thanks for your patience

who apologizes for the wait because waiting is a part of life?

We took Chamomile to her dental surgery yesterday.

I got a phone call back from one of the technicians. Enthusiastically, I told her she’s one of my favorite people to speak to on the phone for the day.

She said wait no don’t say that because our X Ray machine is broken so we can’t do the surgery today.

Yikes.

We took Chamomile to her dental surgery today.

She got a whopping 11 teeth removed. That’s a mouthful! It’s not her first extraction since we took her in our loving home. Though, she has to now wear a cone for the week. The cone of shame.

I would be lying that this newsletter was being drafted for the last seven days. Alas, it was not. I took a pause from posting on Jan 27th because I lost the steam. It’s my newsletter, so I can make the executive choice to do as many pauses as I want.

That’s valid. But, I also take pride in being consistent with my writing. I look back at my Substack dashboard and I think oh word that's wild I've written this amount of posts.

There’s a school of thought out there along the lines of quantity matters more than quality because you can iterate and improve each time. That’s a useful mindset, especially when you make art. You focus on finishing the piece instead of aiming for perfection.

But, that thinking doesn't take into consideration that we’re human. Rest and restoration is natural. Rhythms are normal; everything is cyclical.

Ignore the dried-up red saliva and appreciate Chamomile’s face.

Do I apologize to make you wait for the weekly newsletter?

Besides Thanks for Sharing, I use the phrase Thanks for your patience heavily. I use that phrasing in place of sorry for the wait. Waiting is a part of life. Unless if I truly inconvenienced someone, then yes, I’ll apologize for the wait.

I think apologizing for a wait diminishes the value of saying sorry for other mistakes. There’s so many factors that can contribute to a wait. You may not be 100% at fault for a long wait.

Unless, maybe you could’ve left the house earlier...then don't blame this newsletter for your ill-fated tardiness.

👀

This NPR Lifekit episode on not having to love your job is insightful. I think it benefits you. I hope it gives the glimmer of motivation for everyone working a boring-ass office job to chase their artmaking dreams. No need to be ashamed in making money because that’s what will pay your housing, food, partying, and your art supplies.

You can make art on the weekends. You can also just take it one hour a day.

You don’t even have to always be available. You can be reachable in moderation. Stop overthinking if you respond to an email in time. Why are you writing sorry for the delay?

---

Most likely, I will release a post every other week until I build the momentum to write my usual weekly posts.

Thanks for listening,

Alexander