Montana Woman Magazine, Issue No. 6, May/June 2020

letter from the editor This is not your average magazine— these are not your average times.

When I originally outlined this issue back around August 2019, I had the intent of creating an issue that followed the celebration of Earth Day— after all, 2020 marks its 50th anniversary. It was going to make a point that every day should be treated as Earth Day (which still stands), but that seems so small now. I had big ideas for this issue and the next and the next, but it all feels hazy.

None of us know how things will go. It’s unnerving for everyone in different ways— for the small business owners, families, healthcare providers, educators, essential workers, janitors, farmers, first responders— the list goes on and on and on. But, if anything, we’re uncertain together.

There have been more open conversations about mental health, artists sharing free coloring pages, bakers sharing favorite recipes, small businesses donating supplies, communities supporting communities. In the thick of it, there’s a mass migration of kindness— people shopping for elderly neighbors, good news segments, apartment blocks singing to each other. These are strange times, but in these moments we see humanity at its core. That despite adversity, despite injustice, despite hate, we’re really all just doing what we can.

So why not share a little kindness? What harm would it do to help a neighbor, to see injustice and discrimination and to do something about it, to see that we’re all here together? Kindness costs nothing.

We are all here. In this strange world in these strange times, we have each other. The world will undoubtedly be different. We will not “return to normal,” we will navigate a new time— an Era of Awakening. We will appreciate each other, the bluebird skies, swaying wildflowers, the feeling of the sun on your skin, the warmth of a hug— we will live in a new world.

But for now, we can reach out to each other through the pages of this magazine. Hundreds of miles apart, in separate homes, holding onto the same words, cutting out the same pages.