My inbox seems to clear of a rash of GDPR-related emails, at last. A disconcerting number of them were from sites I don’t remember subscribing to. I updated my preferences for receiving updates and newsletters (mainly of the poetry kind) but consistently failed to find ‘unsubscribe’ links for those companies who expected me to wade through the legalese of their Updated Privacy Policies (I tried; I gave up).
I’d already begun reducing my email subscriptions, anyway. Online reading seems to occupy an ever increasing amount of my time. Instead, I could be bramble-wrangling in the garden, cracking the spine of ‘shelved’ recipe books, relieving the loft of a burden of boxes. Or mining the TBR pile for treasure. Or writing.
What my (poetry) subscription emails do provide:
- a window on what’s new and happening in the poetry world
- updates on events I’d like to attend
- publication news
- new posts on my favourite blogs
- reviews of poetry pamphlets I’ve read/can’t wait to read
- discovering the interesting and surprising via linked content
- discovering ‘new’ poets whose work I enjoy
- information on MOOCs, workshops, etc
However, I’m mindful that my inbox currently holds 770 emails. Almost all of these are poetry/writing-related subscription emails. They’re fantastic resources for an ongoing poetry education (Brain Pickings, POETRY magazine, Poets.org, Poets & Writers) so why do these ‘Round-to-its’ continue to stack up? I think most of the backlog is a legacy from my working life when I used to daydream about WHEN, of sitting in my favourite armchair, reading my way through the lot. I thought I’d have oh, so much more time for all my Neglecteds when I retired. How misguided I was!
One day, I’ll give myself permission to delete the lot and make a fresh start. Maybe. Right now, I’m heading for my lounger with a book. The garden’s looking starry-eyed, despite last night’s storm.
Jayne Stanton POETRY 