#5 Reader Q&A: what Thornfield flowers would you choose?

"I cannot verbalize... how inept I feel at trying to live up to her dreams for me, or the role that I’ve tried and struggled to fill in her absence..."

Hello, welcome to issue #5 of The Joy Rise.

In this issue, Fevers & Enthusiasms includes a very moving reader question and my answer, plus Wild Geese, a collection of creativity that has nourished my curiosity lately.

There is so much asking for our attention - thanks for sharing your time with my words here and supporting my work.

If you are [creating] without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half [creating]. For the first thing [an artist] should be is-- excited. [They] should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. 

- RAY BRADBURY

A reader named Shawn has written to me from Indianapolis, Indiana, the traditional and ancestral territory of the Miami, Potawatomi and Shawnee people. If you have a question, I’d love to hear from you - you can write to me here. 

Dear Holly,

I’ve considered myself a fantasy reader for years because anything that gets too close to reality feels too close to home and puts me out of my comfort zone. Your stories make me realize the value of real connection and I am looking forward to reading more of your work.

I’ve recently lost my mother. I have struggled with so many conflicting feelings and thoughts. I cannot verbalize the sorrow, pain, absence that her loss has caused me. Nor can I verbalize how inept I feel at trying to live up to her dreams for me, or the role that I’ve tried and struggled to fill in her absence…to keep my family together. What Thornfield flower(s) would you choose to represent such feelings?

Dear Shawn,