No Friday Feel Good this week, folks. I’m gonna be shuttin’ her down through the holiday. Man, it’s hard to put into words just what this first half of 2020 has been. At first, it looked like it was going to be a banner year for SoBros Network. We were really hitting our stride producing some fun podcasts. We had some really cool stuff in the works that I’m not going to mention, because we’ll probably be able to execute on ’em in 2021. Hell, we even had our biggest month in SoBros Network history in April! Our NFL Draft coverage KILLED IT.
Things were lookin’ up – but, like so many other companies, as the spring came and settled in, things changed with the pandemic, the protests, and lately, the #SpeakingOut movement. So, first of all, we’ve seen the mood change on social media – it feels like people are either completely fed up with the constant barrage of everything going wrong in the world, are tuning it all out, and just logging off. Or, it’s all they want to consume. Either way, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of room for what we do here at SoBros Network on the news feeds and timelines.
And, don’t get me wrong – that stuff is way more important than a video about a burrito made out of cotton candy and ice cream, or a clip of Mongo McMichael throwing a briefcase. I’m not complaining about that, just using it to make a point here in a second.
Second, I’d like to mention that burnout is a very real thing, folks. I’ve been working a 9-5 day job -and- running SoBros Network from about 7PM-1AM for seven years now. And, most nights – I log more hours than that. At one point in 2016, I was sleeping two hours a night, struggling with regular anxiety attacks, and my doctor told me if I kept that pace up, my heart was probably going to explode (I’m paraphrasing, of course).
I love running SoBros Network with an unmatched passion – it’s my dream. It’s my baby. But, even the things you love the most can wear you down on occasion. I’ve caught myself several times over the last couple of weeks freezing up and saying, “I can’t do this right now,” or worse, I’ll sit down to write something, and my usual flow just isn’t there – I end up writing something just for the sake of writing it, and that’s never good. You might’ve noticed we went from eight posts a day to about four. That’s because I just need a little time to rest, reset, and refocus. I am, quite frankly, worn the fucking fuck down.
So, between our analytics falling off a cliff in June and feeling like I’m heading towards a tired, nervous breakdown, I thought there was no better time to shut things down for a week and NOT worry about business than now. I know there are other people like me out there – it’s engrained in American society – work work work work work. But, every now and then, it’s okay to take your foot off the gas.
I’m aware this isn’t going to get us on the front page of Google for anything. This one’s for the real ones out there. The ride or die SoBros Nation – you guys keep me going, and the fact that I’ve made legitimate friendships out of writing on the internet and tweeting on the Twitter is one of the highlights of running this whole thing. Y’all know how to contact me if you want to. But, I’ve been living this lifestyle for seven years now – I just gotta catch my breath a bit.
So, I have some ‘greatest hits’ lined up to rerun next week, and we have new episodes of the College Football Roundup, The Vick’s Flicks Podcast, and I’m hearing rumors of a new Another Round: MMA episode to release next week. Otherwise, I’m gonna take some time for me.
TL;DR: Gone fistin’ – be back on 7/6/20.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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