Matt’s Mix Tape, Vol. 118

Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson, and this is Matt’s Mix Tape: essays + links on living a vibrant and creative middle life.

This weeks Mix:

• The power of handwritten notes

• Why writing for yourself isn’t enough

• “Giving value” is imprecise and annoying corporatespeak

• Can you answer this question for me?

• Florida photo

Some weeks, a newsletter is a struggle.

Not feeling great. Lots going on. It would be a good week to say to hell with it and not publish.

But that’s when it’s most important to publish. So onward we go.

And a happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the United States.

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The power of handwritten notes

Odell Beckham, Jr. came to the Cleveland Browns with great fanfare. He was a big-play receiver and high-wattage personality, acquired to elevate quarterback Baker Mayfield’s play.

It didn’t work out.

Beckham eventually pouted and protested his way to a release, and joined the L.A. Rams. But Beckham did an interesting thing as he left Cleveland, sharing a handwritten note to the fans, team, and ownership:

Odell Beckham Jr @obj

📝

How much more personal does this feel than a press release? Or a screenshot of text from Apple Notes?

Handwritten notes have psychological benefits for both writer and receiver:

… the researchers found that the prosocial gesture of expressing gratitude in a handwritten note boosts positive emotions and well-being for both the letter-writing “expresser” and the recipient of the stated appreciation.

Handwritten notes are an analog antidote to our digital world. They carry an emotional resonance and intimacy emails or direct messages simply cannot.

(Even when it’s a picture of a handwritten note, posted to Twitter.)

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Why writing for yourself isn’t enough

You should write for yourself. And to yourself.

I journal every day. No one else on planet earth sees it, and it’s important to just let my brain dump out the noise every day.

But private journaling alone is not enough.

We also have to publish, as Michael Nielsen says in a piece about the value of a personal website:

There’s something strangely difficult in writing just for oneself. As far as I can tell, almost no-one can do it productively. We think better when the stakes are higher, and one of the best ways of raising the stakes is to make a document into something you’re sharing with people whose good opinion you desire. Even just sharing with one such person makes an enormous difference to the quality of your thinking.

There are many reasons writing works best when it’s social and shared. Sharper thinking is one of them.

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“Giving value” is imprecise and annoying corporatespeak

Loved this from my friend Reddy:

reddy2go.eth 👹 @reddy2go

was exploring the idea of value propositions on a call with @goodandprosper @NesrineAouinti @matttillotson @naokoken @maile @chr_iswong and you can tell it struck a chord cuz soon as i woke up the next day, this tumbled out...

“Giving value” reduces human interaction to some immesuable and amorphous business exchange.

Yuck.

Let’s make it more than that. And while we’re at it, let’s stop using this annoying and empty corporate buzzword. As Ken Evans said:

Ken Evans @StartupMonkey

@matttillotson We’ve all lived on the Dark side of marketing long enough to have written the copy, rolled our eyes, and moved on with our day. IMO, isn’t it more about expressing empathy for a situation and having a solution that others “may” value?

Yes. Have empathy for a situation. And use more precise language than “value,” because the writer in me is screaming for it.

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Can you answer this question for me?

I’m going through Josh Spector’s Newletter Creators course with a group from Ness Labs.

One task for the course: define a clear value (there’s that word again) proposition for your newsletter.

So, I’m curious:

Why do you read this newsletter? How does it help you from week to week?

Please drop me a note and let me know, because I’m trying to figure out this value proposition thing.

I appreciate it!

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This week’s Florida photo

To take this picture, I followed this bird as it circled this group of palms.

Like, multiple trips around the trees. I looked super cool, I’m sure.

No shame in my game when it comes to photos for this newsletter.

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Hello to 28 new subscribers

That puts us over the 700 subscriber mark!

And thank you to you for reading. Drop me a note, ask a question, or tell me my opinion is wrong anytime.