December 31, 2024
Hello wildlings,
Here we are, limping to the end of another bruising year. The answer to the question of ‘how are you?’ seems to almost always be some version of ‘tired’. Whether it’s the relentlessness of the turbulent world, the inner exhaustion of our increasing mental loads, or the ridiculous pressure we put on ourselves to add more to our calendars at a time of year when our minds and bodies are screaming for less, it’s all piling up on us. Of course we’re tired.
Rest, wildlings, is something you need, not something you earn. Read that sentence again.
It’s rest that allows us to keep going; to re-enter the world with enough energy to carve our path through it. Rest allows us to charge and recharge, to grieve and hide and heal, and most importantly rest gives us the time and space to dream.
In dreams, nothing is impossible. Dreaming lets us imagine the worlds we want to live in, to construct them ourselves, to try things on and see how they might feel. Dreams fuel creativity, delight, hope. These are all things we are going to need more than ever as we press forward into an uncertain future on so many levels.
The Dream Issue has been an absolute joy to build. We had more submissions of poetry and art than we’ve ever had before. Truly I was spoilt for choice, especially when it came to art. Artists, thank you for sharing your creations with me, and please keep submitting (and spread the word about us to your fellow creatives!).
FERAL will take its usual early year hiatus, but we’ll be back open for submissions again in May. This is our version of rest, and what allows us to keep producing issues of FERAL and incredible poetry books through Animal Heart Press and Femme Salvé Books.
Go, my beautiful friends, and rest. The new year is waiting for you, filled with possibility.
Here’s to creative abundance,
Amanda McLeod
Art Editor