The inevitable sadness of today was shaken and restructured and slapped silly by my first workshop with Writegirl. It’s an organization that matches writer girls with writer gals, teens with professionals, for a myriad of writing workshops —  everything from memoir to songwriting — with panel discussions with experts, exercises and free writing.  GOES BACK IN TIME, MAKES SELF DO THIS AT YOUNG AGE. Not only do I get an awesome new writer buddy who I get to guide through the muck of voice-finding, but I get the benefit of the workshops, too. Genius.  My favorite part: each session contains  SOAPBOX TIME! Where they literally just put a soapbox and a bullhorn onstage, and girls can come up and rant about whatever they want for 30 seconds and it was the best thing I have seen on or off TV in perhaps ever.

Today’s topic was journalism, and the irony was not lost on anyone. As the founder said as she welcomed us: ‘Today is a great day to tell the truth.’ It’s hard to know how to feel or what to do on days like these, other than fear / worry / aching / terror. It’s things like Writegirl that remind us that we are people with future and singular opinions and thoughts. We have all of the time and we can savor and use each second. We are here, until we are not.