Tuesday, 26th July 2022. Time check: 09:23 p.m. I have been staring at the blank page, trying to collect my wandering thoughts and put together a coherent and sensible piece. Perhaps the side effect of what I am writing about. I will just write whatever fights its way onto the page. The news is, that RANDOM DESPATCHES currently has 313 subscribers. Yes, 313 subscribers.
I remember correctly that at the start of the year, the goal was to garner 200 subscribers by December; at 5 new subscribers per month. That was a feasible and realistic goal in my frame of mind at the time. If you proposed anything higher, I hardly would have agreed to it. I had little space for considering any higher chances. Well, here we are.
When launching RANDOM DESPATCHES in August last year, I had fears and doubts. Chief amongst them was the possibility of it not surviving for long due to inconsistency. This was due to memories of a blog I had shut down two months (or so) before. I had a long stretch of what is commonly called writer’s block. I couldn’t add anything to the blog site for weeks, then months. Consistent was not a part of my resume. The blog revealed that reality in a way, in a manner that hindered me from committing to things, especially those that will be for the long run. The fear of inconsistency and doubt, among other things (including the imposter syndrome), mocked me when I considered starting RANDOM DESPATCHES. Eventually, I did anyway; I launched out.
To travel far, it is said, you travel in a company. That is true. You will see the reasons why subsequently. I remember that I did not know of the existence of Substack before stumbling on it in July 2022. I came about it via a friend’s post. I was attracted by the aesthetics of the site. I subscribed to his newsletter, Little Ends. Somehow, I navigated my way to the homepage of the host (Substack). I felt excited that I finally found a space that has the primary elements that catalyse my creativity—aesthetics and distinct organisation. I signed up for an account. Battled the voice which questioned my credibility, I made my first post in August. My first subscriber was me (I subscribed to the newsletter with my e-mail). Putting it out was through a bit of a struggle also. But I did anyway. To keep going for the long run, I had my friend; I was inspired by his consistency with Little Ends and somehow committed (with resolution) to stay with this for the long run and see. That was from August to December 2021. When I hit that milestone, I felt the urge to stretch the milestone a bit. I couldn’t have come this far if not for the support I got from friends and acquaintances in the long run.
Word after word, little by little, I turned in articles. A system was designed; I decided on a weekly schedule. I planned and committed to ensuring that before Friday night I should have my piece ready. Every other Saturday, with very rare exceptions, I had news ready. Never should any subscriber anticipate and not receive an update—all such anticipations have been attended duly, with no exception.
Fast forward to Friday, 22nd 2022. From that day to Monday, 25th 2022, I received repeated mail notifications. The subscriber count by the evening of that Sunday crossed 300. I marvelled. Judging by my perception at the break of the year, this is a miracle. It is a wonder. My strategy didn’t envision this leap. It was all set up for December, having 200 subscribers only. This is the seventh month, and the year’s milestone is exceeded. I think another Kangol cap is deserved.
The height of it all is when I worked my way around the cause of the leap. It was simply an overflow of the bounty from a friend’s newsletter. The leap was a ripple effect: his numbers grew and the effect flowed into all the other publications he recommended, including RANDOM DESPATCHES. The numbers boomed on his end for multiple reasons, including, especially, consistency, which almost crippled me from starting. His diligence paid off and it trickled down to people attached to him. The leap—garnering a hundred plus subscribers in about 72 hours—dazzled my perception of the scheme of things: a year’s job can be actualised in a few days. This is a miracle, so long as my initial thought was 200 for a year and my thought never contemplated any higher, not even in my planning.
The central factor for this leap was association. Graces upon men rub off on people around them. Association matters a great deal; hence the need to be careful about the ones you maintain.
I’m glad I finally was able to write this, even though with some difficulty: writing in high moments with jumbled thoughts is crazy.
You can now purchase your copy of Levography and Grace by KaatNanret with CinplangNan via this link: Click
In Levography and Grace are letters from an elder sister, Mandla, to her younger sister, Lindiwe. Mandla graciously writes to her sister, with the aim of helping her make the most of social media; she points to the numerous benefits, from financial to spiritual benefits while not leaving out the ills. She writes from a place of experience, understanding, love and care. In between these letters are notes written with levography, an innovative scripting which can be read normally (only) with a mirror.