Howdy,
Lately I’ve been really thinking about leaving the Facebooks.
The reason isn’t anyone’s fault. No one specific, anyway.
Here’s a weakness I’ll admit about myself right away: I have a tendency towards thinking of everything someone says to me as a problem to be solved. If someone has a crappy coworker and tells me about it, I’ll spout off dumb solutions the person surely thought of already. When a friend says their mom is overbearing, I start talking about options.
This is not the best way to deal with people. A lot of times, they aren’t looking for solutions. I totally understand this, which isn’t to say I’ve changed my ways. These currents run pretty deep. But I’m trying.
What this means, however, is that Facebook is a horrible environment for me. I see a linked post about catcalling, and I feel only frustration. Because I know this is a problem and stupid thing to do, but I don’t have a solution. So the post doesn’t help me, and it doesn’t really give me a way to help anyone else either.
I see posts about GamerGate, and I don’t know that there’s much of anything I can do. I thought back to the games I’ve purchased, and I’ve bought one new (as in not used, as in the cash goes to the game makers) game in the last ten years. Maybe longer. I enjoy video games, but I’m not involved in that culture in a deep way. I can vote with my dollars, but that just doesn’t seem like my place.
Facebook can be a long list of problems with no solutions. Politics, religion, feminism, animal rights, all of this stuff seems unsolvable to me. Or by me.
I suspect there are other people out there who feel like this. Who feel like, on the whole, all this stuff isn’t doing a lot beyond making them feel like shit. Who feel like shit because it all feels very helpless and hopeless.
Which is my plea, why I am begging you to donate to a cause that is worthwhile.
This is a link to donate to Denver Writes: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/for-the-love-of-words-denver-writes
I’ve been volunteering at Denver Writes for the last 6 months or so. It’s been a great experience. The people there care. Last month I put in a solid 5 hours of work editing audio for a scary stories series, which was fantastic and a great bit of fun. I don’t say that to show how hard I’m working. I say that to show how hard everyone else there is working. I live an hour away and volunteer one Saturday a month. Nearly every other volunteer is surely working 2 or 3 times harder than I am.
The organization provides writing classes, tutoring, all that good stuff.
Here’s how it relates, where it all comes together.
Putting pencils and paper in the hands of kids, of teens, of connecting them to each other and a community of writers, that’s the best shot we have at solving all these huge problems. I really believe that.
Where would feminism be without Roxane Gay and her wordsmithing?
How stupid would the conversation about women in gaming sound without the creative thinking of Anita Sarkeesian?
Who is going to expose our politicians as lying scumbags in the future?
Who is going to make intelligent arguments about the next big issue?
More to the point, which tools are they going to use?
Is it a coincidence that the most powerful religions in the world were inspired by history’s all-time bestselling novels?
Creative thinking and joy. That’s my bet for what will save us. Our saviors will have to use their brains, and they’ll have to find some sort of joy in the act of doing so. Whether it’s catharsis or the tactile pleasure of putting pen to paper, there has to be some kind of joy.
That’s what Denver Writes inspires in students.
Now, I know that this is a geographically-specific charity. So maybe you’re thinking, “I’ll donate to my local version of that.” Which is a great idea, but let me make three arguments of why you should donate to Denver Writes:
1. Tell me, where did your favorite writer go to middle school? In what city? In what state? Do you know? Could a donation to a stranger in another state result in your favorite book of all time?
2. Are you really going to donate to your local place? Are you going to their web site right now? Is your wallet out? My guess is No. Not because I think you’re a bad person. Because I think you’re like me. These things are harder than they should be.
3. You can do both. No one will be mad that you’re donating to more than one place.
Look, we live in a world that is getting better. I know it’s not perfect or even close. But think about it like this. For the first time in history, I think we have the possibility of perfection. We have the means. The technology. It’s possible for us to be nice and kind and for everyone to have enough of everything they need. It’s a choice now. It really is.
I know who I want making that choice. I know who I want as the loudest voices when those choices come up.
It’s the kind of kids Denver Writes serves.
Please consider donating. You only have 33 hours left. Save the world. Save the kids. Save Facebook for this one man.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/for-the-love-of-words-denver-writes