We’re heading for uncertain times, and for many of us, the only certainty is that times will be dark.
And let’s be completely honest. Many of us have zero bandwidth to write right now. Zero, zip, zilch.
If this is you, please know that I see you. Please cut yourself slack. Resource yourself in whatever way you can. Poet/memoirist Maggie Smith writes beautifully about why we don’t all have to be literary first responders. Stillness is important. Please do read her lovely post.
And for those of you for whom the thought of writing to express and/or call for change is giving you a charge, I see you too.
Me? I’m writing right now in drips and drabs. Mostly drabs.
On November 6th, I wrote this very short essay about the morning after the election, and how I responded to my 15-year-old twins’ awareness of the results, and my own turmoil, by instinctively enacting a ritual to remind us all of what endures. The piece was published on November 11th at Midstory Magazine, a Substack publication I’ve come to admire. Writing and publishing something short yet crafted reminded me that I could still be creative, even—or maybe even especially—when I am unmoored.
Perhaps you, too, have a personal or political response to something happening right now that you’re needing to put on the page. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about writing, if you feel like sharing, in comments.
In dark times, may writing be one of the things that brings the light.