I have to read my e-mail more then once a week

Istiqlál (Independence), 6 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Friday, July 18, 2008 about 7:10 PM PDT

I have to read my e-mail more then once a week or once every two to three days. The last time I actually read any of my e-mail was on Wednesday of this week. That could be why my e-mail box is cluttered. If I dealt with it on a daily basis then maybe I could keep the inbox uncluttered, never mind the junk or spam folder.

I can just imagine what my grandparents would say about that, not that e-mail existed when they were still alive. If computers and e-mail had existed then, my grandfather would have had a computer and an e-mail account. He would probably have had a yahoo account. I have three e-mail accounts. I suppose I could do with just two, but the yahoo account is free and I just can't make myself drop it.

I am in the process of simplifying my life. E-mail doesn't encourage a simple life. The big problem with e-mail is spam. Yahoo calls its junk mail folder "SPAM". I like that because that is what most of the e-mail in that folder is. Normally, I go through the spam folder and move mail I want to read to my in-box. The problem is that I don't think I've read my yahoo mail since Wednesday either. I'm tempted to do a mass delete of my inbox and begin fresh with an empty box.

I've tried for several months to unclutter my e-mail boxes and unsubscribe e-mail items. The more stuff I un subscribe to the more spam I seem to get. I don't know if those two phenomena are related, but they appear so. Uncluttering is part of the transformation process I am going through right now. It is a test that I am facing and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm passing it.