Things Are Going to Get Weird

A note on the direction of Niche of One.

Links:

• New products in the store:

  • The Four Pillars

  • The 300-Word Micro-Essay

  • Permission to Think

• I found this article to be a fantastic read on what it means to be a writer in a technological world.

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Have you ever been in a room, around a lot of people, and all of the sudden come to the realization that the conversation is shallow and fake?

I don’t mean what they’re saying is useless. I mean that they’re all repeating one another, parroting back what was just said, like good little drones.

And they’re all chattering over one another, trying to be louder, trying to get the attention… but they’re all reading from the same script. Saying the same thing. Thinking they’re different than the rest while wearing the same clothes and the same masks.

This last week, I came to the realization that I was one of the drones. And I did not like it.

It’s not that I wasn’t being helpful, or even sharing good insight. It was just the fact that I sounded like everyone else in my feed.

And I don’t have a problem with others doing that, really. If it’s making them happy and they’re making a living then by all means, please do that. I don’t begrudge anyone an opportunity to try to better themselves.

In truth, it’s not about them at all. It’s about me and how that doesn’t fit.

You see, I’m a polymath.

When I was a child and learned to read, one of my absolute favorite things to do was read this old set of encyclopedia’s we had. I would read them, over and over again, volume A-Z.

In the school library, I would ask for books well above what they thought my reading capability was, but I had a cool librarian, a little old lady named Mrs. Fox, who would indulge me.

Frequently, I would upset my teachers by correcting them on some minutiae they were incorrect about.

I will say this particular skill did not apply to mathematics, for whatever reason. I was horrible at advanced math beyond algebra. But any other information I would devour and retain with relative ease.

I tell you all that to say this.

I’m going to start living up to the name of Niche of One and indulge in my love of information.

You signed up to hear from someone that was going to help with your online business, and I’ll still make posts about that because it’s one of my interests, but I’m also going to expand to include the other things I love: art, pop culture, philosophy, theology, spirituality, weird fringe theories, writing, fiction, and a host of other things.

So, this newsletter might become something that doesn’t really fit your reading interests, and that’s okay.

However, I implore you to open your mind a bit and go exploring with me. You may find yourself entertained, educated, or diving into a rabbit hole you weren’t aware existed.

It’ll be an adventure.

Tomorrow, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled format of micro-essay.

But I felt I owed it to you to explain where I’m taking this newsletter and my “brand.”

Yes, I still plan on offering helpful business thoughts as they occur to me and I experiment, but life is so much more than just business. That’s one tiny aspect of a life well-lived.

I hope you’re still here tomorrow, but if not, thanks for showing up and I wish you the best.

For those that do hang around, let’s start exploring things together.