I read THE CATCHER IN THE RYE in sixth grade, and it depressed the hell out of me. But I loved the way it was written … I think it’s very healthy to consider beautifully, artistically expressed versions of your bad feelings. It helps you see there’s value to even the worst things in your life.
Last year I led a class on food insecurity in America. By the middle of the year, some students felt overwhelmed. “The problem’s too big!” they cried. “The roots are too deep, and we can’t do anything about it!”
After thinking about it, I was forced to conclude that they were right. Right, that is, if their goal was to fix everything all at once. Right, too, if they acted alone.
But if enough people put their shoulders to a problem, and if those people push hard enough for long enough, that boulder will roll.
Today I’m thinking about those students, but I’m not thinking about food insecurity. I’m thinking about Orlando. And Sandy Hook. And Virginia Tech. And a hundred other places besides. The problem of gun violence is big enough to eat our nation, and I am small, but I am not alone.
I am thinking about you. I am thinking about how we can move this boulder.
Here is my challenge: Do two things for Orlando.
1. One action.
Donate to Everytown, or the Brady Campaign. Call or tweet at your congressman. Join a local group, like Moms Demand Action. These are just a few of the practical steps you can take. You don’t have to do all of them; just pick one that goes beyond praying and posting.
2. Two challenges.
Challenge two of your friends. Email them, call them, tag them—I don’t care how you do it. Let them know what you’re doing, and charge them to take action and spread the challenge. If you want, you could use this text:
Facebook-sized:
Prayer is not #enough. Posting is not #enough. I took action today, and I’m asking __________ and __________ to join me in the fight against gun violence. #TwoForOrlando http://bit.ly/2357q48
Twitter-sized:
Prayer & posting are not #enough. I took action against gun violence & I’m asking @___ & @____ to join me. http://bit.ly/2357q48
The problem is big, but we are bigger. Let’s move this boulder.
“(I)n1883 in Butlerville, a tornado struck a moving freight train, picking up seven cars filled with sugar. It threw them into the woods some distance away.”
#sugarwoods
Strawberry festival on the circle: Could they stop eating long enough for a picture? No, they could not.
Observing, reading, thinking, one invents himself. A familiar voice asks: Who am I … He reads his sentences to see if the words answer the question. Thus the writer may tell his fortune.
Me: 1995 was peak snob for me. Aging has a way of stripping away snobbery.
My son: You’re still a snob.
Me: There’s a lot to strip away.
Through the years, I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusion between moments of valid inspiration.
I began by writing in journals as a teenager. Though I didn’t realize it then, I was narrating a story, describing my experience to myself, and learning how to think on the page. I needed to write in those journals because so much of what was coursing through my mind felt forbidden to say anywhere else.
What comes to mind every time I use a chip reader.
Reading, back deck, baby tomato plant.