Rethinking email

I have to re-think what it means to me to email someone a photo. I don't send many photographs via email, certainly less than 2 per month. Most of the time the photos I send are related to a birthday or an event. The photos are always resized for quick access, they are always hand-selected and of high quality (no snapshots), and I only send a few photos at a time (less than 5 photographs per email).

The photos are sent to people with direct connection to the event or to the subject photographed. They often go to grandparents, uncles, ants, godparents, and the likes. Yet, without fail, 95% of the emails go unanswered - it is rare to get even a single reply. This really used to bother me, to the point that I started trimming down the email distribution to fewer and fewer recipients. If I keep this up, pretty soon I will be emailing these photos only to myself.

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong. I don't photograph because I expect others to comment. When I blog, I don't blog with any expectation that the entry will be read by anyone other than myself, and I don't blog with the expectation that it will be commented on or linked to. I blog because I like it, because it means something to me, because I think it will help someone. Maybe that's how I should look at the photo emails that I send - not expect a reply, not expect a comment, and certainly not expect a photo in return. Just send the email with a grandchild or a wildlife subject and hope that it will bring a smile to the recipient, that it will bring fond memories of the event, that it will bring a distant relative closer to our daily lives - no more, no less.

Cris Pierry

Technorati Tags: email, Photography, spam

Comments

[Gisele Salum]

São Paulo, January 19th , 2007

I was browsing through your blog, which to be honest I had never really done except perhaps once or twice for a few seconds, and so there I was, looking at this and that in an unhurried, desultory manner, enjoying the tour though admittedly feeling way out of my depth as most of what you mention is too technical for me, I was about to give up when lo and behold, I came upon this nice entry. I thought, hmm, now, this is language I can certainly understand, territory I can navigate quite comfortably in.

Although you said you have learned not to feel upset about the lack of responses after sending photos and posting entries in your blog, and I know you don't need any kind of "there-there" sentimentalism as you're no doubt a fully grown-up human being who has developed his own strategies to deal with unresponsive insensitive inhuman beings and all the other ugly aspects of life on planet Earth, I just felt I had to reassure you and remind you of the following:

* I have always enjoyed getting your photos very much – some of them are so beautiful, and/or there is something meaningful in the image, and anyway photos are always welcome for the nice break from routine they provide

* When I didn't send a quick thank-you reply, it was because I felt such succinctness was not good enough but I simply didn't have time/energy for a longer message; and then later on when I had an abundance of time/energy I either completely forgot about the photos or I felt it would be silly of me to send you a belated thank-you message, specially in a more elaborate way

* I dare say the two points above apply to legion other people out there – they might not admit it but that's another story

* By all means, do keep blogging and sending photos. Not only because you find the activity enjoyable but also because there are bound to be many other people like me who appreciate it and who can learn from it and pass it on to others!

* Don't feel bad about, I mean, don't nourish evil feelings towards those who don't see you as who you really are, those who don't acknowledge your worth - Being inhuman is part and parcel of being human. Having said that, be careful that in the process of turning a blind eye to the inconsiderate behavior of other people, you don't end up belittling yourself and turning a blind eye to the wise, sensitive person that you are.

I'm not talking about self-aggrandizement. I'm talking about calmly recognizing your own unique merit - something that nobody and nothing can possibly detract from, no matter what you may have done or failed to do in the past. For God's sake, we all make mistakes – sometimes abysmally gross ones. Then again, is it really advisable for anyone to play the judge? Why throw stones at ourselves or a fellow (in)human being when we all live in glass houses? Aren't we all pretty much on the same boat? Alas more often than not we blunder unknowingly. We harbor deep-seated grievances and feel unable to forgive. We say the wrong thing, or else we're afraid to take any risks and we remain silent when it would have been wiser for us to put in our two cents worth.

Regardless of the years we may have lived, the knowledge we may have accumulated, the insights we may have gained, none of this can keep us from making erroneous judgments and decisions – the truth is, in small and big ways we're always underestimating or overestimating people or situations or whatever. Not surprisingly we often find ourselves tangled up in some sort of predicament. Trite as it may sound, however, adversities can and do sometimes turn out to be blessings in disguise. Much learning can ensue. And what are we here for if not to learn - to learn and to move on and to keep enlarging the scope of our knowledge and vision and insights and humanness and attaining ever greater heights.

I realize this blahblahblah is easier said than done … So many conflicting, pernicious influences bombard us that never in the history of mankind has it been so easy for one to be led astray. And there it is again, rearing its unsightly narrow-minded head, the treacherous slippery terrain of pointing accusatory fingers. We must not go down this hideously thorny path. Why punish ourselves or other people unduly. But neither must we be overly lenient. It is imperative that we pay attention and strive to find a middle ground and do what we can to keep in touch with our truest, noblest, godliest, albeit imperfect, self.

Loneliness and resentment are entirely valid human emotions – and so is the desire to be fully seen by others, to bond with others in a genuine, child-like, spontaneous way. In fact, without this closeness and transparence our existence is likely to turn into one dull, never-ending, arid stretch. Not that aridity is bad in itself – It actually makes for more interesting landscapes. As do green meadows and colorful flowers. And everything else in between.

Thank God life is so bountiful and tomorrow is a new day.

Namaste,

Gisele

The information below was taken/abridged from the Wikipedia site.

Namaste

Namasté … is a South Asian greeting , which is used when both Hello and Goodbye would be used in English. The meaning can be quite different, however.

A literal translation is "reverential salutation to your inner."

Uses
It is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with the hands pressed together, palms touching, in front of the chest.

In a normal context this word is a respectful way of greeting someone. Generally done by younger (or in a hierarchy - underlings) to elders/higher-ups, although, the elders reply back in the same manner.

In a religious context this word can be taken to mean any of these:

The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you.
I greet that place where you and I are one.
I salute the Light of God in you.
I bow to the divine in you.
I recognize that within each of us is a place where Divinity dwells, and when we are in that place, we are One.
My higher energy salutes your higher energy.
The God in me sees and honors the God in you.
May the God within you, bless you
The Divine within me sees and honors the Divine within you.
In other words, it recognizes the equality of all, and pays honor to the sacredness and interconnection of all, as well as to the source of that interconnection.

[swingers]

I like to imagine myself as a model, like a fashion type.
It never happened for me, so now I'm going the
glamour route. http://www.geocities.com/swingers_ads_2005/ I came back
for the one in my green heels two days later.
The weather was warm so being bottomless was actually a lot of fun.

[single women]

Skin on skin- is that too forward???
We are only looking for couples and single females.
http://www.uinlove.com Single males are automatically filtered out and never reach our inbox.
It always amuses us that single guys cannot read and think that if they email us they will be the "one"
that breaks down that rule and makes us just gotta get together with them.