#11. Why it is important to realize you are not special?

Dear Friend

I was not planning to write tonight, but I received this beautiful feedback on the previous post and wanted to address it.

Why am I not responding via “reply” email but making it a letter?

When I was in the Marines, we learned that if one person in the platoon had a question, surely someone else had the same.

There is a deeper truth behind that, too.

We all think we are unique and special, but the truth is quite the opposite: we are very much alike. We have the same problems, the same pains, and the exact needs. As a cultural anthropologist, I realize we have followed the same patterns since we formed some 200,000 years ago. This is why a 20,000-year-old cave painting, a 3,200-year-old book (by Homer), and a 100-year-old black-and-white movie equally speak to our souls.

I know you still feel special, and I do, too.

We like different foods, we entertain differently, and we might have different skin colors. Mine is bright red after the sunburn last weekend. 🙂 

We are the same deep down, so I am writing this. Someone out there will need these words someday—not today, not tomorrow, but someday.

Back to the feedback answers.

Is there a possibility to comment on the blog posts?

There is no way to comment on posts, which is probably for the better. I want the reader to have an individual experience, not a REDDIT throllfest.
I created a Twitter (X.com) community.
I hope you are the first brave soul to join it.

You got used to expecting my morning emails.

That is by far the biggest compliment I could receive. I am thankful!

I can't write every day. With extremely demanding work and kids, there is often no time or energy. I always have something to write about. 🙂 

The second reason I do not send letters daily is that I fear losing my audience. My audience is not significantly growing, but I lose about 1.5% (unsubscribers) every time I hit “send.”

I feel that I should be sending only masterpieces, but every piece of advice I get from successful writers is to keep on writing. They say that by letter #100, it will be readable, maybe even likable. I hope there will be more readers at #100 than just me and you.

I do not email every post, so there is a bunch of them on the blog you probably have not read yet. 

You mentioned that some posts are to your liking, others not.

Yes, that is a problem with a broad “lifestyle” topic and not a niche coverage.

I am including a questionnaire to see people's interests.
I might send posts to subsets of people based on their interests.
Please take a moment to update this survey.

Respectfully,

Uki D. Lucas
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ukidlucas/

P.S.
I am listening to Chloé Stafler “Mad World” on YouTube.com

How can you help me with this blog?

I haven't yet figured out how to get more subscribers, so I'm counting on organic growth. Please forward this to your friends.

• One friend for every reader would double my readership.

• Ten friends would “10x” and send the subscriptions into a stratosphere!

In every letter, I post my mission statement. Why do I do it?

This is partly for myself to keep on track but also for you so you know there is an underlying theme to my ramblings.