Nothing but Blueskies
from now on
Greetings from my cave. How is everyone doing? Now that the Nazis are on the march?
Everywhere you turn, there’s finger-pointing, strategies, fights about what to do next.
Me, I’m retreating to my favorite compensatory behavior.
Storytelling.
Head in the sand?
Nope.
But after disgorging my share of wrath on the interwebs, and sucking up all the possible scenarios via my digital straw, I’ve come to the conclusion that all I have to give—the only concrete skill I have—is shining a light. Whether as an editor, a teacher, or a writer. My connection to humanity is through image and language. Pictures and words.
That lightbulb moment for me came as I was navigating the X-exodus on Threads and witnessing the massive tribal anxiety therein. That, and the periodic invitation to hop over the Bluesky Social. Which I did.
New platform, new strategy.
The atmosphere there feels more like the early days of the bird, well before Darth Vader took it over. And it’s not powered by Meta—an important component to my ongoing sanity.
And on that platform, I’ll be telling stories. Maybe a rant or two. But guiding those stories is that unwavering pursuit of what is real. To me. As my mentor Tom Spanbauer used to say, “… each of us has our own excellence, and excellence only comes with not being afraid of who you are.”
Speaking of Tom, tomorrow evening (Thursday, November 14th), at 7:00 pm, a bunch of us old timers are getting together at Salon Rouge for a reading of his work, and, well, to tell stories in his honor. If you’re in Portland, and want to join, write me for the address.
Meanwhile, my dear ones, keep writing.
I could not agree more - when the skies darken, we do what we can to bring our version of sunshine. I imagine there will be much care-taking going hyper-hyperlocal. See you tomorrow, Blue Bird.
Hopefully Blue Sky is less toxic. I'll give it a try. I just opened an account and picked you to follow. Good advice to nurture oneself and be a light.