Every Monday since 2015, Hugh wakes up, makes coffee, sits down, and writes an email to thousands of folks in at least five different countries. There’s an original blog-length reflection on where he sees beauty in the world right then and links to five things he saw that week that struck him as beautiful. Because the world is beautiful, but sometimes it’s hard to notice.
I'm most thankful for you. | LISB
Hey y'all.
A few weeks ago, I got a new therapist. New therapists are hard, because it takes several sessions of story telling for them to get to a point where they understand you, and where you feel like they know enough about you to trust their advice. So, I was trying to describe my life.
Me: Uhhhm, I have a sort of... following.
Therapist: A following?
Me: Yeah.
Therapist: A following, like you are an influencer? Or a following, like you are a cult leader?
It was funny, but the reality is, I just send emails and publish things on the internet - stories, mostly, and they resonate with some people. Sometimes, they resonate with lots of people.
When I think how hard it was in my lifetime - say, in 1988 - to get your message out to even 100 people. It would have taken many thousands of dollars and hours and hours of your time. Now I can share my stories and ideas with thousands nearly instantly, and make them available to anyone in the world with an internet connection with tools available to any 12 year old with cell phone.
It amazes me at times that anyone wants to read anything I've written - hell, there have been times in my life I would gladly have paid someone to read my words. That y'all literally signed up to do it, and that some of you invest in my work so others can read it, literally blows my mind.
The last seven years I have been writing these letters have changed my life, and I will never not be grateful for your readership, your care, and the ways you lift me and my work up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Five Beautiful Things
Cara Barer does paper sculptures that she then photographs. I don't really know how to describe it better than that. You can see more of her work on Instagram.
What is your digital love language?
The Internet Archive has over 10,000 vintage cookbooks available for download. I swear, some days I love the internet.
Check out this timelapse of how houseplants move - almost like they are breathing - over 24 hour period. Nature is a freaking marvel, y'all.
And on the subject of nature being a marvel, check out the 22 minute short video called Wrought, where the filmmakers highlight the role rot, decay, and mold play in making our world. Even the trailer is a marvel.
Housekeeping
This year has been a mess here at The Hughniverse as I try to figure out publishing schedules, revise my formats, change platforms and figure out ways to make these publishing projects pay for themselves, all while also figuring out a new day gig as an organizer.
It's been a mess inside my head, too. But things seem to be settling out, and I feel like I am 89% of the way to where I want things to be with the underlying infrastructure and routines of the several publishing projects I have going on. I appreciate your hanging in there.
And I meant what I said up top there - I am very aware that you are the reason I get to keep doing this, and during this time of gratitude and thankfulness, you are at the top of my list.
I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving if you are in a place that celebrates it, and regardless of where you are, I'm wishing you every good thing.
Take care,
HH
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Hi! I'm Hugh Hollowell.
Every Monday since 2015, Hugh wakes up, makes coffee, sits down, and writes an email to thousands of folks in at least five different countries. There’s an original blog-length reflection on where he sees beauty in the world right then and links to five things he saw that week that struck him as beautiful. Because the world is beautiful, but sometimes it’s hard to notice.
Click here to read this on the web, or to have a link to share on social media The eclipse as captured in my wildlife pond. NB: Resent, because I missed not one, but two links! I was in a rush this morning, and it shows. Thanks for all the folks who let me know. - HH Hi y’all, Thanks to the folks who wrote and checked in when your inbox didn’t have a note from me in it for two weeks in a row. Over Easter weekend, our cat Felix ended up in the hospital and we spent a few days thinking we were...
Click here to read this on the web, or to have a link to share on social media The eclipse as captured in my wildlife pond. Hi y’all, Thanks to the folks who wrote and checked in when your inbox didn’t have a note from me in it for two weeks in a row. Over Easter weekend, our cat Felix ended up in the hospital and we spent a few days thinking we were going to have to put him down (we didn’t, he’s still with us, thousands of dollars later) and I was a mess. And then last week, my Monday was...
Click here to read this on the web, or to have a link to share on social media Here I am! This is Life Is So Beautiful, a handcrafted weekly dose of hope and aspiration. It’s lovingly curated by Hugh Hollowell, and is devoted to the belief that our hope for survival in this brutal world is rooted in finding the beauty that is everywhere, but sometimes hard to find. I hope you enjoy it. - HH Hey y’all, Born in the early 1970’s, I was surrounded by, and cared for by, people who had come of age...