I’m writing this in Rancho Mirage, California. It gets five inches of rain a year, and I think they all fell today…along with a violent windstorm that took down a tree outside my hotel room.

I watched as the maintenance crew arrived, piled out of their truck, then paused to assess the damage.

There was some milling around, some chatting, but at a certain point someone picked up a chainsaw.

Someone called for the wood-chipper.

The pause was over.

Everything was noise and motion and determined action.

If you’re finding it hard to write, perhaps you’re in the pause.

Perhaps the pause is necessary.

The last few years have been… a lot.

Most people are standing around looking at the damage, not yet capable of formulating a plan for what happens next.

Imagine what might happen if people like us helped lead the recovery.

Imagine what might happen if, while everyone else is trying to put back what’s been broken, storytellers stepped in to clear away the dead wood and shape the landscape of the future.

We need new stories.

Stories that allow people to imagine better futures.

We need stories written by the quiet kids, the overly-sensitive kids, the ones who pause and notice everything.

If you’re not feeling the pull to create right now, get ready.

It’s coming.

And we need you.

What kind of stories do YOU think the world needs right now? Leave a comment