there is beauty in the minimalism of email
2022-03-23

i have a quest for you - to make email something you cherish. something that
brings anticipation, thought, and personality to your life.

not forever conversation, thoughtful conversation.

first, you must learn to use email correctly. say the word "email" and it
conjures images of 9,000 unread spam messages - no. we need to start fresh.
a clean slate. inbox zero.

keep your crusty gmail account around for spam and trials and signups and
whatever else, and get yourself a fastmail.com account. or a migadu.com account
if you're a techie.

first: set email type to plaintext-only. this email account will only ever send
or receive text.

see https://useplaintext.email for details.

then, sit down, and thoughtfully compose a message to a close friend of yours.
take 30 minutes to think through what you'd like to say, and hit send.

then, walk away. don't use your phone to access this account - only use your
laptop / ipad / etc. the device that you get on at the end of the day with
intent.

email waits patiently. it sits still and does not make a fuss. if your friend
doesn't respond, send another email to another friend. the conversations move
slowly, sometimes over the course of many years. this is the antithesis of
modern communication.

think of email the same way you'd think of a penpal.

email connects people intimately and loosely.