Hi Jen, Ohio.. gave us both the Wright brothers and seven U.S. presidents. Apparently, if you grow up in Ohio, you either learn to fly or run for office. Why do I know this? When I was studying for my immigration exam, I didn't want to just remember the 100 questions, I wanted to really know.
I loved your question about what assumptions our geography has baked into us without our consent. It's such a fascinating lens for understanding ourselves and our stories. I have been writing on Substack on my travels across the USA and sometimes we get to become baked into the surrounding culture. It has me reflecting on my own landscape and who I've become.
That self awareness is something that can be so powerful (and often quite humbling). I love your knowledge thirst - always the mark of a writer/philosopher.
Being a transplant from one coastline to the other, I’ve seen how our geographies influence our assumptions, and how we operate day-to-day. Little things individually, but they compound on a social scale. It’s interesting to think these also influence our writing, as well!
Thanks for this comment - it is wild, isn't it? It had taken some humility for me to realize that the way we are seen is not the whole picture, that it's also the way we see.
I live in South Dakota and completely understand the "midwest" living style. We are the land of prairie and wind and pretty much nothing else. I thought I would leave here - I'm a creative being and the land of slow nothingness is often very boring. But the beauty of the Missiouri river, grasslands and open sky's has held me in place all my life. Thanks for sharing!
I resonate with this, Angela. While I've moved around a bit, I do believe there are remarkable people everywhere, and there are parts of the world that call to us. Someone recently posted a picture of the open sky on Substack, reminding readers to look up, and I spent all day yesterday doing so. This comment will remind me to do that again today.
Writer from Ohio: the first thing I think of is a quilt I don’t know why. It’s actually a quilt from an illustration in a book. And it’s older, humble and pretty quilt. Just minding it business hanging into the wind.
I come from Brooklyn but have lived in Ohio for almost thirty years -I always tried to explain what is was like to live in the Midwest on my visits back to NYC and how varied that experience could be in a test marketing area like Columbus. I think it was easier to raise kids here and one even came back after going to school in New York and working there -
I’m a big reader of women’s biographies and I think I read about your topic a little bit -didn’t she live in NY for a while im financial circles ? Great piece on Ohio 👍
She did, Miriam! She launched a brokerage and political career there, which I explore through the eyes of a modern day Ohio woman who has so many more rights on paper and feels like she can't change achieve a modicum of what VCW did.
Columbus is an interesting place. Liberal, diverse, growing ... but also, I'm not sure how the city is adapting to its growth. I do love the energy and promise and busy anonymity of NYC.
I love the the idea of Where does th, e ground under your feet lead you? I went to a reading earlier tonight for The Ekphrastic Review where they have about five writers who have published there read some of their works. I'm reading next month. It was amazing to hear how each writer interpretated works of art so differently. Through flash, poems, prose. Some, like stories told to you on their front porch, others, a little more surreal flash, But all creative and beautiful and personal. From the writer's heart...in their own words. Influenced by their life experiences. I think your advice reflects this. And your Flash piece, Lottery Days, brought tears to my eyes. So simple and observant with a soft ending of loss and grief and hope and sweetness of memory.
How amazing! I have been so drawn to ekphrasis lately, It feels like a way two artists (visual/written) can connect across time and space, and I would've loved to be at that reading. Also, thanks for reading my piece. It breaks my own heart to read it even now, and location aside ... it was most definitely a letter across time and space. When I worked at Gemini Ink, a beautiful writer named Carmen Tafolla used to teach poetry workshops to young and old that included a recurring "I am from ..." prompt that you repeat again and again, that would take writers to such beautiful places.
Emotionally, the phrase “writer from Ohio” evokes someone who is connected to real people and real places—not necessarily a literary celebrity from New York or Los Angeles, but someone with a strong sense of place and character.
Ohio is next to the state where my American relatives live.
