1. An Amends From Parker
It’s embarrassing to admit that until today, I have not had access to the email address you received this email from (parker@parkergates.com).
Many of you have replied to this newsletter over the past few months, but I have not replied because I didn’t have this mailbox set up. I AM SO SORRY!
I will reply to each email, though this may take some time. Please know that I am monitoring this address now, so feel free to respond to this newsletter whenever you want. You can expect a reply from me!
2. Change Is Inevitable
You may have noticed a slightly different look and feel about this email. You’re so observant!
I’ve decided to switch email platforms from Mailchimp (which I’ve used for the past 2 years) to Substack. There are a number of reasons for this, most of which I discuss below. These are reasons both philosophical and pragmatic.
Here is what you can expect should you decide to stick around:
- Longer form content
- More researched and resourced content
- My commitment to creating legitimately useful and supportive content. If it’s not serving you in some way, I beg you to simplify your life by unsubscribing. Then use that time to do something rad like write a book, start a band, or go walk your poor dog who is staring at you right now wondering why you’re looking at your device instead of walking in the woods
- Even though I am moving to Substack, the newsletter will remain free. Nothing will be paywalled. You can, however, support my writing and my work if you so choose
3. OK, Now On To The Regularly Scheduled Newsletter:
When I was twelve, I started listening to punk rock music. My earliest memories of falling in love with this music are of staying up late at night to record certain songs off the local punk show playing on college radio.
I loved Agent Orange and Violent Femmes, The Dead Milkmen, and most everything off the Repo Man soundtrack.
A couple of years later, I moved to Waco, TX, where I met Harry Thompson who introduced me to Bad Brains, The Misfits, The Cramps, and more.
Initially, I fell in love purely to the sound. I wasn’t always sure what the lyrics were about but I knew that the music felt new and fresh and angry. That was what drew me to punk rock in the first place. Punk bands were singing about shit that mattered versus the metal bands of the early 80’s who were singing mostly about sex and weird D&D/fantasy shit.
As I started skateboarding and finding other skaters and trading music, I started to adopt a punk ethos. Rebelling against the status quo as best as I knew how at that emotionally immature age.
It started off with some misguided delinquency like vandalism, skipping school, and getting drunk. But over time, that ethos manifested itself in different, and hopefully more mature ways. I’ll also say that having a punk rock ethos paired with being an active alcoholic wasn’t a great combination. But now I’ve been sober a number of years and I also practice mindfulness which makes for a much more productive and harmonious marriage to punk.
Today, my punk ethos shows up in different ways. One of those ways is more about casting a skeptical glance at what is culturally normal in the US.
This whole idea we’ve been sold about working all day, making our primary goals about earning money and getting rich, buying a bunch of stuff and hoping that it makes us feel better thing isn’t paying off.
For me, being an aging punk kid is more about not engaging in the Matrix as much as possible and part of that is not playing by all the rules that others make for us.
Specifically, I’m referring to the rules made by the big social media entities like Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
I’ve been making written and video content for over 2 years now. Partly because I enjoy the process of writing and filming that content, partly because I get feedback from readers/viewers saying it’s helpful, and partly to try and maintain some online presence that might support my work as a coach.
But, as we all know, the algorithm is king. If you want your content to reach people, it has to follow a number of rules which are antithetical to the reasons I listed above for why I love making content.
Post every day, take lots of selfies, have a catchy headline, keep your content brief for our diminishing attention spans, use lots of keywords, and then act like you give a shit about everyone else online by liking their posts and replying to anyone that likes your posts.
My other problem with making content on these platforms is that they “own” my audience and my content. And that ain’t punk at all.
So, I’m moving to this weekly+ newsletter. Instead of spending all my time and energy trying to work for the algorithm, I’m going to focus my attention on creating 1-2 pieces of great content each week that comes straight to you so you don’t need to come to me.
Lastly, and this is less about holding onto my punk rock upbringing and more about being a creative person in general…change is good. It’s time for the messages I try to share about recovery and mindfulness and living happy/healthy lives to evolve. Hell, I’m surprised I made content for as long as I did!
So, I hope you’ll stick around and even tell your friends about this newsletter! But if this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, I get it. Hit the unsubscribe below and we’ll part as friends.
But if you do stick around, know that this is where I’m devoting all my time and attention from here on out.