I Hope All My Readers Understand That It's My Great Privilege to Write For You

Thoughts on a quiet Monday as the world continues to spiral into chaos

Hello Friends,

I find myself reflecting this morning on how much different things are now than they were even six months ago. In fact, if you're curious, here's the post I wrote 6 months ago. Reading between the lines, you can tell I fully expected a rational result from the election and was ready to quit talking about politics and dedicate myself to the celebration of the creative mind.

Sigh.

For the last few months, life has been absolutely frantic. I've never written so much in my life. I feel a kind of existential desperation. I feel like my time is running out and I have to scramble to express myself before my brief, flickering moment is lost to the void.

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I used to spend a lot more time checking earnings and other stats. That's still important, but these days I don't have time for it. If I'm going to sit down at the computer, I need to produce a minimum of 2 articles, usually 3 (or 2 articles and a chapter of the fairy story I read to my girls).

Yesterday as I was out on a walk with my wife, I began reflecting on the books I write for them. The truth is, they're not “novels,” instead they're cover so I can tell my girls everything I want them to know about life.

For example, we're working through a plot line about a man who has a reputation as a saint because he spends all his time caring for his sick wife. However, the protagonists figure out she's only sick because he's been poisoning her. Once discovered, he tries to gaslight his wife into believing her saviors are the actual cause of her misery.

So, I'll write out these scenes, and then we'll have a conversation about gaslighting. The sad truth is that gaslighting is pretty much the most common foundation of relationships in the modern USA. Even having been prepped for it, I worry that some manipulative asshole will get the better of them.

That being said, I know my girls are powerful and smart. But I still don't want to see them tested. Dang it, why can't our society just embrace kindness as a national ideology?

KINDNESS!

It is so much easier in the long run. A quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain goes, “The problem with lying is that you have too much to remember.”

The same extra effort is created when you act maliciously. Whatever you gain from being malicious is erased from having to defend yourself against the consequences.

IT'S SO OBVIOUS!

But the problem is that everyone is running away from debt, so they're trying to find that one big score to get ahead. The big score ideology doesn't work, you have to claw your way to the top one grueling step at at time. The sooner you accept that, the easier your life's journey is going to be.

Take layups instead of three pointers.

Take a 5 yard pass instead of the long bomb.

Sell a book for a $500 advance instead of waiting for a million dollar offer.

That's the key to everything. Set achievable goals and get to work. Don't think you have to shoot for the moon every time because you get stuck never making any progress.

That's long been my writing philosophy, but lately it's been even more so. I'm just cranking out content. Honestly, sometimes I'll look at a title from 3-4 days ago and have absolutely no idea what the article is about. I'll reread an article and be impressed by it. The content will inspire me to write something else.

What I've got lately is words on the brain. As a writer, I've never experienced this before. There are so many words jostling about in my mind that I just have to get them out. They're all pointy with sharp, scratchy letters and you have to keep them under control.

I'm less a writer and more a mental gardener. I'm trying to keep the foliage in my mind under control. I chop the hedges into recognizable figures and then ship them out the door. Some people look at them and go, “That's nice!”

Incidentally, at 6 months ago I was sitting at 5,000 subscribers.

I think what's going on is we're all caught in a holding pattern right now. This is more of a “throw spaghetti at the wall” strategy than anything else. The zeitgeist of our time is like lightning in a bottle threatening to break out. It's mostly scary, but there's a little dash of excitement thrown in.

If you tap into the zeitgeist, which is something writers need to consider anyway, you get some massive views. For example a recent story of mine got 21k hits. I've been seeing a lot of interest in my experiences from growing up in a red rural town.

I'm getting the sense that people are starting to wake up. When I first started writing those stories, I received a lot of comments of the “That didn't happen, you're delusional/frustrated/resentful” variety. I'm still getting those, but now there are a lot of, “The exact same thing happened to me, I'm so glad somebody is finally telling the truth.”

Too often, writers are inclined to gauge the success or failure of their viewpoint by only a single article. You can't forget to add time into the equation. If you are trying to convince the general public of something, you have to approach the same topic from a variety of different angles.

When people say, “I lived in a small town and I didn't have that experience,” they're forgetting that not everyone has the same experience.

In one of his Dirk Gently books, Douglas Adams mentions how the experience of riding a horse will be described differently depending on whether it's from the perspective of the rider... or the horse.

So that gap in perception is what we're up against, not just in our modern era but throughout all of human history. We're tempted to think our experience is unique, but our experience can be radically different depending on our gender, our sexual orientation, the construct of race, etc.

But one thing I've noticed is that the comments I get can be divided into those that are thoughtful and those that are hostile. Many people are just delighted by a lovely story. Others become angry when you speak a truth that they see as a challenge to their own worldview.

Curiosity versus willful ignorance.

“The world simply isn't as you describe.”

But the truth is, even that second set of comments is very revealing to me. I can do without the insults and the hostility, but lately I'm seeing quite a bit of desperation in there as well. Oddly, it feels like the authoritarians are scared, it's like they get the sense that their position of power is slipping from their grasp.

So they grip tighter only to find that power is more like a liquid than it is a solid, and all their efforts do is push it away.

Lately I've been spending a lot of time in the flow state. I get up and start to write without really thinking about it or plotting it out. It just comes out of me. I often don't know what I've written until I do the voice over. The same is true of the stories I write for my girls. I'll write them in the morning and be surprised by them when I read them at night.

This kind of work is exhausting. I've been hitting the pillow hard at 8PM and I've been having deep dreams. I read the comments you leave throughout the day. If I read them on my cell phone, I can't leave a thoughtful reply (I need a keyboard, and if I don't have one I get frustrated and can't share my thoughts).

I just wanted all of you to know that even if I don't respond to your comments, they have a powerful influence on me. It's like pouring ingredients into the mixer. The mixer churns constantly. I think it even churns when I am asleep. When I wake up in the morning, I pour the batter into a pan and make a couple different cakes.

You're all part of this.

What's happening is we're making progress towards understanding our reality. It's not coming in the form of a “big score.” Every day there is a revelation. Go back and look and you'll see what I'm talking about. There are some days when I have a glimpse of insight that might seem big. Other days it might seem small. But there's something every day, and with every little scrap of understanding we collectively become more powerful.

Apply what we figure out here to your daily reality and you will be happier and better equipped to face the challenges of life.

You see, I regard this newsletter the same way that I regard the stories I write for my kids. I want you all to be protected. I want you all to have the tools you need to overcome the challenges you face. I want us all to be prosperous and content.

Progress is slow, but we are making progress. Thank you for the privilege of letting me write for you!

A week ago, I offered a challenge for people to read my “Dear MAGA” article and send me a recording. Here’s one from

Kathy Minicozzi

, it makes me so happy:

From Walter Rhein: Dear MAGA, You're Not What You Think You Are and You Never Have Been

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