On Unsubscribing

Simplicity, Week 8: Unsubscribing

This week I've been simplifying my inbox. I've been actually opening every piece of mail, deciding whether I want to keep getting that particular update, sales pitch, newsletter, blog, and on and on and on.... and then, very often, scrolling to the bottom and clicking "Unsubscribe." I'm getting closer to only being subscribed to mailing lists I actually want to and will read.

I didn't realize that unsubscribing was simplifying at first. I just got tired of pushing "Delete" twelve times a day on junk email. But in talking with some friends yesterday, I realized that it didn't just clear out the junk from my inbox. It cleared my mind somewhat, too. I no longer need to feel guilty for not reading that newsletter that I've never, ever read. Many of the newsletters I was getting were intentionally trying to make me angry - I suppose as a way of getting me to open them, getting me to take action, getting my attention. But I don't need to deal with that anymore.

Hitting "Unsubscribe" gives me just a twinge of guilt each time: I know that real people put real effort into the material that they email me a dozen times each day. I know (or at least I think) that for some of the political material, just a name on a mailing list actually does make a bit of a difference, even if I don't open the email. But guess what? Nobody has called me to say, "You're ruining my life by getting off our mailing list." Nobody has called me to say, "You're failing to make a difference in the world by getting off our mailing list." Actually, I don't think it makes a bit of difference to them, and it's quite foolish for me to think that it does.

The other foolish thing has been that all of a sudden, my inbox feels very empty. It's ridiculous, but it makes me feel less important, less essential. Doesn't anyone have anything to say to me? I think, when the inbox is empty again. As though the primary measure of my importance is anything except that I am a child of God. And not only that, but it was clearly a false sense of importance, if I was measuring it based on the number of junk emails I had to delete every day. What a stupid illusion.

So, here's to unsubscribing - which, for me, has also meant getting rid of a few more illusions and focusing on what actually is. That's what simplicity does - gets rid of those illusions and brings reality to light. Praise God!