Two Month Check-in, Favorite Pieces, + Community Thoughts

As of February 28th, I have read and reviewed nine different authors since January!! I’ve listed my favorite piece from each author next to their names below. Going forward, in these check ins, I’ll post my favorites from each month. Y’all are getting double this time since I didn’t do this for January.

If anyone wants to read along but can’t go at this pace (fair!) I’d encourage you to check this monthly post.

Disclaimer

I didn’t start out reading this much; I had to build up to this pace. (I also write full time. This is a privilege that allows me to manage my time easier for things like reviews). I started out reading one piece a week in a private group, and then I amped it up from there.

HOWEVER!

If you, like me, have experienced depression that makes you unable to do the things you love, what worked for me is creating a very manageable habit and making it a high priority. What is manageable will differ from person to person, but reading one story a week could be that thing for you.

I’m stoked to say that so far, this next stage of increased reading has been extremely satisfying to me. The accountability of promising reviews to people I look up to + reading incredible works is an addictive mix of happiness. It’s also created an emotional outcome I didn’t expect, which you can read about below if you so like.

Favorites from Jan-Feb:

1. R.K. Duncan | “Reminiscences on the Death of Gemal the Sorcerer”

2. Annika Barranti Klein | “A Touch of Magic”

3. Koji A. Dae | “The Uncurling of the Samsara”

4. Effie Seiberg | “The Travel Guide to the Dimension of Lost Things”

5. Renan Bernardo | “The Offer of Peace Between Two Worlds”

6. Dee Holloway | “Downstairs at Dino’s”

7. Alex S. Garcia | “Within These Walls”

8. Elijah J. Mears | “What the Crab Apple Tree Near Miranda Spaceport Saw”

9. Dave Walsh | “Look For the Helpers”

Rising Tide, Community Thoughts

I had a thought that I wanted to share. It’s probably pretty simplistic and something other people have said before in more elegant ways. But it seems really important to me to say.

There is a phrase that came to me as I was so uplifted while lifting others up in these reviews. It’s sort of the concept of “a rising tide lifts all boats” but a bit different. It’s this:

“I am community.”

I’m sure someone’s come up with this phrase before but it took on layers of meaning for me. There’s a sense sometimes, in all the horrible news, that individually it’s impossible to make a difference. I am just one person, I am just one grain of sand on the beach, etc., etc.

But everyone is just one person. I am community in that everyone can only do what they can do, and I am a part of that. I might be just a grain of sand on a beach but I help make up the beach. I am small, but I am community, because you are community, too.

The pronoun “I” gives me a sense of personal responsibility, pride, and protection. It makes me feel like I can make a difference, because “I” and “you” make an “us,” and without “I,” “you” would be alone, and without “you,” “I” would be alone. If all the “I’s” and “you’s” were crushed and could not go on because of the horrible world, there wouldn’t be “we.” There wouldn’t be community.

I feel that often, think pieces about community are we/us-centric, focusing on togetherness and unity. Which makes sense. However, if people feel alone, and feel like they are just an “I” and not part of a “we” even if they are actively participating in a “we,” then the benefit of community to that person is lessened. They feel alone even when they are not. I believe this is what many of us have gone through and are going through.

The importance of “I” in “I am community” reinforces the concept of being a part of something. To get to that sense of “we/us,” “I” first need to acknowledge “I” have an impact because “I” am part of “us.” Only then does that person feel the “us/we/community.” It’s a step that I feel is overlooked, and it’s one that I think I and others have tripped over and fallen into the gap.

TL;DR: what “I” do matters to “us.”

I am community.

I apologize if this seems really simplistic. But it’s one thing to know something and another thing to feel it again for the first time since childhood, that sense of matter-ing.

Because I’m not alone. I am community. It’s the ants’ mentality from A Bug’s Life: I am part of us, the cohort of writers and artists and creatives that make a difference in this world. It’s Sam from Lord of the Rings saying there’s good in this world, and it’s you, my fellow Frodos. And you’re worth fighting for.

Because you are community, too.

And Now! A Sneak Peak

For March, I plan to review:

• PA Cornell

• Ramez Yoakeim

• Christopher Degni

• Daniel Ausema