Why I’ve Put Some of This Blog’s Posts Behind a Paywall
This blog has long been a place where I’ve shared what I’ve thought, what I’ve felt, and many different things that have come up along the way.
Along the way, I’ve also received words of gratitude.
There were times people told me they were glad they read it, and times I felt that it had been helpful to them in some way. That kind of thing is, of course, genuinely encouraging.
At the same time, it’s also true that there were people who made their own assumptions, decided things on their own, and attacked me on their own terms.
Including that, there have been all kinds of things.
It’s not that I want just anyone to read it
As a premise, I have never continued this blog because I wanted absolutely anyone and everyone to read it.
I also never had a particularly strong desire for everyone to read it or for it to reach everyone.
That said, if something I’ve written can somehow help someone, then I think that’s a good thing, and also a happy thing.
So if it can be read by people who truly need it, or by people who are reading it for their own sake, I think that’s fine too.
Rather than wanting this blog to be open to everyone, I have something closer to this feeling:
“If this might be a positive thing for you, why not read it?”
I’ve also written it for my own records and growth
This blog was not written only for someone else.
Part of it was written for my own records, and part of it was written for my own growth.
It’s also a place where I’ve put into words what I’ve thought, what I’ve experienced, and what I’ve noticed.
I’ve organized those things as I wrote them down and built them up over time.
That’s exactly why my goal has never simply been to be read widely.
I think it was a little different from the start.
My direction has been changing a little lately
As I’ve mentioned before, I personally faced my past and finished working through my mental issues through Sayonara Monster, a method that can truly be described as the culmination of six years.
That became a very major turning point for me.
Since passing that milestone, many things have gradually begun to change direction.
The center of gravity in my thinking has also been shifting little by little, and the way I relate to this blog has changed somewhat as well.
Within that flow, I started thinking again about what this blog should be like.
Why I’ve made some posts paid
With that in mind, I decided to make many of the posts on this blog paid content.
That said, this does not mean that the entire blog has been uniformly paywalled. I set things individually, so the reality is closer to a situation where the number of paid posts is gradually increasing.
The reason I did this is, again, that I don’t want just anyone to read what I’ve written.
Among the things I’ve written so far, not everything was written lightly. A lot of it was written with considerable thought, built up over time, and carefully preserved as part of my own experience and record.
At this point, I don’t really see much meaning in leaving those things in a form where anyone can casually consume them for free.
It’s also a way of not devaluing myself
I think keeping things in this form also helps me avoid lowering my own value.
Rather than handing everything out unconditionally and leaving it open to whatever treatment anyone wants,
it feels more natural to me now to say,
“If you want to read it, please read it as paid content.”
That’s not about putting on airs; it’s also about drawing a proper line around what I’ve written.
The people I want to read it are the ones who need it
I don’t want just anyone to read it.
Instead, I want people who want to read it for themselves, people who want to read it for their own growth, and people who truly need it to be the ones who read it.
In that sense, making it paid is not just about charging money.
It’s also a kind of boundary.
And for me right now, I think that boundary is necessary.
That’s why I’m gradually making most of the posts paid.
Going forward
From here on, rather than making every post uniform, I think I’ll continue to make individual decisions and move forward with paid content step by step.
So there will still be posts that can be read for free, while the number of paid posts will also gradually increase.
Including that, I want to keep shaping this blog in a way that fits who I am now.
If you have any requests, please get in touch
Also, if you have any questions or requests, feel free to contact me.
For example, it could be something like wanting to read it through a subscription-style format rather than on a per-article basis.
Beyond that, if you have any other ideas about what kind of format would be best, please feel free to reach out.
For now, this format feels like the best fit for me, but I’d like to keep thinking about it as needed.
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この場所に、最初の感想や気づきをそっと残せます。