As we put together the zine based on "Winter," we discussed a sort of subject/title that could continue in the event we had any inklings of future publishings, seasonal or otherwise.
The question: What Day Is It? came to mind. It's a gut-shot phrase, but is also deeply connected to much that we've chronicled at this blog before. And, it should be no surprise that some of those connections could be described using a couple of phrases from Henry Thoreau's Walden as a base:
- He writes in Walden, "Morning is when I am awake and there is dawn in me." The question we asked friends to write for in the Zine was something like: Will you give us a winter story? Or: right now, what wakes you up about winter? And so the question, "What Day Is It?" relates to the bringing of the day, the dawning, that we sense and describe in our stories. These stories introduce the dawn, introduce us to the "day."
- As a follow up here, I think the stories we came away with describe winter "days" of wonder, cold, loneliness, and connection.
- The other H.D. quote of mention is from "The Village" chapter of Walden, where he writes of the need to "find ourselves and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations." Asking What Day Is It? is akin to asking the writers to locate themselves and us in their stories. These winter stories help us realize "where" we are (or what day it is) and they are stories about the extent of our relations.
- As a follow up here, I think the stories in this Zine describe relations to our modern, "safe" lifestyles, relations to where we live and to the cold, and relations to each other over distances.
Here's to hoping this makes sense! The truth is that the stories inside are really the marrow of the project. But I think it's safe to say that we'll continue writing and creating, all in the hopes to convey points of light, periods of awakening, experiences and thoughts that locate us in mind, body, and soul.
We are glad to share.
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