'Vision Monthly' Is Here ...

Click on the title of the post to download the current (inaugural) issue.

Vision Monthly is a 'zine produced by my blogger pal Ethan.

We've never met, Ethan and me. He found my blog one day because the word "flowchart" popped up in whatever it is he has looking for the word "flowchart." Enigmatic David had created a romantic-comedy flowchart and I'd written about it, and now, many, many months later, Ethan has created this very cool thing (there's a piece on flowcharts in it, in case you were wondering) and I'm plugging it.

And not because he asked me to, and not because I'm in it (he liked my chutzpah post and repurposed it with my permission), but because I think it's awesome that a man would have this kind of initiative and branch out and do something somewhat far removed from his everyday and I'm proud of him.

As I scrolled through it last night (he let me see it the day before its official launch), I smiled at one author's inclusion of a quote by Goethe: "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

That doevetails nicely with several of the posts here in recent days. And echoes the Goethe quote I have up on my office wall: "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."

There's also a piece titled "What Makes You Come Alive?" which resonated with me because for the longest time, I didn't think I had an answer to the question, "What do you really want to do?" And then I realized I had lots of answers. And then I thought I had to pick one. But I don't. I can do many things. I just have to start doing them. And I am.

Ethan, bless his heart, wants to pay his contributors. He knows he won't be able to pay them much at the outset, but I admire and applaud him for his intent and the gesture. Many, many, many sites out there solicit writers to supply content, and what they offer is appreciation and "maybe money someday if this thing gets off the ground."

Uh, no. Writing is a commodity. It is not free. It's free if we choose to give it freely. I'm happy to write for Ethan because he's a friend and I admire what he's doing, and I'm even happier to do it for free, paradoxically, because he's willing to pay me. It really is the thought that counts.

So Ethan is expecting the people who read his 'zine to contribute to its continued existence. It's the public-television model: You don't have to pay for it. You pay for it because you think it's worth it. Some will pay, others won't, even if they all find value. But, ultimately, his readers/contributors will decide whether there will be an Issue 2.

Check it out, and throw a couple ducats in his bucket if you like what you see.