Notes as an Exquisite Structure Where All of This Happens.
I'm dreaming here. Allow me, please.
I’d like to think of Notes as a cool gallery where artists and writers can show off their works in a setting where the lighting is just right and music plays softly in the background and we each have a space in a room where people can find us and gather around that piece we’re so proud of and examine it before moving on to the next piece.
Our pieces would have price tags because that’s the way it is, but any sales would be discreet and away from the gallery floor. We’d be pushing a unique kind of experience here and, while we would hope someone would buy what we’re selling, the focus in this gallery is on the works at hand. The art. The beauty of the visual and the written.
No one would think of shouting into this quiet, beautiful space when something they’ve offered has sold. When a sale did happen, no one would be bragging it up, waving the check around, showing off bank statements, explaining to the crowd how successful they’ve been at this particular gallery.
Because it’s a gallery.
It’s not just any gallery, however. There are other things going on here. Off to the side there’s a smoke-filled room where the politicos and the activists hang out. (The smoke is coming out of their ears.) There’s a glass door separating them from the gallery, so they can be seen but not heard unless you want to open that door and throw yourself inside. They’re a lively bunch, and quite vocal.
In another alcove the techies are talking. They’re the ones who know the mechanics upside down and inside out and can tell you in excruciating detail how this whole thing works. In case you might want to know about AI and SEO and all those other things we’re supposed to know about and either embrace or avoid.
In other spaces there are meeting rooms and classrooms for writers and readers and artists and the conversations are heady and invigorating and confusing and exhausting…and full to bursting.
At the commerce end there is a gift shop of sorts, where Substackers can sell their services, including their newsletters, and anyone can look them over and decide whether or not to buy.
All of these are accessible through Notes, but Notes is the gallery. The main arena. Notes is the place where the talent shines and the public comes to witness. The other spaces are peripheral and necessary but none of it could happen without the force of the gallery.
I can see it in my mind’s eye and it’s awesome.
Can you see it, too?
Comments are open, always and ever.
"No one would think of shouting into this quiet, beautiful space when something they’ve offered has sold. When a sale did happen, no one would be bragging it up, waving the check around, showing off bank statements, explaining to the crowd how successful they’ve been at this particular gallery."
This is what is going to ruin notes. If anything does. It all feels like an Amway sales convention right now. Too many people hustling to make money rather than having a conversation.
Beautiful piece and that is my hope as well.
I see it! It's amazing and I want to hang out in that gallery.
Also, I can't believe you found the most perfect image to go with this article. It brilliantly illustrates what you are saying and gives it a greater impact!