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Hey, Thank you for signing up to receive this letter, because I love writing to you. I’ve been writing these letters late the last night of each month because words do mean more at night. This practice often cuts into my sleep and tonight is no exception. I got off work at 11pm and am leaving for a weekend in Mexico at 6am. I know I’m quite screwed for sleep, yet I couldn’t be happier to be, and I think that says a lot. A lot about what a gift a sense of purpose is, and about the frame of mind I get to enter when I write you. I’m going to be very tired tomorrow, but I’m also going to be very happy. Thank you for such a privilege. This February, I ran into the person I most want to be. I want to use this letter to tell you about him because he might be my hero. Of all places, it’s quite ironic that we met while I was sitting on a toilet. He’s a poet, you see, and all the poetry he published his entire life is bound in a book that’s been sitting atop the water tank of the commode in my apartment. Jack Gilbert’s his name. After reading a couple of paragraphs about his “stubborn gladness,” sense of wonder, and the path he chose in life in Big Magic, I ordered a copy of his collected poems on a whim. Jack spread his life across the world, living here and there, loving and losing deeply, and sharing the most stunning, wondrous glimpses of life with his words. He repeatedly spurned fame to ramble on, lived much of his life with very little, and every twenty years or so published a book of poetry. Today, his entire life’s work can be held in your hands, and read on your toilet, for fifteen bucks. If you enjoy these letters, I urge you to grab a copy. I think the reason I like Jack so much is that he never gave in. He sailed ten thousand trials and tribulations and was still willing to “risk delight” again and again. His sense of wonder was unwavering. It is not those who retire early I strive to emulate, it is those who go it all the way without snuffing out their soul’s fire for something else — those who are enamored with life, filled with wonder, and possessed with purpose the whole way through — and that was Jack Gilbert. In that spirit, I bought a ticket to Nepal today. The biggest mountains in the entire world are there. It’s been a dream of mine to walk among them. I leave in thirteen days and hope to be there about a month! Let me know if you want to come along and we’ll see if we can’t work something out. With love & stoke, Ethan P.S. I wrote this enter letter to “Words” playing on repeat. It’s a beautiful song. If this is a quiet moment, do give it a listen.
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