Delete Them.

What will you delete this week? <3

I found this post in my drafts from February. I remember thinking, the bones are there but I’m having a hard time landing the plane. I decided to post it as-is, life is too short for formal conclusions.

In relevant recent news, I’ve been deleting everything in my Downloads folder at the end of the week and it has changed my life in ways I couldn’t describe. I’m building my “let go” muscle one ‘empty trash’ click at a time.

Also, shoutout to the subscriber who told me they seasonally archive all the unread emails in their inbox because “if it were that important I would have already responded by now.” Queen shit.

xo Andrea

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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I learned about Mel Robbins against my will. From what I’ve gathered, she is a former lawyer, an author, motivational speaker, podcast host, and alleged plagiarizer.

She popularized the phrase “let them” — at least in its current iteration — which, as one of my favorite podcasters Joanne McNally pointed out on her podcast last week, could be interpreted as a polite, enlightened way of saying “fuck them.”

How I understand it: The idea of “let them” is to accept the things we don’t have control over in order to protect our own peace and prioritize our own reactions to things. If someone flips you off at a red light, let them. If your friend flakes on your dinner plans, let them. If a wealthy, well-known author (allegedly) tries to trademark a philosophical concept that has been used by many in order to further profit from it… let them?

I hope no disgruntled Robbins heads take offense to my lack of fanhood. She’s just not my cup of tea. If “let them” helps you cope in a world that is full of conflict and disregulation, and you learned about it from Mel, I’m glad it found its way to you.

The reason I brought this up: As I was going through my Newsletter folder in my inbox this morning, I felt an overwhelming sense of being behind. I have the majority of the newsletters I subscribe to automatically go into a folder to avoid inbox clutter. I used to have a weekly ritual where I’d catch up on newsletter content, typically from the bathtub.

But I haven’t been keeping up with them over the last several months. They’ve just been stacking up week after week, my folder filled with beautiful essays and lists and insights from people I admire.

There’s a part of me that feels bad about the digital stack, for multiple reasons:

There are so many things I could be implementing to improve my life and my business that I’m missing out on.

There are so many people I want to show my support to by reading and engaging with their content.

There are so many opportunities to be inspired that I am not taking; damn, I could really use some inspiration right now.

I tried opening a few, skimming them for glimmers of insight or life-changing words.

And then I was overcome, potentially by the spirit of a white woman self-help guru, with the urge to delete them.

Delete them.

Delete. Them.

Just delete them!!!!

There comes a point when it’s time to let go of the things you’ve been stacking up, knowing whatever is meant to find you (or be found by you) will circle back around when it needs to.

Delete them.

There are seasons when you may need to find inspiration/knowledge from within.

Delete them.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your brain is start with a blank slate.

Delete them.

If it were really *that important* you would have done something with it by now.

Delete them.

The internet exists. Just find it again when you need it.

Delete them.