Today at #Westof98, I'm joining the counterculture.

Let's embark on a conversation about community, simplicity, localism, and limits. It kicks off with thoughts on independent bookstores and my friend Hadden Turner's theory of buying well as a form of giving:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-counterculture

Humans have an innate need for purpose and belonging in life. Community spirit comes from that need and a person's connection to place, but a mobile society has eroded place-based purpose. It's time for us to renew it. Read more at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-tribe-and

The cowboy has a major influence on American culture in general and rural culture in particular. As I close out my #Westof98 series on the cowboy, I have a few thoughts about focusing on the cowboy's positive substance and not the harmful perversions:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-american-idol-b4d

Larry McMurtry did not set out to write a classic Western novel. His relationship with the West was more complicated. Woodrow and Gus took on iconic status, but they were not meant to be heroes. Read more today at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-american-idol-c46

Louis L’Amour or Elmer Kelton? It’s the great debate for fans of Western novels. They each have distinct styles. Viewed properly, they both tell us something positive about ourselves and the cowboy ideal.

Read “The Heroic Everyman,” today at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-american-idol-c9b

Romantic heroism and rugged individualism are at the heart of the Western and its inspiration in our lives. But what are the perils?

There's no better illustration of this than the legendary final scene from "The Searchers." Read more at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-american-idol-942

“Love” can be an awkward word for people. It is also our greatest calling. Love is necessary for civilization’s survival and it is critical to the concept of community.

Read more at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-love-and-community

Isolation makes us weaker. Community makes us stronger. Today at #Westof98, I’m writing on the societal forces that attempt to isolate us and how to live healthier and happier, with an assist from Wendell Berry, my friend Shannon Ferrell, and a Man Called Otto. #linkinbio

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-isolation

Rural revitalization is not merely economic. It is far more important. It requires rekindling the connection between people and rural places. It requires building community. Read more at #westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-community-650

Wallace Stegner saw wilderness as essential to the American character. So, too, are rural places. Today, I discuss Stegner's famed Wilderness Letter and a need for a similar Rural Letter to influence the future of America. Read it at #Westof98:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-the-essential

Today’s obstacles to rural prosperity are outcomes of past policy choices, not a grand inevitability. They can be overcome.

Dr. King knew that progress, or its prevention, is never inevitable. It requires action. “Inevitability” is nonsense. #westof98

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-the-nonsense

We live in a world of automation. Social media, entertainment, and even new subdivisions are based on computer analysis.

Building real community defies the machines. Building community, for which humans are innately designed, is an art:

#Westof98

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-the-art-of

I spent the morning of January 2 on the water, thinking of the new year and #Westof98. I also thought of the great cowboy memoirist Teddy Blue. We’re pointing north for the new year, headed towards the goal of building community. Read it here:

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-pointing-north

Above all the clutter, Christmas is about hope. We don't do everything right in #StamfordTexas, but on Christmas Day, we live out the Gospel and serve a Christmas meal to 700+ folks. You can read more at #Westof98, but you're also invited to join us!

#rural #smalltown #christmas

https://westof98.substack.com/p/essays-from-west-of-98-hope-and-community