Editor Picks — Favourite Posts On CRY Last Week
I’m going to skip the preamble this week, but I will say that choosing a single story isn’t getting any easier. The submissions are getting better and better and making this choice impossible. But alas, we must choose, so here we go.
Kern
Sometimes, a piece is just so damn real that it feels like the writer is in your head. That’s what happened when I read “Would I Be Happier If I Were Rich” by Melissa Steussy. She broke down what so many of us feel by sucking us into her innermost thoughts but in the most casual way possible. Side note: Great writing doesn’t always have to be flowery. Melissa’s story is an example of how a writer can connect with a reader in a deep way without elaborate prose.
Favourite excerpt:
I was able to buy my out-of-state son a ticket to visit me and yes, I am out of money on the first day of my check. Yes, I live paycheck to paycheck. No, I don’t have savings. I know, I feel screwed. I have a huge student loan debt and lots of other boring financial problems, but tonight I was out taking a bike ride and I noticed the nicer houses in the neighborhood. I live in a suburb in Northern Minnesota and it’s actually really beautiful right now. The leaves are changing and the temps are warm, but I rode my bike through this new development and I watched these people inside their huge brand new beautiful houses and I questioned my own worth. I questioned my own happiness. I started to feel poor again.
Safia
My favourite piece this past week was “It’s Time To Follow My Heart after The Success of Hard Graft” by Verbieanne Hardy. Verbieanne describes the promise she made to her readers that she plans to keep and shares why writing provides a necessary structure and motivation each day after the loss of her husband.
In her own words:
I plan to write for a decade, sharing stories of life, asking hard questions, or reminding us of our better selves. If I achieve that, my bucket would be full of treasures from a life well-lived.
Editor Picks — Favourite Posts On CRY Last Week was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
