On Celebrating

Hello friends,

I just posted an essay about why I support crowdfunding to my Patreon folks. This got me thinking…

How often do we feel celebrated and supported by our friends, colleagues, and family members? How often are our dreams, plans, ambitions, and desires belittled, torn down, or thwarted? What helps us feel lifted up?

And how do we lift up our friends, families, and colleagues? Have we been the ones throwing cold water on someone’s ideas? Have we boosted our friends dreams and celebrated our colleagues successes?

I get it. Sometimes it’s hard to not feel a pang of envy. And other times? We’re being practical. Maybe we’re scared for our friends. And maybe our friends are envious or scared for us. I’ve been there, on both sides of that fence.

But somewhere in that mix, I decided I want to lean harder into uplifting others. I want to invoke the generosity of celebration. Over the past twenty years I’ve worked to celebrate my friends and family members, seeing the ways in which I haven’t always done so in the past. And I’ve worked hard to surround myself with people who can celebrate me, as well. It’s not always perfect. Sometimes we’re tired and grumpy, and that’s okay. And sometimes a friend ends up jealous anyway. That’s okay, too. Over time, we can figure out whether we can work on that relationship or we need to let it go.

A big part of how I invoke the generosity of celebration—especially over the past fifteen years—is through micro funding. AKA crowdfunding. My dollar, five dollars, or twenty to one hundred dollars tells people: “Hey! I appreciate your work in the world. Thanks for making art, thinking about difficult things, or feeding people on the regular.” I try to do the same with sharing other people’s work, because celebration and support aren’t just about the money.

All of this sharing wealth and goodwill turns into a raft of support. And in a world run by billionaires? Rafts of support are necessary things.

I have a lot more to say about why crowdfunding works and why it is vitally important right now. I hope you read the rest.

Thanks for being here.

best wishes — Thorn

To Raise a Clenched Fist to the Sky is still free in ebook right now, and my new Kickstarter launches on Tuesday! I’d appreciate it if you would click this link to get alerted on launch.