updated: july 2nd, 2026
You have such a beautiful mind my friend. I really love the idea of a digital penpal page. I really love all the images you selected.
I think it is helpful for me to see, how I am seen by someone who loves me, put in a way and place that feels semipermanent. It means so much to me that you like my art, and so much so that you write about it.
You inspire me so much. I think you are so technically impressive as an artist. But more than that, what inspires me about you is the way you view the world. I like the way you put it - the hope spiral - because I think you are also part of that for me.
I think you are a person who is able to see and pull out the very best in people, I admire it a lot. You see the world and embrace it with a sense of wonder and curiousity that ... idk just feels rare. It is hopeful to me.
I really admire your ability to just, ask so many good questions of people. You make people feel valued and understood, even in very small interactions I see you bring out the light in them.
I am thinking about how when you were visiting me you and B (my partner) were stopping to look at any possible magnolia tree. Taking note in differences and simularities the trees had. The scale of them that felt daunting, especially in an urban setting. I was so delighted by the things you both were noticing and taking joy in together. It's not something my eye and brain is naturally drawn to - I appreciate that you both draw attention to the natural world in a way that I don't.
I think a lot about us listening to NIN in my apartment as well. and being in new england together. I feel like hanging out with you was also one of the rare times I felt like a real person while there. I wish I could drive to you anytime.
Your message is also making me think of the book I've been reading (I made it to the bookstore!) - Rachel Carson and The Power of Queer Love by Lida Maxwell. It is a queer reading of letters between Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring) and Dorothy Freeman. I had already been thinking you would enjoy it, but I feel more certain now. It's hard to articulate but - I think you would get a lot of value from reading the excerpts of the letters Carson and Freeman send to eachother. Their letters focus on trying to articulate their own love for eachother, and specifically articulating through their love of nature together. They talk about the wonder they experience at listening to the birds sing together or going tidepooling together. That it is specifically the joy of enjoying the world with another that makes it pleasurable and leads to their love.
I am almost done with it, and it's only 150~ pages. I would be interested to see your take aways.
I have really enjoyed seeing updates of you trying to make paints and going on walks out in nature. I like seeing your pictures, and knowing that your able to get out and do more is inspiring to me. Be safe in the heatwave, and watch for ticks.
I look forward to watching Midnight Gospel with you. <3