The Incredible Lightness of Letting Go

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Last Monday, I walked into my office planning to write about letting go because I’d felt the lightning bolt of inspiration that I always welcome.

Before I started, I did some housekeeping and replied to what turned out to be the last two comments I would ever receive on my WordPress blog.

Final Acts and New Beginnings

That simple act, replying to comments, is one I’ve done countless times; suddenly, it felt different. I realized I had completed twenty years of publishing, a thousand-plus posts, and countless conversations—and the final notes had arrived quietly, without ceremony.

Instead of writing about letting go, I found myself living it.

I’ve discovered what letting go actually feels like.

Neither dramatic nor tragic, just true.

It’s Closing Down a Decades-Long Blogging Ecosystem

I’m not just saying goodbye to WordPress. I’m saying goodbye to my email marketing platform. More broadly, I’m saying goodbye to nearly twenty years of managing the machinery behind a digital publishing business.

Not because it failed me, but because I no longer need it. That’s a different thing.

The website, the hosting, the temperamental plugins, the automation, the endless maintenance—they all served their purpose. For years, I was willing to carry the weight because the weight made sense.

Now it doesn’t.

One of the things I’ve learned is that you don’t have to keep carrying everything. Some responsibilities belong to an earlier version of ourselves. Some ambitions do too. What once felt necessary starts to feel optional. What once felt important begins to look like clutter.

Eventually, you become willing to ask a simple question:

Does this still serve the life I want now?

For me, the answer became clear.

It’s Funny How Things Just Work Out Right Sometimes

Moving Art Marketing News to Substack wasn’t the original plan. It began as a quiet experiment with Older Artists. But after working here for a while, the obviousness of the move became impossible to ignore.

Some of that is practical. The move reduces complexity and removes a surprising amount of friction. But that’s not really what this is about.

What I’m feeling is something deeper. I’m not just reinvigorating Art Marketing News. I’m reinvigorating myself. That’s where the incredible lightness of letting go comes in.

Doing Less, Better Is a Real Thing of Real Value

I’ve spent years talking about Practical Minimalism. At the center of it is a simple idea: do less better. This move may be the purest expression of that principle I’ve ever lived.

I’m doing less. And the work is better.

I’m writing with more ease. I’m spending less time managing systems and more time creating. The signal feels stronger because there’s less noise around it.

The strange thing is that letting go hasn’t made my world smaller. It has made it lighter. And lighter feels a lot like freedom.

At this stage of my life, that feels less like giving something up and more like arriving somewhere. To feel this kind of renewal is something I don’t take for granted. It feels like turning a corner and finding a new season waiting there.

One with less weight and more possibility.

Letting Go of WordPress Is Monumental

Most of all, this shift leaves me better positioned to do the work that matters most to me. To keep sharing ideas, information, and inspiration with artists. To keep helping creative people navigate a changing world with a little more clarity and confidence.

And the joy that comes from realizing I can continue doing that—with less friction, less complexity, and more focus—lifts me and makes me lighter still.

I couldn’t be happier.

Turning this corner now, while feeling this kind of lightness and renewed energy, is something I don’t take for granted.

It’s something I feel deeply grateful for.

See you next week!

— Barney

PS: As much as this is about letting go, it’s about renewal. This post is my first sent from my new Substack platform. You’re getting it because you were subscribed on the WordPress platform that I let go of soon after I wrote this. Thanks for being here.

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PPS: If you’re an older artist, you may enjoy my Substack about staying connected to the creative life as we get older, with more ease, more perspective, and less pressure.