Greetings, friends. If you find yourself here, thanks for coming. I have been reflecting a lot about the ways that I use social media, particularly in this era of Elon Musk’s Twitter and Zuckerberg’s dismissal of facts. I am thinking about The Algorithm and what it means to like things that I don’t like but need to demonstrate to The Algorithm that this information / content / post is important to me, particularly when that content is violent / refers to violence occurring in real, earthbound places to real, earthbound people. I’ve been thinking a lot about how when I worked in wilderness, there was an entire philosophy and strategy behind removing teens and young adults from dysfunctional environments and having them do treatment with therapists in forest-settings, which are famously much less human than cities and towns. I’ve been thinking about how it’s the year 2025, which means it’s a full quarter-century away from Y2K, the year 2000, which is officially the oldest I’ve ever felt.
Back in the early 2000s, I found my voice and first writing community through writing in LiveJournal in high school. This was a long-form medium. This was before everyone’s parents were on Facebook. This was pre-Facebook altogether. Just AIM away messages and the latter days of TRL on MTV.
This is all to say that I own this domain. I bought it. I paid for it. For the time being, this feels like a space where I can put my thoughts if I want and not be subject to coexisting within the context of doomscrolling.
So, here’s to that. It’s still winter for me, which is a time of quiet action and intention-setting. So in honor of the new year (2025) and my new year (38), here’s “A Blessing for Presence” from the Irish writer, John O’Donohue, followed by some links to funds for those impacted by the LA wildfires.
Peace + Love + Hugs,
Maggie
“A Blessing for Presence” by John O’Donohue (1956 - 2008) / IG: @fossilisedflowers