Why Would You?

I'm not doing much of this right now, so why would you?

Colby Martin

Nov 26, 2024

Tip: At average reading speeds this will take you less than 10 minutes. Can you spare that, just for today? 🙏🏽

Probably Something We Can All Agree On

Like many of you, I’ve had massive life changes in the past two years.

Chief among them:

Ending of a 19 year marriage
Ending of 18 years of being a father (insofar as living with them, that is)
Ending of 20 years as a full-time pastor in local church ministry.

While it’s probable that not many of you have experienced that significant amount of life-change (aka, the loss or disruption to my main three identity markers: Husband, Father, Pastor), it is likely that you can relate to one of the main impacts such changes have had on me.

I’m speaking, of course, about

money.

Holler back if you, too, feel as though finances are tiiiiight. 🙋🏻‍♂️

Actually, tight implies there’s enough, but just barely. Like stretching Saran wrap around your Thanksgiving leftovers. You might have just a small square of plastic wrap, but you can at least stretch it enough to get the job done.

For many people, however, “tight” would be a welcome experience.

Last year more than a quarter of the US population said they were struggling financially. That’s 1 in 4 people who feel as though they are “just getting by” or “struggling to get by.”

That’s 1 in 4 people who say there simply isn’t enough saran wrap to cover the plate.

They live with a daily anxiety that they won’t be able to protect the white meat from drying out in the fridge—which, as we all know, means we’ll miss out on one of the best parts of Thanksgiving: the leftover turkey sandwiches.

You might be reading this as one of those 1 in 4 people.

Truth is, I’m writing it as one of those 1 in 4 people.

Worse Off

Before every election people love to throw around the question, “Are you better off or worse off now than you were four years ago?”

For me, if we’re just talking financially, the answer is simple: I’m worse off. (But in other ways? Better)

Since you (didn’t) ask, here’s my Thanksgiving plate financial math:

Alimony + child support + moving to a new city and finding my own place;
Minus a full time job with consistent income; and
Sprinkle in a generous portion of inflation (i.e. the cranberry sauce that nobody asked for, yet there it sits anyway, threatening to taint the whole plate)

and suddenly, not only do I not have enough plastic wrap to cover the whole plate, but even what’s on the plate is underwhelming.

(Seriously tho, who started this weird metaphor, and why has no one stopped me yet?!)

Okay, what’s my point here?

I’m almost there.

But first,

The Economy is Better & Stronger Than You and I (Probably) Think

Returning to the question above about being “better or worse off,” while my own personal experience is “worse off,” that’s largely due to the aforementioned life changes.

Objectively speaking, the country (as a whole) is better off now than it was four years ago.

I know, I know. We’ve been conditioned by the media and culture-writ-large to think that things have never been worse, or that the country as a whole is in the tank, but the actual data doesn’t support this narrative.

Consider this quote from an article in the Economic Policy Institute, “Seven reasons why today’s economy is historically strong”:

The economy today is extraordinarily strong by nearly every historical benchmark, including relative to the years immediately preceding the pandemic.

The article talks about how our perception of the current economy is way off. I encourage to read it if, like me, you doubt the article’s headline.

We all think it’s much worse than it is. And, we all think it was much better four years ago (pre-pandemic) than today.

According to the numbers, that simply isn’t the case.

Wagers are higher
Unemployment is lower
The stock market is stronger
Even with inflation, the domestic GDP has grown more in the past couple years than in years prior.

I suppose part of this disconnect (between how we think/feel about the economy, versus what actually is) can be chalked up to the rosy glasses we tend to wear when looking at the past. Nostalgia is a powerful drug. We often over estimate how great the past was.

But regardless of the data, going back to the issue of you and your feelings and experience (and me and my feelings and experiences), my guess is, even in light of the strong economy in which we currently exist,

most people are looking for ways to cut costs from their life, not add.

We stare at our rising pile of subscription costs: Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Peacock, Amazon Prime, the gym, food delivery services, etc, etc etc, and we think, “Which of these can I go without?” Sorry reruns of The Office, you know how much I love you, but cut.

We look at the out of control rising costs of fast food and Starbucks, and the disturbing expansion of tip creep, and we decide to make our coffee and meals at home more frequently.

Which brings me to…

Becoming a Paid Subscriber to Perspective Shift

Then someone like me, who has been writing on this platform for four years now (most of that time making everything accessible for free), finally makes the choice to put some of the content behind a paywall,

and now it’s just one more thing/person/entity seeking your monies.

*sigh*

I know. I feel it too.

Believe me, I wish I was independently wealthy so that I could then give away everything I make for free.

