WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE celebrated its first birthday this week! I can’t believe it’s been 12 months, especially since there were times at the beginning when I thought a weekly commitment would be unsustainable.
But instead of diminishing my commitment over time, I’ve expanded it. The ideas kept coming and inspiring me, even when I thought they wouldn’t.
This space has been continually life-giving rather than life-taking.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that pouring myself into things that are nourishing and invigorating, rather than depleting, is transformational work.
Each week, I’ve offered something, and you’ve read and responded with a level of generosity that surpasses my expectations. My gratitude is immense, because you’ve preserved a tiny little space each week for my voice with attention and care, which has refreshed my sense of purpose.
I want to especially thank those of you who reached out to say “keep going.” Your belief and support bolstered and fueled me. Your participation made me feel more inspired and less isolated during a year when I felt very alone. This space kept me feeling alive and connected, like I was part of something. Thank you.
Since last July, WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE has appeared 50 times. We’ve explored the double-edged sword of perfectionism, the cute but deadly beast anxiety, comfort and who gets to experience it, and when simply feeling okay is enough.
We talked about protest as loving warfare, poetry as respite, the potential for America’s healing, stuffing our gifts in society’s boxes, and, at the very beginning, the sacred nature of morning practice.
You seemed to particularly enjoy when my guardian angel appeared in the form of Gillian Welch, the time I threw up in my professor’s cat bowl, what the Italians taught me last fall, and experiencing the shock of the pandemic as New Yorkers saying goodbye.
“Let’s Talk” focuses on regular people exploring universal themes, and we’ve heard from a Broadway producer, a meditation expert, a musician and college professor, and a young creative.
WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE is a weekly column for people asking life’s big questions. Through companionship and deeper inquiry, I believe we might all develop more meaningful relationships with ourselves, each other, and the planet.
Our ability to create a loving, just world depends on it.
I’m committed to continuing this work, and I want you to know that my goal is to create a space of community and belonging — for you, and also for me — where we can share our ridiculous joys and terrifying struggles; where we can see and be seen; and where we can cultivate meaning and connection that withstands even the most persistent external trials.
To celebrate that commitment, I’m introducing sponsorship for WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE! This has been months in the making. Why? A few reasons.
First, WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE is a labor of love. I’ve spent around 675 hours on it this year, or 10-15 hours per week.
I’m interested in making this a more sustainable project, which involves money no matter how you slice it. Like everyone else, I have to focus on work that pays. Sponsorship provides an opportunity for you to invest in this space’s security and growth if it’s something you enjoy receiving. I want WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE to remain accessible to everyone, so I’ve created multiple sponsorship levels.
If you can’t sponsor at this time, just high-five me for doing enough inner work over the years to be able to request financial backing. Women asking for money! Yeah! You can also help me grow by inviting a friend to join or sharing essays online.
Secondly, we’ve all been conditioned to expect free content online, so it’s jarring to be asked to pay. Even for me. But I believe that giving money in exchange for the kind of content we want helps tip the power balance towards something healthier. It cultivates a landscape in which artists and writers can create things that are not beholden to ads, which fundamentally drive traffic rather than thoughtfulness. I only want WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE to be beholden to its readers.
Finally, if you become a sponsor, there are perks! Mostly, you’ll know you’re keeping WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE alive and free of outside influence. Additionally, sponsors at the $50 level will receive my lovingly snail-mailed zine, how to uncover SELF in chaotic times. Sponsors at the $100 level will receive both my zine and a booklet I’m publishing as part of an upcoming project on joy in the pandemic.
I’ve been thinking about sponsorship — and my comfort level with it — for months, and it came down to this: It’s like a public radio pledge drive. It’s important. That made me feel less squirmy, and maybe it’ll do the same for you. Thanks, NPR.
I am committed, here, to—
Facilitating conversations around life’s big questions
Holding space for the beautiful human inadequacy and honesty we bring to these conversations
Highlighting topics that aren’t always welcome in mainstream outlets
Exploring growth and healing as critical, not frivolous components of our role as citizens
Prioritizing meaning-making in all things, including art, work, relationships, and civic duty
Celebrating personal inquiry, shared experience, spirituality, and the written word as avenues to meaning-making
Will you join me? Sponsorship looks like—
$15: That one piece you wrote stuck with me. Here’s a cocktail! — $.23 / email
$33: Forget cocktails. I’m sponsoring at the new-book-from-an-indie-level. — $.51 / email
$50: I’ve loved being here and want to invest three quarters in every email you send. — $.78 / email
$100: I love you, I freaking love you! Go forth and prosper. — $1.56 / email.
Thank you so much for spending this year with me. I’m excited about what’s next. Soon, I will explore how joy has evolved during the pandemic, managing two people’s dreams in a marriage, and texting people you shouldn’t during quarantine.
Consider yourself awkwardly air-hugged! Because this is a pandemic, and I’m awkwardly air-hugging everyone I know. I’ll see you next time.
With gratitude,
LM