I am such a fan of your work that it makes me feel self-conscious. It’s certainly had a profound effect on my mind since I discovered it about a week ago (?) and your work inspires me to want to be a light of authenticity and hope and joy for others too. I personally think your writing has probably had a profound effect on others too. The last part has absolutely been mirroring thoughts I’ve been having today, how this act is a form of intrusion onto others.
thank you so much for saying this, it really means a lot. I know that feeling of self-consciousness you describe when someone’s work cracks something open inside you, and it’s wild to think my writing could spark that for you. I love the way you phrased it, about wanting to be a light of authenticity and joy for others. that ripple effect is the truest reason I keep writing.
I’m grateful you reached out to tell me this. It encourages me more than you know <3
Hey Patrick, you look like a perfectionist seeing how you want to post but don't. If you want to write (and it's fine if you'd rather do something else) it is so much kinder to yourself and others to publish something incomplete and obviously flawed, write some more and then publish the next thing, than it is to want but never dare. It is also so much kinder to try writing and find out whether it's for you than it is to just imagine but never risk tarnishing the fantasy with your real work in the world.
Thank you Kamran. I post like crazy on X but I want to make something more long form on here because it’s a more serious medium. I think you’re right, I might just start something today.
I love this essay and it fits with the sense of responsibility I have with writing for children… I think most kids’ authors have it, however many or few readers we might have.
So beautiful. Your words really resonate. Plus, I love the idea of a collective consciousness hallucinating on true love, beauty, and meaning. Count me in x
Anna, thank you so much for this. so glad to hear there are others out there helping spread the collective consciousness, which it sounds like you are working on too. sending love and light to you <3
Maja reflects on the ripple effect of words, drawing on Ursula K. Le Guin’s idea that language transforms both speaker and listener. While famous artists’ words visibly shape culture, everyday speech leaves quieter but equally powerful traces — changing moods, decisions, and beliefs in ways we rarely see. She describes this as a “rhizomatic” spread of ideas, branching like underground roots. Writing becomes a form of agency: knocking over the first domino, building bridges, reshaping orientation. Words can be viruses or medicine, hostile acts or sacred gifts — always contagious, always consequential.
I enjoyed reading this piece — especially the reminder that writing is both fragile and infrastructural. We rarely see how far our words travel, yet they ripple rhizomatically, shifting emotional weather in ways we’ll never fully measure. Even a stray sentence can be the first domino or the bridge between two minds. That thought makes me want to be more deliberate with what I speak into the world.
Wow, this resonates on so many levels. Thank you for sending your ripples out into the world.
Interesting fact, I had exactly the same feeling a decade ago about all the negativity that inspired me initially to write my first blog titled 'Reporter of Hope'. Ironically, in an attempt to hurt me, my ex-husband deleted all my writing and social media accounts linked to my blog. Some of my readers found me again and encouraged me to start writing again. Even his attempt to destroy my life's work couldn't take away some of the ripple effects of my previous writing, and he gifted me a new blank page to start over from.
Thank you for this encouragement. I'm taking this idea with me as part of my morning writing for a memoir in progress 🤗
”Because beliefs feel internal, but many are inherited. And words are the vehicles they hitch a ride on.” - a great reminder to think about where our beliefs come from and consider whether they serve us
i am struck by just how compassionate these words are - a compassion that extends universally, to the interior and exterior, to both self and other. i think this mindset is the antidote to so much shame and fear in our culture. thank you for your words and for inspiring me to share mine!!
This was such a stunning reminder of how alive words really are. The “quiet domino effect” you described is so powerful, because most of us will never see the full arc of where our words land, yet they ripple anyway.
The word ‘ripple’ is inherently true. How it blends into water and seemingly disappear yet the weight these words carry with us (alongside the emotions attached) cannot be taken lightly.
