Hello, folks,
Just a quick note to let you know that Paloma and Wings has been taken up by a book publisher, and will be seeing print soon. I will give you details when they are ready to share!
In any case, you’ll be hearing more from me, now that the year is underway and some new rhythms have settled in place. Life carried me in a couple of unexpected directions in 2022. As in previous years, I taught kids in nature, mentored children and adults in herbalism, and taught harp. But last summer, five of us became owner-editors of our Island’s independent community newspaper. This was not on my vision board, per se, but when the idea came to us, I realized it was the opportunity I was seeking. Specifically, I wanted to support our community to listen to one another with curiosity and kindness, to share ideas, become more flexible in our thinking, and to contribute to our mutual resilience and enjoyment of one another.
With so many uncertainties, it is more important than ever to honor our diversity – in background, experiences, knowledge, viewpoints, and more, and root in our shared values. It is time for all of us to recognize or reaffirm, that at heart, we want so many of the same things in life. Here on the Island, we literally share common ground. The same can be said of all of us in relation to our Earth Island home. It is from many perspectives, and from openness and deep listening that the most creative and life-affirming solutions arise. We need those. This is a time to be diverse, and not divided, and to leave aside any hostilities that may have arisen in recent years. It’s time to remeet one another.
A community newspaper is a good place to engage in old-fashioned dialogue and conversation, to hear from one another about what matters to us individually and collectively, and to remember why we came to be where we are.
If that makes you curious, I invite you to take a look at The Vashon Loop, a newspaper that is free to all, no matter where you are. See the Archives for a digital newspaper experience, or read the latest issue here. Our first issue came out last Sept, and is Vol. 19 #1.
You’ll find my voice in various places, either with my byline (my fiction and some articles) or not (Land Acknowledgment column, occasional editorials). You’ll probably be able to detect where my voice overtly appears. But I also have a hand in the Loop in several other ways, including working with contributors (including article development and editing) and advertisers, curating the poetry section, serving as accountant, and doing most of the layout of the paper. Yes, many hats. Such is the nature of a start up!
