When was the last time you made a mistake? How did you react?
In the first story in this issue, “A Leopard’s Spots” by Juli Hiramatsu, the leopard May makes a terrible mistake: she breaks a promise to an old, old friend, doing something that can’t be undone. While May can’t undo her actions, or make them right, she knows that she must face her mistake, and she does what she can to make things right with her friend—and with her own conscience as well.
In many of the stories and memoir pieces in this issue, the characters and narrators navigate how to react when they, or others, make a mistake, whether it’s very big or very small. I encourage you to use this issue as an opportunity to reflect on a time when you made a mistake and consider how you responded to it. Maybe you are proud of your reaction, or maybe you have regrets. Write directly about the experience, or use it as a launching pad for a fictional piece or a work of art that captures the emotional truth of your experience.
Till next time,
