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John… thank you for your kindness. That my quirky style of writing inspired your to push your own writing. Pretty cool poetry to come from exploring writing style. Keep pushing the envelop with with writing and poetry.

Numbers,their patterning, surround us every single moment. How they impact our time. Whether visible or invisible — nature is its own formation of patterning. I like when words play on the page. I like the italicised…give's a little more space for the inner voice to be displayed. Like texture in art. Thank you again for the mention. It's greatly appreciated.

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Thanks, Darlene! 🙏🏼🤍

Yep. The number patterns are everywhere.... Some very good, some good.... Some not so much. 😊

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Great job @John Brown! A wonderfully provocative piece that captures the complexities of today’s digital age. Thought-provoking and so relatable.

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Thank you! Seems like a lot of people writing about phones and our attachment in the digital age. (I wrote a lengthy piece about that not too long ago).

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That's so true John. How would our lives be without numbers. Every measure of success is now a number. Followers, money....

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And the problem is that it’s really screwing people up … It’s creating obsessive compulsive disorders and other problems. It’s a worrying trend!

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I will be the first to admit it's screwing me up. For sure...

Always checking my stocks, my Substack followers - I don't like doing it, it's automatic now that I do it. I don't like it, I actually hate it.

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I used to check the stocks daily … that can get very obsessive fast because it deals with money …

I got rid of all social media … I like it here because it gives me a platform to share my writing and it’s a largely positive and supportive area. I stopped paying attention to numbers … I had to out of necessity.

The funny thing about being obsessed with followers, subscribes, likes … is that those numbers rarely stop changing. They constantly go up and down, etc. So to watch them makes no sense … but we all do it.

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Love this, John! The topic and the experimentation in style are both on point. Numbers make so little difference yet they are so easy to watch and so damn addictive.

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I'm not sure what brought this one to life. I do rant and rave about how obsessed we get with numbers to the wife.

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It’s similar to a car accident and not being able to look away.

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It's the train wreck that keeps on wrecking…….

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😂

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