have changed, but I’ll be back when I can

• I appreciate what you do

• I’m not your target audience

• It’s not you, it’s me

I had been half-expecting insults and attacks. Instead I got apologies and I found it heartwarming.

As much as I remind writers that they shouldn’t think the worst when they get bad news, I still fall into the same habit myself. I think it’s natural enough to feel a little gut punch whenever your subscriber count ticks down rather than up. That’s why I encourage people to sign up for the annual sponsorship rather than monthly. The subscribers stick around longer.

Creatives are facing headwinds this year but so is everyone else. The irrational tariffs and other reckless and hateful policies of this administration are going to make times hard for everyone. So, if you lose your job or your car breaks down, yes, it makes total sense that you won’t be able to continue to support my newsletter. I’ve said from the beginning, don’t take food off your table to support me.

We’ve got to dig in and be ready for the long haul. Above all, we have to survive. As I said before, the primaries for the midterms are coming up in March. That’s the first opportunity to defeat MAGA supporting incumbent Republicans. We’ve got to lay the groundwork now!

By that I mean… GET PEOPLE THINKGING ABOUT IT!

In the state of Wisconsin, Rebecca Cooke is running to defeat Derrick Van Orden. I sent her team an email and offered for her to come on this newsletter for a Substack live. They told me they’d get back to me. Maybe they’ll be more impressed when I have 20k subscribers (by the way, I just hit 10k and I’m psyched about that).

It occurs to me that this is a wonderful way I can leverage this platform. I can give visibility to down ballot candidates that protect our Constitution. We’re putting way too much pressure on the judicial branch right now, so any reinforcements we can send will be welcome.

Oh, I also reached out to the Democratic Party in my county. I offered to stop by and show them how to use Substack for visibility and messaging.

As long as the DNC establishment listens to people like me and takes advantage of the support we can offer, we’ll be fine. But even if they’re slow to come on board, I won’t stop trying. You guys can be a huge help as well. If there are candidates or other individuals out there who need more attention, let me know. I’ve got Anat Shenker-Osorio scheduled for July 17th.

I’ll have more info for you about that later on.

Over the last few weeks, I feel as if the atmosphere has changed. The last few months of anxiety and desperation have given way to resolve. Whenever I need a pick me up, I go and check how many days are left until the midterms. But then you have to remember that the primaries are even sooner. We’re about to accelerate.

Please consider me your resource! Don’t hesitate to reach out to me with information that needs to be shared or to introduce me to people I have to talk to. I’ve already received a lot of information from all of you, and for that I’m eternally grateful. Also, if I don’t get back to you right away, understand that life gets in the way for me sometimes too (and I do have to make time to go down the river).

As always, your sponsorships keep me going! If you’ve been considering upgrading, please do so. Whether you’re a founding member or at the entry level tier, it all helps!

I also did a storytelling live this week.

I felt really good about that. It’s just me reading stories, so hopefully it will appease some of your anxiety. When I was growing up we had Mr. Rodgers, and his kindness came right through the television screen into our homes. Lord knows we need more kindness like that these days.

I’ll write more stories about the antics of my children. Those always make me happy… and silly poems.

I think that’s it for today. Persist! Resist! We’re closer to the end than you might think! Keep your eyes on the primaries! We might defeat some of these awful candidates before the general election! Wouldn’t that be great?

As always, thanks for your support, thanks for listening, but most importantly, thanks for being here!

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