About | [S][J][P]

The title (Surplus) Jouissance Projects - [S][J][P] comes from my understanding and thinking about the concept of surplus jouissance.

What is Surplus Jouissance ?

Jouissance is a French word that does not translate well into English, but the usual way it’s translated is as "enjoyment."

The idea is that people have needs, and meeting our needs is good. We can't enjoy until after our needs are met, but meeting our needs is, in and of itself, is something we have to do, or else we die. Thus, getting what we need is great, but it is not something we enjoy.

The theory of surplus jouissance suggests that to enjoy something, it has to be something that we don’t need, something that goes beyond our needs, something extra, unnecessary, a surplus.

All the stuff I make (podcasts, newsletters, etc.) are things I do for fun. Making them gives me surplus jouissance. My guess is the people who are on the receiving end of what I make certainly don’t need to consume it, but they enjoy consuming it, which makes it surplus jouissance for them too.

[S][J][P] is Two Main Things:

First:

It is a website/archive system where I store and post the different things I make. This includes podcasts, notebooks, journals, photographs, videos, essays, and whatever else I might produce.

You can sign up to get the (weekly-ish) [S][J][P] Email Newsletter by clicking the button below.

Second:

It is a way for people to support the work I do -- At this point, what this means is that you can become a supporter by clicking the red button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen that says "BSupport [S][J][P]" and entering your email address. If you're feeling generous, you can offer to send some money my way as well.

Given how many people are doing "Membership Programs" as ways of supporting the creative work they do, I was reluctant to launch the Support [S][J][P] Program. However, I decided to do it because I give away all the stuff I make for free, but it costs me money (and time!). If I can offset the costs that I incur by making these things, that would be great! And if I could actually start turning a profit, I could make a lot more stuff.