Why You Ought to Change Your Email Signature Sign-Off

I’ve always been a single-sign-off kinda guy.

It’s a little like having the last word but with hidden intent. So I use it for good.

I think this could work for you, too. May I explain?

For a long time, I used “Best -“ in my email signature block. That was when the title on my business card read “servant.” I caught some 3D flack for doing the servant thing, but it suited me. Never been one for titles, at least in public.

Then, when I started working more with people in and around the military, things changed. My family has deep military and patriotic roots, so it felt right to focus appreciation on the person who’d taken the time to read my email. The typical military sign-off is “Respectfully” or “Very Respectfully” so I chose to shorten that to “v/r.”

(“V/R” are also the initials of a composer I admire - in fact, one of the pieces he wrote was key in my choice to keep breathing when I felt suicidal. You can learn his full name and listen to that six-minute song here.)

Along about the time I started to use “v/r” I also discovered that it meant more - to me - if I typed those three characters at the end of every email instead of putting them in the automated signature block. This simple three-keystroke practice helped me remember to whom I was writing: people who deserve respect. I even used "v/r" when replying to a contentious or snarky email to remind me that everyone deserves respect, especially if they're just doing their job.

After a while, respect wasn’t enough. Something was still missing.

Toward the middle of 2022, I became the moderator/engineer/editor/co-host for a podcast called “Gracearchy with Jim Babka .” Grace, when you unpack it, is transformative in ways that very few consciousness tools can be.

So I made the somewhat clumsy choice to sign off every outbound email with “grace -.”

Dong that takes four more keystrokes, and there are a few variations between the autocorrect AI implementations on the three devices I use for email, but I still type it out each and every time and remember why I’m doing so, even when I have to manually correct the autocorrect.

In addition to the extra typing, signing off with “grace -“ is clumsy because a lot of people don’t read beyond that particular point in an email. As a result, I get replies addressed to “Dear Grace.” That makes me laugh. Then, I write back with a smile on my face to explain that I haven’t changed my name, which is usually enough to call the sender’s attention to what’s really going on.

It’s a consciousness practice. Works on a few different levels to keep me human, keep me grounded, and remind me that we're all in this thing together.

Like all good practices with hidden benefits, I expect that at some point I’ll have gotten most of them and move on to some other salutation.

But it seems to work for now.

What say you?

grace -

B

?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

Bill Protzmann z'mara hu chayya?

800.785.8596 O / 213.268.8486 M

Video Intro

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Consciousness practices needn't be grueling, taxing, or complex. There's no race to win at consciousness. In fact, one of the most powerful consciousness tools in civilization's history is music. With an understanding of music, you can build skills such as true empathy and compassion and know how to recognize them in others, plus you can learn consciousness practices that set you apart from ... well, from others who are still stuck in 3D and don't yet know they need them. Learn more about this work and take the online heroic Quest for transformation at Musimorphic.com