Hopes and Dreams

Hi friends.

Y’all, are you ready? Are you getting excited? I have been loving seeing everyone’s enthusiasm out there. Warms my middle-aged lady seen-it-all heart. I am psyched for us all to write together.

Now this is the last email you’re going to get from me before #1000wordsofsummer starts this Saturday. If you’re just signing up now, there’s an FAQ and also some suggestions about how to prep for the two-week event. You can join the slack for support. There is also a companion book you can buy. (If you order it by Thursday from Books Are Magic, I’ll sign your copy.)

And this is a fundraiser, if you can spare a few bucks. (We sponsor a Scholastic Book Fair for a New Orleans school, amongst other donations.) We are 25% of the way to our goal but we only have two weeks left. I know we can do this.

Every summer, during this project, one of my main goals is to be emotionally present as I can be for anyone that needs inspiration and motivation. So this morning, I organized my thoughts to inspire myself to do this thing, this thing being this event, this journey of #1000wordsofsummer 2024.

In my journal I wrote a list of reasons of why I’m doing this project now, in its seventh year of existence. I guess it’s kind of a mission statement? It’s not the same every year—it evolves as I do as a person—but this is what I landed with this year:

1. I do this because I honestly think the world would be a better place if people wrote or communicated their feelings in some creative way regularly.

2. I do this because it is both a relief and a joy to have something to believe in, and I believe in this project, and I believe in everyone who participates.

3. I do this because it is a way I can connect with the world that has nothing to do with all the other things I do professionally. It is good to invest my time in something that is not about capitalism.

4. I do this because I like to show up for people. Working at home, I don’t often have that opportunity. Life is better when we connect with and support each other.

5. I do this because it is the coolest thing I have ever done with my life.

   

I think today is a good day to ask yourself why you’re here. Take a moment to write it down. Be connected with this part of yourself. The next two weeks should be a wild and generative and fun experience, but it’s helpful to be thoughtful before we begin. Why are we doing this? What do we hope to get out of showing up for this project every day? What does it mean to commit to yourself like this? I’m leaving comments open today for people to share their thoughts.

Here you all are. Here I am. And in five days away we go.

Jami

You are reading Craft Talk, the home of #1000wordsofsummer and also a weekly newsletter about writing from Jami Attenberg. I’m also on twitter and instagram.