(Actually, I don’t know if I do wish that. There’s a kind of catalyzing creative energy that emerges from the constant anxiety of how-are-we-going-to-pay-the-bills this month? But I digress.)

The truth is, asking people to invest in you and your work is incredibly vulnerable. As I’ve already stated, I know many of you are in the same scrappy boat as me: hustling, grinding, working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Sometimes, though, I hear the words of Jesus echo in my head, “Ye have not because ye ask not.”

That tracks.

Therefore, here’s the thing. In light of the feeling we all have about needing to cut expenses and watch our spending…

It makes all the sense in the world to me that

of the 7,150 people who subscribe to this newsletter,

only 204 are paid subscribers

(actually it’s more like 175, because some of those are comp’d or gift subscriptions).

That means that less than 2.5% of my readers have made the choice to add Perspective Shift to their monthly/annual costs.

Like I said, in a world where many of us either legitimately don’t have enough, or at least feel like we don’t, this number makes a lot of sense.

I get it.

I’m with you.

I am you.

And yet, this article/post/email is, essentially, me asking:

Will you consider upgrading to a Paid Subscription to assist in getting that 2.5% number to something more like 6-7%?

That would mean 500 of the 7150 subscribers would be paid subscribers. An increase, if the maths are correct enough, of about 300 more people.

Will you be one of them?

Which might raise the question…

Why Would You Subscribe to this Newsletter?

Let’s say you’re reading this and you do have $5/month (or $4/month if you pay annually) that ostensibly could be used in support of a publication like this one.

Why do it?

Well here are three reasons I can think of.

#1) You like, appreciate, and/or respect the content

The most obvious reason why someone might transition from FREE to PAID Subscriber is because they want access to all the stuff I write.

Not because you like or agree with everything I think (that would be unsettling… just one of “me” is more than enough, lol), but because on the whole you tend to enjoy or at least appreciate things such as:

reflections on a progressive approach to Christianity,
the overlap of psychology and conscious spirituality, and how they intersect with religion,
observations from the Bible that surprise you,
insights into ideas that might provide a shift in your perspective,
ideas and teachings about LGBTQ inclusion and affirming theology,
stories from my life (processing divorce; being a pastor; how a session with plant medicine two years ago changed my life; life as a traveling preacher/speaker guy, etc)

So you might subscribe because most of my articles are behind a paywall, and you’d like to access them.

#2) You’re grateful for my work and want to support it (by supporting me)

Perhaps others in the Paid Subscriber group are less here for the access to all the articles as much as they are just like,

“You know what? That Colby guy… I sure appreciate him and the work he does. I may not read all his stuff—after all, he’s usually obnoxiously verbose—but I do want to show my support.”

You might be reading this and feel similar.

Sure, you probably aren’t interested in all my diverse interests, or agree with all my weird perspectives, but generally speaking you like/appreciate/want-to-support me.

If so, that’s pretty rad.

I respect people who are like that.

#3) Because these cool cats have, and it inspires you, too

Here’s a few folks that switched to being Paid Subscribers, and why they made the change.

And then this one, from BW, sums it up pretty well:

Thank You

During this week of giving thanks,

and in light of my weird metaphor above about cling wrap and cold turkey,

let me just end by saying THANK YOU to everyone who has ever:

read one of my articles (especially the whole thing!)
commented on or ‘liked’ an article
shared it with a friend
become a Paid Subscriber
sent me a note to encourage and express your gratitude

Y’all make being an author/writer, absolutely worth it.

Perhaps not financially worth it (cause I don’t know if you know this, but only a fraction of authors actually make money as authors), but emotionally and spiritually and psychologically worth it. 😇

I love writing. I love sharing with others. And I love that many of you share (your resources) with me so that I can keep writing.

And if any of you would like to upgrade from a Free subscription to a Paid one (for any of the above three reasons, or one of your own choosing!), then here’s a link one more time.

Thanks.

p.s. One final thing, for the truly diligent among you who’ve made it this far.

“Colby, how can we support you and your work in more substantial ways?”

From time to time (usually when I’m traveling and guest preaching or presenting one of the Talks I’m currently touring), people will approach me afterwards and ask how they can support me.

Great question.

Recently I’ve adopted a Missionary Style of ministry, where people and churches who believe in my work, and believe in the benefit of teaching better ideas (specifically around LGBTQ inclusion), sponsor and support me through a non-profit.

If you’ve been touched by UnClobber,

or by any of my teachings/videos on Youtube,

or you follow this publication and think, “Hmm, I could do more than $5/month, and I’d sure like to,”

then I invite you to visit this page to learn more about my ministry.

And/or visit this page to become a monthly or one-time donor.

Thanks again, friends.