Writing Together
& how to cultivate a moment
First - my free op ed workshop is tomorrow! - Tuesday, September 17 at noon.
You can find the Zoom link & prep details on this page. If you signed up (thank you to 160ish of you!), you’ll get another reminder via email. Writing short op eds during this election cycle is a great act of engaged citizenship - but you’ll also pick up some writing and pitching tricks you can use elsewhere. Excited to hang out for our lunch hour and do some good work in the process.
How to best prepare: Re-read How to Change a Mind & scan the resources I’ve provided here.
“The dreamer and mystic must create a reality that you can walk around in, exist and breathe in.” - Edward Hopper
This week I had not a recurring dream, but a recurring image.
It was fall, maybe 2020, and I was on my way to the city, zipping along the Hudson River on the train. The train paused for some mysterious reason, and I watched the lawn near the river, waiting for the train to move again.
Nearby, a man was throwing a ball to his elderly dog. He was careful to throw the ball just far enough away for it to feel like an achievable challenge. The white-muzzled dog gazed up at his owner with a playful and passionate face, even though when he turned to fetch the ball his body was stiff and it was difficult for him to run. Over and over again I watched the man throw the ball for his ancient dog, and witnessed the joy and love between them.
I haven’t figured out why this image is coming back to me now, but it makes me think of the things we do for the people and beings we love, these rituals, bids for connection, acts of service.
I’m here at my cottage in the Adirondacks, editing. I can hear the loons through the open windows. Soon they will be rafting up and thinking about migrating south.
It’s so remarkably quiet here at night, except for the loud hum of insects in the conserved wetlands that adjoin our property. Today the northern flickers and pileated woodpeckers were sampling our dead trees and the deer were eating the last of the hydrangeas.
I left the front door open for some time as I was working and realized, somewhat accidentally, that I was content. I was alone, deeply immersed in work I care about, and a cool breeze was filtering through my cottage. The sun was warm, the birds were active.
Contentment is something my therapist (and all of my best friends) and I have spoken about often. I think one of the most extraordinary shifts we make as humans is the shift toward owning our contentment. Largely, it’s on me to orchestrate and notice.
I try now to realize when I’ve done it - though the conditions for me can be a little alchemical - so that I can replicate it. This is especially important for creative types, I think. Knowing the conditions under which you work well, and being able to place yourself within them as often as possible.
Pileated woodpecker on one of our many failing pines.
I’d like to shout out my students and co-teachers at Middlebury’s Monterey campus - they recently co-authored a piece on the Japanese American Abalone Fishery in Monterey Bay.
One thing I loved learning and thinking about during my time in Monterey are the coastline’s layers of inhabitants, and how those layers are reflected (sometimes in harmful or incorrect ways) in public narrative.
I’m proud of my Monterey students and colleagues - I feel that the work done on that particular campus reaches outside of the academy and is poised to teach students how to engage with the world in a kinder and more informed manner.
A second shout out to my friend Al George - Director of Conservation of the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, and supporter of the Sandalwood Food Pantry and Resilience Shelter project in Hilton Head, SC.
I sometimes waiver on the idea that writing solves problems. In the long arc of life, I think it does - it’s a way of spotlighting a problem and possible solutions, usually over and over again, until the shift happens, or the right person has the right experience with a piece.
I wrote about the Sandalwood Food Pantry for the Guardian in 2021 - and Al wrote me two days ago to let me know that the pantry FINALLY got its lease from the Hilton Head development board in June - he believed the piece had helped sway opinion.
What’s remarkable about this shelter is that it’s not just about food - it’s about resilience and safety in a hurricane-prone area where the Gullah-Geechee have been chronically underserved by the government. This is a huge and meaningful step, one which I hope can be replicated elsewhere in this era of stronger storms.
Some other enviro narrative highlights for me from orgs I care about:
The Southern Environmental Law Center on Protecting Old Growth Trees (now on the chopping block).
One Hundred Miles in Georgia supporting the Gullah-Geechee population in the MacIntosh vote - keeping zoning in support of locals, not development.
The Conservation Law Foundation supports the designation of the biodiverse Cashes Ledge as a marine sanctuary - an underwater mountain range 90 miles off the coast of Maine!
Looking forward to seeing many of you Tuesday at noon!
xo
MMB
Manuscript Consultations
I rarely offer Manuscript Consultations, but I’m self-financing a conservation documentary on Sandy West, and I’m directing the money I earn here in that direction. So, if you want a manuscript consult and to simultaneously support my work about honoring women in conservation, reach out.
Update: I only have 2 slots left. Details in this past newsletter.
