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What to expect from Letters on Being
Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
It seems like the world is darker, angrier, and lonelier than ever before, and it’s easy to give in to despair. But there’s still so much good here, too, and that’s what Letters on Being is about. It’s a balm for the many frazzled nerves out there and an invitation to slow down and become more observant. Because even though life can be unbearable, it can also be beautiful. I want to find that beauty, even when—especially when—it’s buried beneath pain and sorrow. I’m searching for hope in the face of seemingly endless darkness, and I’m offering up what I find so that we all might feel less alone.
Why subscribe?
So what can you expect from Letters on Being? Every other weekend, you’ll get a letter on…well…being. You’ll receive poetry and essays about joy, grief, nature, pain, and all the other mundanities that add up to make a life. These letters are an unflinching portrait of what it means to be human and a reminder that we’re all more resilient than we think.
Right now, Letters on Being is free. So, really, there’s no good reason not to subscribe. I know that art can heal, and I think you know that, too. So I hope you’ll join me. Maybe, with a little effort, we can heal each other.
A little bit about me:
I’m Yardena Schwersky, a writer from Florida’s Gulf Coast. I received my bachelor’s degree in journalism (with a minor in English and creative writing) from the University of Florida. I was just starting to build a career when, at 26, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That, combined with a lifetime of depression and anxiety, led me to some dark places. But it has also shown me how precious life can be, and it’s taught me to focus on what I still have instead of what’s been taken from me.
My work has appeared in The Republic of Letters and Paper Brigade, and I am currently working on my first poetry collection. I often write from my back porch (where the above photo was taken) while my cat, Nyx, hunts lizards and lounges in the sun.
Leave a comment below telling me about yourself and how you ended up here. Share what gives you hope.
AI Policy
I have not, and never will, use AI to brainstorm, write, or edit Letters on Being. Likewise, all photos are either taken and edited by me or used with credit from the glorious photo library that is Unsplash.
The fly only knows where the unclean things are, while the honeybee knows where the beautiful iris or hyacinth is. As I have come to understand, some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee only see the good in everything they see. The stupid person thinks stupidly and takes everything in the wrong way, whereas the person who has good thoughts, no matter what he sees, no matter what you tell him, maintains a positive and good thought.
- Elder Paisios