August 20, 2024

Hope, faith, & the comment section | LISB

NB: One of the features of the new platform is the ability to leave comments on the web version of this letter. See the link at the end of this letter. - HH

Hey y’all!

In 1998, the proto-blogging website Open Diary launched an innovation that would change the internet, and arguably society, forever: They added the ability for people to make comments on other people’s entries. Within a few years, the big media sites all had comments, and less than 10 years after Open Diary’s example, we had full on social media, with MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook all existing, and all having business models virtually dependent on the ability to respond to Other People’s Content (are you down with OPC?).

But 26 years after the birth of internet comments, it would be hard to argue for them. Many sites have removed them, and the tenor of them is so horrible that “Never read the comments” is a well known maxim. As I told a friend recently, “Nobody feels better after reading the comments.”

Even so, despite my best intentions, I sometimes find myself in the comments. I seldom actually comment myself, but will read what others wrote, as a way to have my worst beliefs about humanity confirmed. 

The local news article about the Black politician charged with bribery? I go to the comments, expecting to see comments from white suburbanites trashing the majority Black city where I live, and Black people in general. And I am not shocked to find them there, thus reinforcing all my prejudices. 

Or the woodworking account I follow on Instagram that feature a plus-sized Black woman woodworker in their videos, because woodworking should be accessible to everyone, and not just 50 year old white guys named Steve. The comments are a hot mess - mostly about her hair, her fingernails, and her “lack of professionalism”. I take a degree of glee in how bad they are, and nearly sprain something with the eye rolling I am doing. 

I would say I don’t know why I do this to myself, but I think the problem is that I do know - I do it as a form of ego-reinforcement: See how bad those people are? See, I’m not like them. Can you believe people think like that? What an idiot/racist/bigot. By scapegoating them, I relieve myself of the responsibility for self-reflection. 

I do not like any of this about myself. In the Christian scriptures, the author of the letter to the Hebrews said that faith was being sure of what you hope for, and by that standard, I am surely a man of faith. Because with every fiber of my being, I hope for a better world than we have now, and I hope for a better Hugh than we have now. 

Which is why I write these letters. Because while I write them to you, I write them for me, and the me that is writing this needs to be reminded that beauty and hope and joy exist in the world, and just need to be looked for.

But probably not in the comment section. 

(Ironically, I turned comments on, starting this issue. So, if you click the link at the very bottom of the page, you can comment on this issue. I would love to know what resonated with you, or which link was your favorite today.)

Five Beautiful Things

Sure, you know about the Oscar Meyer weinermobile. But do you know about the Lifesavers fleet of vehicles?

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick took this time-lapse video of the Northern Lights from space earlier this month.

The folks at Sandcastle University in LA (Lower Alabama) have their sandcastle game on point.

In 2000, this animated version of The Old Man and The Sea won best short film. It’s an old animation technique, seldom practiced any more, done by painting glass. Over 29,000 individual slides were painted for this 20 minute film. It’s lovely.

I struggle in the wintertime with the greyness and the cold and the lack of greenery. Maybe if I had an art nouveau stained glass conservatory like this, things would be better?

In case you missed it

The most clicked link ast issue was this collection of animal portraits.

Over on my blog last week, I wrote about the new perks members are getting.

Invitation

Some friends and I are hosting a virtual event this weekend that I hope you will consider. 

Join us for an inspiring online event where we will come together to discuss ways to heal ourselves and our communities, and work towards creating a better world for all. This event will take place on Sat Aug 24 2024 at 1:00 EDT. Get ready to connect with like-minded individuals, learn from experts, and be part of a movement for positive change. 

Find out more here

Bonus Content

My work is supported by regular patronage from people on the membership team who believe in it, and want to see more of it in the world. Because of them, this publication is both free and ad (and sponsorship) free. For years, the satisfaction of making my work available was the only real perk they got.

But now, Members also get bonus content, including a previously unpublished essay each Saturday morning, plus periodic “from the archives” essays that have been updated or given additional context as well as a backlog of content including 12 chapters of that cookbook I am (still!) working on. 

You can learn more, give a membership to someone else, or sign up for your own membership here.

Thank you 

Y’all are the best! So far this month, we have 14 new members, and 5 existing members who upgraded their monthly patronage. Other ways to support this project include buying me a cup of coffee or forwarding this email to your friends.

If someone forwarded this to you, you can get your own subscription here.

Take care,

HH

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Hugh L. Hollowell Jr 
(he/him) 
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