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Twice monthly stories for humans seeking depth and meaning.

I'm Janelle Hardy and at some point you signed up for this twice-monthly (ish) newsletter on memoir-writing, somatic (body) healing and stories. If you'd like to unsubscribe, just click the unsubscribe link at the bottom.

I have a few magazine subscriptions, paper and digital that I don't read much, if at all.

The journals arrive and I take them to the bathroom, flipping through the pages as I have my evening bath. Sometimes I've already read their free articles online.

After pulling the plug, I listen to the slow gurgle of water exiting, dry myself off, then take the magazine(s) out of that warm bathroom and set them on my table next to the backdoor.

This is my visible reminder. My 'take it out' system.

I do this with recycling. I do this with books I don't want to keep for reference or my writing circles.

Out the backdoor and across the yard by the alleyway are the compost, recycling and garbage bins.

My literary subscriptions and used books are not, however, destined for those bins.

I usually leave the house through the back door. Book or magazine in hand, I walk straight past the bins, unlock the deadbolt on the tall back gate, swing it open, go through, relock it, then walk up the alley, turn left, cross the street and drop my treasures off in the nearest Little Free Library.​

I pause and browse.

Have my previous donations been taken? Always.

Is there anything new I want to take? Rarely.

I feel like the best literary citizen ever, and carry on with my day.

I keep paying for subscriptions, especially ones run by non-profit organizations, because I used to work for non-profits in the arts and cultural sector.

I also buy memberships, even when I don't take advantage of the services offered.

None of this is a waste of money.

I view these purchases as investments in my future, because I want to submit and have my work published in publications like this.

These are investments in creative people, because so many of the creatives we look up to got their start because there were venues for their nascent art (local galleries, bookstores, readings, festivals, etcetera.)

The next generation needs support too.

When I spend money on cultural organizations, I'm investing by committing to supporting artists and a thriving cultural ecosystem.

Which means I'm also investing in myself, even when I don't read the subscriptions.

Plus, my goodness. Even my tiny bits of money go so far!

These kinds of literary journals, papers, magazines and other kinds of organizations, both non-profit, and for-profit, run on shoe-string budgets, hard work and plenty of volunteer labour.

So on that note, consider how you're being a good citizen of your creative (and/or sport, recreation, etc) communities.

And consider donating to this struggling, and amazing, Canadian literary journal, which has supported so many writers over their 48 year existence.

​Room Magazine is having a fundraiser so they can keep going.

They're strapped for cash, and I suspect they haven't set their $$$ goal high enough. I picked the $50 Sponsor a Room Poet option. Fun!

So let's see if we can bump their funding up a few thousand beyond their goal before their deadline on June 12th 💕

Also. Sharing this kind of news, sharing your favourite writers/teachers/orgs/books, and encouraging others to buy/support/participate is also caring. It's also being a good literary citizen. And it doesn't cost a thing!

xoxo,

Janelle

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🕯 I'm a HUGE FAN of writer Casey Johnston and her She's a Beast newsletter. She has a great big mind and fascinating take, and I always read what she writes.

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