Allow me to introduce: Make Things Better.
A newsletter? That’s your amazing idea?
Wait for it…
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I can do, as someone dying slowly of metastatic cancer but still here. My physical capacity is severely limited, and it’s been shown over the past two years that high-stress activities accelerate my tumor growth (based on blood markers after high-stress periods). Since I have no “rewind” for the tumors, only the “brakes” of chemotherapy, I need to reduce my stress in order to live longer — but I also feel that a longer life is meaningless if I don’t use the time to make things better for those I leave behind.
So, I look at the paper taped up at my desk that says in huge letters, “What CAN I do?” and I make a list.
I can put words together well, judging by award shortlists and so forth.
I am apparently, judging by my semi-viral Bluesky thread, pretty decent at inspiring people or helping them see a different perspective.
I’m sociable and good at community-building, judging by the trail of happy niche gaming guilds I’ve left in my wake.
Ever since my viral Bluesky thread and the requests people made for it to be put into an essay or other non-threaded form, I’ve been thinking of doing a newsletter. But when I realized a newsletter could also be a source of charity fundraising, something clicked in my mind.
I can use my writing skills to make newsletters that are easy and pleasant to read.
I can choose topics that will help others’ mental health and give them ideas for constructive action.
I can build this into a self-propagating community - as it helps people, they will tell their friends, and readership will grow, and I can also take submissions from the readership to become contributors to the newsletter.
All proceeds from the newsletter can go toward a charity that has a real shot of helping shape a future for America that is inclusive, compassionate, diverse, creative, innovative, and constructive.
What will be in the newsletter?
The newsletter will be based on the Three Commandments I’ve been living by since my cancer diagnosis:
Enjoy life.
Be someone you would love.
Make things better.
I am planning for the newsletter to be weekly, and it will rotate between the three tenets of my life philosophy.
Enjoy life
Newsletters about ways to get more out of your limited time on this earth. Hobbies, mindfulness, connection to nature, emotional regulation, and other places to realistically find small nuggets of beauty and joy. Reminders of why happiness is not a luxury, but an important nutrient you need to survive.
Be someone you would love
Newsletters about self-improvement - but in a very specific way. This isn’t about meeting some arbitrary standard of “better” imposed by the advertisers and the media, but about identifying your specific core values and ways to embody them. Learning to analyze what you love in others and turn it inside out so that it changes who you are. Self-esteem starts with understanding whom you love, and why. Step two is copying those people shamelessly.
Make things better
The cornerstone of the newsletter, but spaced out with the other topics in between, because you can’t pour from an empty vessel. These core newsletters will give examples of things people can do to improve the world around them — starting with things you can literally reach out and touch and moving slowly outward as your circle of influence expands (and I start getting more and better suggestions from readers).
I believe that these newsletters will provide a tangible benefit to those who read them. Not all of them will hit you exactly where you need, but by rotating through various topics I feel confident I can periodically find something that changes your life for the better — and thereby enables you to change the lives of those around you for the better.
What charity will this benefit, and why?
I spent a lot of time thinking about this. I asked others’ opinions. I considered what I wanted to accomplish. And the answer came to me via a suggestion on Bluesky and an immediate epiphany once I did a little research. Here are the factors I took into account:
Local. This was counterintuitive to me at first, but the overwhelming majority of the feedback showed me that local, community-based organizations do much more good per dollar than more general wide-reaching charities that are not run by people who live in the places they are serving.
American. This whole project was precipitated by a crisis in my country, and so I wanted to make sure that whatever I did would help undo the specific damage that’s concerning me.
Central. I don’t want to just pick something in MY local area, because the dollars people will be contributing to my newsletter will come from all over. Helping Los Angeles may not reach them, even indirectly. I wanted to find America’s beating heart and help make it healthy enough that it will pulse hope through all of our veins.
The answer hit me when two things fell together. First, a specific charity someone suggested on Bluesky whose site gave me Very Good Feelings. Second, something induced me to search for a 2024 election map. It clicked and I saw it as clear as day.
It is known that the three biggest “blue voter states” are California, New York, and Illinois. Now, look at the 2024 election map. Seriously, take a moment, pull it up in another tab. See? California (where I live) and New York are both nestled so nicely next to blue neighbors on at least one side. Illinois stands alone, surrounded by a sea of red.
Chicago is a thriving, diverse, sanctuary city, the beating blue heart of America, and it’s endangered. I believe that the future of Illinois can affect the future of our entire country, and the heart of Illinois is the amazing city of Chicago.
I do not live in Chicago, and never have, though I’ve had many wonderful visits there. But this project isn’t about me. It’s about America. So hear me out.
My charity of choice for all the proceeds of this newsletter is M3 - My Block My Hood My City.
Why M3 in particular? Because it is a charity that seems most laser-targeted on improving the future of Chicago, and therefore Illinois, and therefore America. By focusing on broadening the minds and experiences of the most endangered of Chicago’s youth, M3 is literally helping to transform potential traumatized “disaster humans” into healthy future leaders, scientists, creatives, and/or parents who raise their children to value the same things they do. There is nothing more important to our future than making sure our youth have good options.
I understand why some may consider this charity too specialized. I understand why you might wonder, “What is donating my money toward this charity doing for ME?” To that I have three answers:
1) Your dollars, and the good I know I am doing with them, encourage me to keep putting out newsletters that may very well help you directly.
2) Local charities work best, so I had to pick an area. If the “blue spirit” of Chicago is strong enough to radiate outward through the heartland, America could change on a national level.
3) It’s not just about you. If you’re subscribing to this newsletter, if you value my opinions at all, this is the first thing I need you to understand. Humanity must stand together, and celebrate success anywhere it occurs, even if it doesn’t directly benefit us in ways we can clearly see.
TL:DR
If you don’t like reading my words, probably my newsletter isn’t the thing for you, but here’s the nutshell version anyway:
I am going to be writing a weekly newsletter whose aim is to inspire people, keep them healthy, and give them ideas of how to improve quality of life for themselves and others.
ALL proceeds from this newsletter will be donated to the charity M3 in Chicago, which you can check out at https://www.formyblock.org/
Please subscribe, and help me Make Things Better.