It's been 365 days since my last email.
That’s a long time! (So long, in fact, you might not remember who I am or why you signed up for this. You can easily unsubscribe at the bottom of this email if you wish.)
Why did I stop writing? Well, laziness.
But also, I’m fatigued by everything I read on the Internet. Every newsletter, article, email, LinkedIn post, and sales pitch sounds the same. An endless spigot of AI drivel that says nothing and benefits no one.
Sometimes I see stuff and I’m convinced it’s just bots talking to each other.
But even though the bar is lower than ever, there’s paradoxically more pressure to write something worthwhile. Lowering the technical barrier to writing seems to have resulted in a higher creative barrier—a subconscious pressure to prove our humanity through writing.
Those are the surface reasons for my writing drought, but there is a third, simpler reason:
I’ve been busy.
Lost in the best kind of busy—the kind where you look up and realize hours have passed. Days blurring together not from monotony, but from total absorption. Running a business, it turns out, can swallow you whole.
For the past year, I’ve been heads down alongside my co-founder and team at Same Page. It’s been the most fulfilling work I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been too focused on what we’re building to stop and give updates or (shudder) chase LinkedIn clout. I doubt I ever had much of a “personal brand”, but I definitely don’t now.
And I couldn’t care less.
Lately I’ve been reading about ego detachment—those rare moments when we stop filtering our experiences through self-image. No mental commentary running alongside. No urge to reach for the phone to document or share. No thoughts about how others would view the moment. Just total absorption in what we're doing.
I’m fortunate to have experienced this frequently over the past year. Am I a Zen master? No. Is it because I know that no one thinks an HR company is cool, freeing me from the constant urge to share every win? Possibly.
Either way, I decided to write today because I wanted to tell you how meaningless your follower count is and how important it is to get lost in something that is meaningful to you.
There's something beautiful about being so immersed in what you're doing that you forget to post about it. When you're too busy living the story to worry about telling it.
It took me a long time (I’m old) to find my own thing to get lost in. I hope you find yours too.
-Matt
P.S. Hit reply and let me know what you’re working on. I read and respond to every email.