Dear ,
I wanted to tell you…I do not regret writing for The Huffington Post.
Some writers, when they move on to new places in their writing (or when those places move on to new writers), regret what came before. I understand that. I’ve written books with things in them that are no longer quite “who I am” and “how I am.” I’ve written for places whose visions and practices change, leaving me in an odd place for having been a writer there. But they’re a part of my journey as a person. And they’re a record of my writing—my style, my explorations, my approach at a given time. They remind me (and you) that I’m just an ordinary person, who has embarked on the sometimes extraordinary task of setting it all down in a way that entertains you (and me).
To be a writer for the long haul, I think you have to be able to live without regrets. Regrets are always dragging you backwards, instead of releasing you towards what could be.
(I meant to say, btw, that I can be tangential. This might happen when I write to you. I mean, when I write for places like HuffPo, I’m not really allowed to be tangential, which is why it’s not nearly as fun as writing to you.)
As for fun, that’s where Neil Gaiman comes in.
I went to see him yesterday. Me and about 200 other people. (And I did get to meet him, and he did have some never-before-heard-by-his-best-friend advice (for writers) which I will share in an “exclusive” over on Patreon. At Patreon, I might also share a story about Neil’s shoes next to mine. Soon.)
Anyway. Neil Gaiman. And fun.
That’s where the topic of Energy comes in—a topic I just committed to explore for 30 days, over at Joshua Spodek’s place. (Well, I will explore the topic here, where I’m writing to you. But I made the commitment over at Joshua’s. You might like to make one too, if you’re in the mood. And then we can be committed together. Or. Hmm. Something like that.)
For the past few months, I’ve been listening to Neil Gaiman read his stories on CD. So I’ve gotten his voice pretty well into my soul. This was a nice prep for hearing him on-stage! It made me extra attuned to his energy levels, as he answered questions and shared about strange events like the switching out of Mexican food for marriage.
If I’m going to think about the topic of Energy (which I am), I really want to think about more than solar power. I want to think about human power. And the things that power our hearts. And the things that break them, or, at the very least, slow them to a snail’s pace.
Neil’s heart, I’m pretty sure, has suffered from the project he’s been working on. I mean, he said that he’s not really into being a show runner. And he said why he did it anyway. And I can tell you about that elsewhere.
But right here, right now, what I want to say to you is that Energy is not just solar and wind and waves and and and. No, it’s something you and I deal with right within our own selves.
Which is one reason that while I don’t regret writing for The Huffington Post, I probably won’t try to write there again, at least not any time soon.
Because…
You weren’t there. Or, if you were, it was so noisy I couldn’t sense your presence (and they kept popping up other stories between you and me—stuff that I would regret if I’d been the one writing it).
Anyway, I’d rather be writing to you. It gives me a whole lot more energy than it takes away.
I hope that for you, today. Something that gives you more than it takes away.
As Always,
L.L.