

Yesterday, I spent four hoursāyes, four entire hoursāsorting through a mountain of unread emails. Thousands of them. Some from last week. Some from last year. Some that probably belong in a digital museum exhibit titled āWhen Life Was Manageable.ā
For every step forward Iāve made lately, digitally it feels like Iām sliding two steps back.
My inboxes have become Bermuda Triangles of intentionsāthings come in, but they never seem to go back out. I swear, Iām trying. But the truth is, I just canāt keep up with the sheer velocity and volume of incoming information anymore.
And I know Iām not alone.
So if youāre someone whoās been waiting on a reply from meāan email, a text, a DM, a smoke signalāIām sorry. I truly am. You might be feeling ignored or forgotten, but I promise, itās not you. Itās the chaos. Itās me tryingāand failingāto be superhuman in a circle jerk world designed to burn us out.
ONCE UPON A TIME, EMAIL WAS FUN
Remember when email used to be exciting? You would get a message and it actually meant something. It wasnāt a 20% off sale, a phishing scam, or some AI-generated newsletter you forgot you subscribed to. Same with phone calls, social media, even texts. There used to be joy in those little dings. A lot of joy in some cases.
Now? Every social media platform feels like a gamified warzone. Algorithms shout. Scammers lurk. Marketers flood. Itās always on, and itās usually too much. For this sensitive, easily-distracted creative.
The signal-to-noise ratio is so off, I canāt even tell what matters anymore.
And the wildest part? Iāve barely started packing for my upcoming move.
So here I am: digitally drowning, physically procrastinating, emotionally overwhelmed, and mentally...crispy.
THE TRIPLE TRUTH, RUTH
Iām not a productivity guru. I donāt have a color-coded life planner. Iām surviving but far from thriving. In a word, Iām triaging. And right now, that means I need to take a few days off from replying. From being available. From trying to hold up this crumbling facade of ākeeping it together.ā
And, no, I likely wonāt be playing ācatch upā later.
If you really need a reply, please try me later.
I need space to breathe. To recalibrate.
To remember that Iām more than just a to-do list with thumbs.
IF YOUāRE FEELING THIS TOOā¦
Youāre not lazy. Youāre not failing. Youāre just human in a wacky world that rewards burnout and punishes pauses. Take the break. Let the emails wait. Weāre not robots.
Iāll be back. Maybe not āinbox zeroā back, but at least āI didnāt cry while checking Gmailā back.
Thanks for understandingā¦.
Clint šāļø
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FYC = STORIES + SUBSTACKS
ON THIS DAY = JUNE 11
BIRTHDAYS
1864 = Richard Strauss = German composer and conductor
1877 = RenĆ©e Vivien = English-French poet and author š
1902 = Eric Fraser = British illustrator and graphic designer
1910 = Carmine Coppola = American flute player and composer
1910 = Jacques Cousteau = French biologist, author, and inventor
1912 = James Algar = American filmmaker
1919 = Richard Todd = Irish-English actor
1925 = William Styron = American novelist and essayist
1933 = Gene Wilder = American actor and filmmaker
1937 = Chad Everett = American actor and director
1945 = Adrienne Barbeau = American actor
1949 = Frank Beard = American drummer and songwriter
1952 = Donnie Van Zant = American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 = Hugh Laurie = English actor and screenwriter
1966 = Bruce Robison = American country music singer-songwriter
1966 = Mario Silva = Portuguese-Canadian scholar and politician š
1969 = Peter Dinklage = American actor and producer
1977 = Ryan Dunn = American stunt performer
1978 = Joshua Jackson = Canadian-American actor
1986 = Shia LaBeouf = American actor
1989 = Elle PĆ©rez = American photographer š
EVENTS
1724 = Johann Sebastian Bach directs his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 in Leipzig, beginning his chorale cantata cycle.
1892 = The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
1936 = Inventor Edwin Armstrong demonstrates FM broadcasting to an audience of engineers at the FCC in Washington, DC.
1963 = POTUS John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
1982 = E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is released in theaters.
1982 = Grease 2 is released in theaters.
1986 = Ferris Buellerās Day Off is released in theaters.
1986 = Madonna releases āPapa Donāt Preachā as a single.
1993 = Jurassic Park is released in theaters.
1999 = POTUS Bill Clinton issues the first Presidential Proclamation of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
2002 ā Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
āI don't like giving speeches. It makes me nervous.ā
Gene Wilder
āPride is not the worst of sins.
In fact, it's one of the most interesting ones.ā
Gene Wilder
Amazing all the 21st Century inventions that create so much extra time for us?
I remember when email was so scarce, Iād check often through the day to see if there was anything for me. Now, I dread alerts but also get frustrated when people donāt read my own emails. Whatcha gonna do? š¤·āāļø