Take This Survey (Pretty Please)

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LISTENING: to my husband's nap alarm go off
FEELING: very, very tired
SEEING: my beautiful kitty whom I've missed

Community is showing up. Even when it's inconvenient. Even when we don't want to. Community is giving without expecting in return. It's holding hands during hard times. Leaving the house when you want to stay in. Dropping off a meal to a loved one. Watching their kid. Helping them tidy during a mental health crisis Taking a survey when you'd rather scroll!

I consider you all a big part of my community. And I'm so grateful I get to tap in and share with y'all every week. I'm grateful for every email I receive. For every person who opens these newsletters with excitement. For every text a friend sends about an edition that resonated. For every in-person meeting with a reader.

I'm hoping more of you will take this year's reader survey. I don't conduct these surveys often, so it's special when I do. My ads don't really sell, so they're not the focus this time around. I want to see what part of the newsletter matters most to y'all. I also want to measure the newsletter's impact. Do y'all subscribe to other newsletters when I name one? Buy books I recommend? That's helpful information as I apply to grants and hunt for collaborations. I have yet to actually win a grant to help support this newsletter, but that's one goal. I still want to invite other writers to contribute and pay them for their expertise. I want to pay photographers to publish their work!

So if you haven't already, please take the reader survey here. I have just 11 responses at the moment, which is woefully insufficient to draw any solid conclusions from. Plus, a lucky few will win a free subscription or a mailed collage! Those who opt for a mailed collage will also receive a limited wedding zine my talented friend Jennifer Luxton designed for me and my husband.

I had just a few hours of sleep last night, so that's all for today. Puerto Rico family time was much-needed, but I'm still exhausted from a delayed midnight flight. Please, please do me this favor and spend five minutes answering this survey. And be brutally honest! I can only grow with your support. Your words mean more than you might imagine. 🌀

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Rest in Power

While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more frequent and/or stronger disasters like these.

The heat wave that rocked the East Coast during the July Fourth holiday weekend killed at least 29 people in New Jersey. In New York, the death toll is three people.

Central China experienced deadly storms this week, resulting in at least 15 deaths.

In nearby Bangladesh, monsoon rains triggered a landslide that killed at least nine people (including several children) at a Rohingya refugee camp. In India, at least 13 people died from similar weather conditions.

The European heat wave is behind 3,700 excess deaths, per new numbers.

Currently Reading

The second article of Neighbors Magazine is out! If you missed last week, this is a new project I'm leading for Accelerate Resilience L.A. Written by Alisa Petrosova and Devon Provo, this explainer breaks down "living infrastructure," the heart of the magazine. Y'all are gonna love this one. You can also read it in Spanish by changing the language in the menu bar.

I'm almost done with the final installment of the MaddAddam trilogy from Margaret Atwood. I haven't done much reading besides that, but I will be digging into all my Heartstopper graphic novels ahead of the Netflix movie coming out to finish the series! I'm so excited! I also just picked up "Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I can't wait to finally read one of her works.

Poetry

JAMAICA BAY
some paths are green
others are blue
some, too sensitive to walk through

the birds, they know to fly
and me, well I know to sit
silent, grateful, spirited

I rest in a grove of trees
their shade, my delight
the air is salty
like the bay that surrounds me

mother earth can heal
and she does it so well
all you have to do is close your eyes
and feel, feel, feel

-ylf-

- Yessenia x