May 19, 2021
Last week something happened.
I had just completed a months-long project that I was coordinating all by myself, involving at least 25 people. It went well too.
But the after-effect was quite something. A friend of mine called it post-partum depression!
I was in no shape to do much, leave alone crank out a newsletter issue a couple of days later.
First, I thought I would explain the situation and let you know that there was no substance in the email. But then an idea struck me.
What if I just don’t explain anything and just skip the week? How many would notice?
So I decided to check it out. Nothing went out.
What happened, you ask? I’ll tell you next week.
In the meantime, I want you to respond and let me know whether you noticed and what you thought last Wednesday. I am planning something to be sent out to just those who respond.
Please do this by May 24 to participate in this reveal.
BTW, I am still in the trough and will take it easy until the end of May. Next real issue will be on June 2. Unless I feel a fresh vigor!
Till then, enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. Let’s remember our soldiers who keep us safe.
P. Venkat Raman
P.S. There is a difference between responding using this link and simply replying, even though you may not feel the difference. Let’s see what grabs you.
Commentary
Well, this is a peculiar email I sent to my Friends and Family list and the full impact of it needed to be experienced in the moment. Let me elaborate a little here so that browsers of the archive can get a feel for the situation.
I had been publishing my weekly Friends and Family Newsletter since January 2021 on Wednesdays with no break until May 12. There was no issue that went out on the 12th and this email was sent a week later and addressed that absence. This issue was pretty light in content because I was still recovering from that depression. Resumption of the newsletter wouldn’t really happen until June 2.
As the newsletter editor of Toastmasters District 57 that included thousands of members and around 150 clubs, I had concocted a club newsletter contest that started in October 2020 and ended in April 2021, with a little spillover into May. This was a project that involved 16 clubs as participants and several individuals in a variety of roles to make the whole effort come together and be successful.
Being the sole coordinator of this involved project with persistent demands on communication over many months while holding down other responsibilities took a lot out of me. When the whole effort finished in the first week of May, there were withdrawal symptoms.
My friend equated it to post-partum depression because the 7-month gestation period resulted in the birth of the framework of repeatable Club Newsletter Contests in future years!