Hi Jen, Ohio.. gave us both the Wright brothers and seven U.S. presidents. Apparently, if you grow up in Ohio, you either learn to fly or run for office. Why do I know this? When I was studying for my immigration exam, I didn't want to just remember the 100 questions, I wanted to really know.
I loved your question about what assumptions our geography has baked into us without our consent. It's such a fascinating lens for understanding ourselves and our stories. I have been writing on Substack on my travels across the USA and sometimes we get to become baked into the surrounding culture. It has me reflecting on my own landscape and who I've become.
That self awareness is something that can be so powerful (and often quite humbling). I love your knowledge thirst - always the mark of a writer/philosopher.
Thank you Jen I appreciate your kind words
Being a transplant from one coastline to the other, I’ve seen how our geographies influence our assumptions, and how we operate day-to-day. Little things individually, but they compound on a social scale. It’s interesting to think these also influence our writing, as well!
Thanks for this comment - it is wild, isn't it? It had taken some humility for me to realize that the way we are seen is not the whole picture, that it's also the way we see.
I live in South Dakota and completely understand the "midwest" living style. We are the land of prairie and wind and pretty much nothing else. I thought I would leave here - I'm a creative being and the land of slow nothingness is often very boring. But the beauty of the Missiouri river, grasslands and open sky's has held me in place all my life. Thanks for sharing!
I resonate with this, Angela. While I've moved around a bit, I do believe there are remarkable people everywhere, and there are parts of the world that call to us. Someone recently posted a picture of the open sky on Substack, reminding readers to look up, and I spent all day yesterday doing so. This comment will remind me to do that again today.
Writer from Ohio: the first thing I think of is a quilt I don’t know why. It’s actually a quilt from an illustration in a book. And it’s older, humble and pretty quilt. Just minding it business hanging into the wind.
Ohio quilts mind their business indeed. Lol. Love it.
I come from Brooklyn but have lived in Ohio for almost thirty years -I always tried to explain what is was like to live in the Midwest on my visits back to NYC and how varied that experience could be in a test marketing area like Columbus. I think it was easier to raise kids here and one even came back after going to school in New York and working there -
I’m a big reader of women’s biographies and I think I read about your topic a little bit -didn’t she live in NY for a while im financial circles ? Great piece on Ohio 👍
She did, Miriam! She launched a brokerage and political career there, which I explore through the eyes of a modern day Ohio woman who has so many more rights on paper and feels like she can't change achieve a modicum of what VCW did.
Columbus is an interesting place. Liberal, diverse, growing ... but also, I'm not sure how the city is adapting to its growth. I do love the energy and promise and busy anonymity of NYC.
I love the the idea of Where does th, e ground under your feet lead you? I went to a reading earlier tonight for The Ekphrastic Review where they have about five writers who have published there read some of their works. I'm reading next month. It was amazing to hear how each writer interpretated works of art so differently. Through flash, poems, prose. Some, like stories told to you on their front porch, others, a little more surreal flash, But all creative and beautiful and personal. From the writer's heart...in their own words. Influenced by their life experiences. I think your advice reflects this. And your Flash piece, Lottery Days, brought tears to my eyes. So simple and observant with a soft ending of loss and grief and hope and sweetness of memory.
How amazing! I have been so drawn to ekphrasis lately, It feels like a way two artists (visual/written) can connect across time and space, and I would've loved to be at that reading. Also, thanks for reading my piece. It breaks my own heart to read it even now, and location aside ... it was most definitely a letter across time and space. When I worked at Gemini Ink, a beautiful writer named Carmen Tafolla used to teach poetry workshops to young and old that included a recurring "I am from ..." prompt that you repeat again and again, that would take writers to such beautiful places.
Emotionally, the phrase “writer from Ohio” evokes someone who is connected to real people and real places—not necessarily a literary celebrity from New York or Los Angeles, but someone with a strong sense of place and character.
Oh, I love that something positive came in here. Thank you, Liz!