Live! from New Mexico

It's April First

Sandia Mountains, near the Sandia Pueblo and Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the ancestral homelands of the Southern Tiwa People. I am privileged to live in the shadow of these granite mountains. Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash.

Dear Readers:

I just sent to three people with whom I have little in common besides the great state of New Mexico. Three people who happen to have second homes in Washington, D.C.

Don’t worry, this is not that letter. But it is a letter about writing (letters). And if you’re receiving this one without knowing much about its writer, I’ll share with you a few facts similar to what I shared with .gov:

I am an educated American voter with a U.S. Passport…. I do not post hate messages on social media. I don’t forward news I can’t substantiate. I ask others to cite their sources, and if I mistakenly misquote or misreport, I admit it/remove it/rectify it as soon as I’m aware of having done so. I sign petitions and send form-letters related to issues I support, but only when I do not have to make a financial contribution to a cause or party to get my voice heard. I do not take money from billionaires who wish to buy my vote.

I wrote because I have a heart and mind, and a weary soul (and I said so).

I listed several specific, factual objections, and told the recipients that my list “is getting longer by the White-House-minute.”

Writing letters takes time. I have other things to do. So do you.

But please, if you have something to say, find a way to say it to people who can [and should] do something about it.

I don’t know who those people are, in your world. But we live in a letter-worthy world. Letters aren’t the only thing, but they are a thing. Whether or not you’re “a writer,” you can write a letter.

And if you don’t think an opinion piece or protest letter will make a difference, then write a letter to someone you love or like or admire or whose life and work you value.

Photo by Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash

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This morning I read “letters” from four authors whose words and images spoke to me. To them I offer little love notes.

Kate McKean, Agents and Books, on the value of making something just to see what happens, “because you want to, because you feel like it….”

Jillian Barnet

, It Takes a Village, on chickens, gardens, and that gut feeling you get when abandon the “should” and pay attention to the deep-down knowing.

Deborah Saki, in today’s post on The Brevity Blog, who is discovering that “Our gifts don’t always bloom in the forms we first imagine.”

Jason Chatfield

: How did you know that was the scene this morning in my living room?

And, Anna Rollins: Despite not knowing your pop culture references to Mary-Kate and Ashley, and Shondaland, I did grow up going to “the mall” for entertainment. I suspended disbelief long enough to sip my coffee and trust the author of

On writing and publishing with Anna Rollins

to tell me something I needed to hear about, well, writing and publishing. So after scrolling and skimming (I admit), I got the message I needed to hear:

Ultimately, this [a published] essay ended up being about longing — how longings change across time, space, and circumstance. I used Mall Party as the lens through which I filtered my own personal reflection.

This, too, is a piece about longing—longing to write, to publish, to change the world one word at a time through personal reflection. Join me?

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Thank you for reading. For caring about this crazy world. For supporting writers. For forgiving typos.

Writing not only takes time, but resources. Every paid subscription here helps me to invest in my writing life (computer, pens, pencils, paper, and coffee… I don’t need much!) and share the love. Thank you, for your generous support. I appreciate you more than you know!