I’ve been trying for two weeks to write an essay about conflict and it’s been hard.
Not about the big, terrible conflict over there, but about the small, sometimes terrible conflicts close to home. I’ve got thousands of words down and many things to say. About what underlies conflict, how we fall into it, how we make it worse. How we sometimes make it better, how we might do better yet.
But I can’t seem to resolve the essay, ironically. Re-reading my many drafts, they’re just not giving me what I need right now, what I think we all need: a sense of safety, or just permission to find one where we can.
It’s safe to feel safe
Maybe it’s safe to feel safe. Many are not safe right now. But if you are, like I am, fundamentally safe let’s really know that we are. It’s ok to feel it, really feel it. Safe. We won’t jinx ourselves or hurt anyone, or make anyone mad by feeling safe. It’s not disloyal or bad luck to lean into what safety we have. And if we’ve ever been unsafe in our home financially physically in our health in our relationships but we’re at least a little safer in some of those ways than we once were, then let’s allow ourselves to feel safe there. Let’s revel in it, freely give it to each other, that safety. Let our safety not be wasted on us. Let’s let it be safe to feel safe.
Now, here is a good poem for these times.
And another thing…
This is a weird segue, but I also wanted to mention that I’m offering a course that you might find useful or interesting if you’re an author, or if you want to be. A few months ago my Wonderwell team and I hosted a two-day online workshop about how to develop a sharp book proposal, build an audience, get an agent, and win a traditional publishing deal. I have to say, it was pretty great, maybe one of my favorite things we’ve made. Six hours of our very best advice. We had some special industry guests and an interview with a famous author, too.
Now we’re sharing the recordings as a two-week self-paced course, plus two live Office Hours with me, our Editorial Director and Marketing Director. Anyway, I don’t want to turn this email into a landing page, but I did want you to know that it’s happening and it starts October 30. You can find out all about it here.
It’s pretty affordable. Hope to see you there.
Maggie xo
I agree - I feel very safe and secure, probably really for the first time for a very long time. I feel very blessed that I am safe where I live, that I have a a secure place to be me and without too many financial worries. I'm in a country where, though there are problems and challenges, we are all technically safe, without many of the worries in other places. Many take there safety for granted, but not me. I am thankful I live in a place and time where I am safe. Thank you for the reminder though. Ang xx