I am such a fan of your work that it makes me feel self-conscious. It’s certainly had a profound effect on my mind since I discovered it about a week ago (?) and your work inspires me to want to be a light of authenticity and hope and joy for others too. I personally think your writing has probably had a profound effect on others too. The last part has absolutely been mirroring thoughts I’ve been having today, how this act is a form of intrusion onto others.
thank you so much for saying this, it really means a lot. I know that feeling of self-consciousness you describe when someone’s work cracks something open inside you, and it’s wild to think my writing could spark that for you. I love the way you phrased it, about wanting to be a light of authenticity and joy for others. that ripple effect is the truest reason I keep writing.
I’m grateful you reached out to tell me this. It encourages me more than you know <3
Hey Patrick, you look like a perfectionist seeing how you want to post but don't. If you want to write (and it's fine if you'd rather do something else) it is so much kinder to yourself and others to publish something incomplete and obviously flawed, write some more and then publish the next thing, than it is to want but never dare. It is also so much kinder to try writing and find out whether it's for you than it is to just imagine but never risk tarnishing the fantasy with your real work in the world.
Thank you Kamran. I post like crazy on X but I want to make something more long form on here because it’s a more serious medium. I think you’re right, I might just start something today.
you should go for longform! excited to read :)
I love this essay and it fits with the sense of responsibility I have with writing for children… I think most kids’ authors have it, however many or few readers we might have.
Children’s books authors play such an important role I do believe! What special work 💗 thank you for reading :)
So beautiful. Your words really resonate. Plus, I love the idea of a collective consciousness hallucinating on true love, beauty, and meaning. Count me in x
Anna, thank you so much for this. so glad to hear there are others out there helping spread the collective consciousness, which it sounds like you are working on too. sending love and light to you <3
Maja reflects on the ripple effect of words, drawing on Ursula K. Le Guin’s idea that language transforms both speaker and listener. While famous artists’ words visibly shape culture, everyday speech leaves quieter but equally powerful traces — changing moods, decisions, and beliefs in ways we rarely see. She describes this as a “rhizomatic” spread of ideas, branching like underground roots. Writing becomes a form of agency: knocking over the first domino, building bridges, reshaping orientation. Words can be viruses or medicine, hostile acts or sacred gifts — always contagious, always consequential.
I enjoyed reading this piece — especially the reminder that writing is both fragile and infrastructural. We rarely see how far our words travel, yet they ripple rhizomatically, shifting emotional weather in ways we’ll never fully measure. Even a stray sentence can be the first domino or the bridge between two minds. That thought makes me want to be more deliberate with what I speak into the world.
Wow, this resonates on so many levels. Thank you for sending your ripples out into the world.
Interesting fact, I had exactly the same feeling a decade ago about all the negativity that inspired me initially to write my first blog titled 'Reporter of Hope'. Ironically, in an attempt to hurt me, my ex-husband deleted all my writing and social media accounts linked to my blog. Some of my readers found me again and encouraged me to start writing again. Even his attempt to destroy my life's work couldn't take away some of the ripple effects of my previous writing, and he gifted me a new blank page to start over from.
Thank you for this encouragement. I'm taking this idea with me as part of my morning writing for a memoir in progress 🤗
Wow! I love sub stack.
isn't it wonderful! thank you for reading :)
”Because beliefs feel internal, but many are inherited. And words are the vehicles they hitch a ride on.” - a great reminder to think about where our beliefs come from and consider whether they serve us
love you
i am struck by just how compassionate these words are - a compassion that extends universally, to the interior and exterior, to both self and other. i think this mindset is the antidote to so much shame and fear in our culture. thank you for your words and for inspiring me to share mine!!
This was such a stunning reminder of how alive words really are. The “quiet domino effect” you described is so powerful, because most of us will never see the full arc of where our words land, yet they ripple anyway.
The word ‘ripple’ is inherently true. How it blends into water and seemingly disappear yet the weight these words carry with us (alongside the emotions attached) cannot be taken lightly.
First read from a fellow subscriber.
This is the best essay/piece I've ever read on this platform. THANK YOU!
Your way of writing is SO beautiful!!! I am in awe right now, keep writing!