#0034 Practice Your Bravery

Revel in the rewards of rejection — or not

May 19, 2024

Yesterday we hosted the zoom launch party for the seventh-annual Teen Issue of Inlandia: A Literary Journey. The teens were, of course, the stars of the show. As they should be.

Each of the teens 13 to 19 years old who submitted art, fiction, nonfiction, or poetry (some teens submitted in more than one category) put their creative self-expression out there. They practiced their bravery.

The teen editors carefully considered each of the more than 100 submissions. Though I sent decline notices, often with heartfelt constructive criticism from the teen editors, I’m proud of all those teens for summoning the courage to submit.

Of the 37 teens featured in this year’s Teen Issue (8 of whom are multigenre contributors), a handful shared their creativity live on zoom. I imagine them as young Cowardly Lions receiving their courage medals (in the movie version) from the Wizard. But actually, they pinned the medals on themselves.

white and brown long fur cat — Self-proclaimed theater kid **Sadie** launched the party with her artwork, sharing that she painted one of pieces while staying at a Ronald McDonald house during cancer treatments. (Source: Alvan Nee on Unsplash)

orange tabby cat on white floor — *After overcoming some tech difficulties before the zoom party opened to guests, multigenre contributor (and teen editor!) **Kush** nailed his poetry reading. (Source: Bodi.raw on Unsplash)*

Russian blue cat wearing yellow sunglasses — **Abigail**, a veteran podcaster, leaned into her experience when she was accidentally muted mid-poem. What a cool cat! (Source: Raoul Droog on Unsplash)

calico kitten standing in front of MacBook Pro — *College student **Elliote** shared the opening of his emotionally haunting horror story. (Source: riis riiiis on Unsplash)*

brown tabby kitten — *Though she missed the private participant gathering before the launch, **Kennedy** made it to the party to share her poem. (Source: Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash)*

brown and black cat looking out the window — **Natalie**, no stranger to ILJ — she participated in last year’s launch party! — shared the opening scenes of her alternate-world story. (Source: Hana Oliver on Unsplash)

gray cat on brown textile — *Another multigenre contributor, **Thomas** chose to read his poetry at the zoom launch party. (Source: Ani Adigyozalyan on Unsplash)*

Follow the example of these teens. Practice your bravery.

Next time: Perhaps some ways to practice your bravery? Once I’m over being sick as a dog. Woof.

100 Rejections Club

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