You are about to tumble into The Jeff Stream

Please enjoy the gasping and the flailing.

I recently learned that there are people who walk this earth without being dogged at every step by an internal monologue. From what I can gather, these individuals are capable of observing, feeling, reacting, making choices, and otherwise engaging in daily life unencumbered by the vast scaffold of verbal reflexivity that constitutes my every waking moment. Lacking this ceaseless mental metacommentary, they still somehow manage to function without dissolving into steaming puddles of shapeless matter that render our city streets unsafe for pedestrians. 

Who are these people? And what kind of drug will help me understand their world? 

Here comes the deluge.

If you’re reading this - my first post on Substack - you’ve been grandfathered in from my previous newsletter. This means you already have a secondhand acquaintance with the relentless expression of my consciousness. All those words and images in my head have to go SOMEWHERE - why not your inbox? 

The problem with my old newsletter format is that I had SO much I wanted to say and spent SO much time preparing it that, by the time I finished, the result was overwhelming for both the reader and the writer. So this new endeavor - The Jeff Stream - proposes a new dynamic: Why don’t I overwhelm you a little bit at a time, but more frequently? You’ll still be equally overwhelmed, but hopefully it will fit more comfortably into your busy lives. 

For starters, I’m going to try to write something 2-3 times every week. Befitting a stream of consciousness, it’ll be pretty different stuff every time - a book response here, a personal plug there, a humorous fiction off to the side. I’m putting together a calendar, but god knows I’ll be too impulsive to follow it. 

Wait, are you supposed to pay me now?

You may have noticed that I’m offering a paid tier - but no worries, giving me your money is strictly voluntary! That option will be an experiment-within-an-experiment, in which I try to determine what it could possibly mean for a person or persons to sign up for “more Jeff.” At first it will go something like, “Hmm, this thing I’ve written/drawn/opined about is too awkward/sensitive/bizarre to be shared in a public-facing forum - allow me to dump it on people who have opted to participate in a monetary exchange!”

Deeper down, though, the reason I’m trying it out is accountability. If people willingly offer financial support, it will give me more reason to create interesting things that make good on their investment, to the tune of 1-2 additional scrawlings per week. Some of this content will stay within the paid circle, while some will become subject to a trickle-down process that, unlike its economic counterpart, actually delivers.

This is a lot of words for someone who likes to draw.

Yes, yes. Here is a doodle for a potential textile pattern it would be fun to make someday: 

Throw in a few more anxieties about near-term apocalyptic scenarios, and it starts to look a bit like the inside of my head.

Thank you for joining me in the riptide. More excitement coming later this week! 

And seriously, if you’re one of those people who doesn’t spend all day talking to yourself in your mind, I’d genuinely like to learn more about it. Maybe you’ll rent me some of that space? 

Streamingly,
Jeff