The Numbers Game

38% opened. 2% clicked. 14 unsubscribed. I watch the stats roll in after sending a newsletter, as if they carry meaning.

They tell me what piqued curiosity, what went unopened, what prompted someone to click a link and say “no more.” They might inform how I frame the next subject line, or how I space the headlines, or whether I tuck a link to the Ripple Room at the top or the bottom.

Perhaps, they influence me subconsciously … but what truly matters isn’t the dashboard. It’s the emails I get hours later.

A line someone repeats back to me. A memory they share in response. A reflection they hadn’t had until they sat with my words.

That, right there, is true connection—there’s no chart to show the emotions felt, no heat map for how long someone let a sentence linger, no metric for what moved them. No way to quantify the moment someone felt a little less alone.

So yes, the numbers give me data but the comments and emails are what make all of this meaningful.