When we choose the theme for each issue of this magazine, we tend to look for words that are roomy; a good theme is ample in definition, allowing many ideas and experiences and stories to fit comfortably within it. The theme of this issue, “Care,” is an especially capacious word. It is burdened with meaning, encompassing both mental suffering and the treatment of suffering; both the sensation of worry and the things that cause it; both burdens and the lifting thereof.
In this issue you will find stories about the kind of caring we do for one another as people, the activities that we tend to compound as eldercare and childcare and health care. Our writers explore care provided person to person as well as by entire communities. In these stories you will also find the other kinds of cares: worries and wonderings, fondness and regard. And this makes me wonder whether the different kinds of care always come together, and whether this is because caring is a circular act. All of us give care at some point in our lives, and all of us receive it, and whichever position you find yourself in at any time, there’s always some going the other way.
I lead all of Oregon Humanities’ communications and publications efforts, including the magazine, the Beyond the Margins essay series, The Detour podcast and radio show, and overall marketing strategy. I’ve worked at Oregon Humanities since 2012.
Ask me about: submitting work to Oregon Humanities’ publications, story pitches, the Community Storytelling Fellowship, partnering with Oregon Humanities to share stories or promote events, or the Portland area’s performing arts ecosystem. Hablo Español.
I grew up on Kalapuyan land in Scio, Oregon, near the confluence of the North and South forks of the Santiam River, and I now live in the shadow of an extinct volcano in Southeast Portland. I serve on the board of the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition and occasionally write about theater in the Pacific Northwest for Oregon ArtsWatch.
Comments
No comments yet.