Daily Flow | Of Emotion and Patron Support

The last week I’ve been working for patrons, and I have to say it’s pretty bad ass.

The last 15 years, I’ve been generating disc dog content online as, pretty much, a full time job. Of course it comes and goes, a few months at a time and a glut of content comes whooshing out and then some ebb and flow… and it happens again. Big projects happen, but they’re dicey in terms of money and time – big projects require big lump sums… that’s a bit tough for us.

It’s been a long hard slog. Rewarding as all get out, but it has been a slog.

As a result, we have a pretty big library of content online for disc dog and dog training stuff, which is awesome, but it’s valuable stuff – it’s 15 years worth of work – and it is important to protect valuable stuff…

There was always fear and apprehension in projects. Not a fear of failure, the content was going to be great, but a fear of reception, or the lack there of – our Sequence Building class, for instance.

Putting out this content for so long and the serious stuff – our “best stuff” was completely hidden from the public. All people got for free, to judge our wares and the potential value on our larger projects and pay to play classes, was old stuff and stuff that we put out as teasers for the “real content”. The “real content” often felt like a waste of time. You know, typical human emotional stuff.

There was a constant emotional dilemma for me while figuring out or trying to figure out how to share, protect, and monetize this addictive little hobby that I live. Putting forth the extra effort on a “good piece” might not happen or, worse, could make me feel bitter while writing it, fretting about it’s almost sure lack of reach and reception by passionate disc dog handlers. Facebook’s extortive algorithm has not helped with that nagging emotional issue, either, and it will not – EVER. It is designed to extract money from creative content producers, and I can’t afford to pay them to profit from my data and creativity. I could go on and on, in several directions at once about how putting out free and paid content made me feel icky at times. And I’m not complaining, mind you, just stating some facts about feelings.

Here’s the thing with this Patreon work… I don’t feel like that any more when generating content. I have felt extremely positive about all the work done in the last week and I feel extremely positive about releasing it to the public for free. I have been completely energized and compelled to tidy up some dangling projects and jump in on a couple that have been on the back burner for a year or three…

My sincerest thanks to all our current and future patrons for making me feel this way about diving in to my little addictive passion. It’s been quite rejuvenating and revitalizing for me, literally, and that’s not cosmetic marketing speech. I feel more youthful and up for the challenge. I look forward to doing more of the crazy work I do on your behalf, work that is easily and freely accessible to the disc dog and dog training enthusiast.

I enjoy learning and sharing the new things I learn and I feel like we are doing that together. I get to do this work with somebody. Thank you for that peace of mind and freaky deaky expert Frisbee Hippie solidarity. Let’s keep the Pawsitive Vybes flowing and growing.