Timo loves to stand and sleep on this marble table in his NYC apartment. Why does this matter? Because when I come to NYC, I feel the pressure to network, which is a word and an idea that I dislike. To network makes me feel unnatural, not genuine, not myself. Seeing Timo so happy on his table reminded me of the Mary Oliver poem “Wild Geese.”

You only have to let the soft animal of your body. love what it loves.

It is true that I could try to have coffee with an editor at The New Yorker or at The New York Times, and that might lead to work. But isn’t it equally true that I could lay in the sun at the park surrounded by photography books like Vivian Maer: A Photographer Found and The Bikeriders by Danny Lyon? Isn’t it equally true that I could wander the streets eating Peter Pan Donuts and reading poetry? And maybe those photos and donuts and poems will work their way into my writing in a few years.

There is no path, no recipe, no series of steps to take to find what you think you want.

Upcoming Events

September 23: Lecture at Baldwin Wallace University on my career path as a journalist working in Latin America

October 21: Mountain Workshops presentation with photographer Liz Sanders on our work for The New York Review of Books