On a whim on Friday I left work and headed to a literary event at which I was (surprise!) surrounded by people whose books and poems and essays have long sustained me. Which is to say I spent the evening steadfastly refusing to suggest in any way that I do anything with words that might involve me writing them.

Editor I will cop to; it’s in my actual job title (I tell myself). I love editing! I love making work better! Writer, hah. Hah.

Hah.

At that event Meron Hadero, in the flow of a tender reflection on the necessity of showing up for the people whose work and lives you value, said, “It is easier to speak [up] when you know someone is listening.”