This seems the opposite of what we've been told since we were kids by everyone: parents, family, friends, school, work, society, etc. 

Make money, make money, make money.

But if you think about it, money is just a concept. A piece of paper.

The real support you can get, when everything goes to shit, is from people who care about you, not from your checking account.

So the time you have on this planet—your time to live—is very short. How you spend it will directly translate into how you'll live your life.

Many of us writers struggle financially to make ends meet. I believe it's because we still cling to this old idea of making a living (I'm guilty of this, big time). Making money. Putting money in the bank. Investing into 401K. Securing our retirement. Figuring out how we can have insurance. Fighting, fighting, fighting for existence.

But we don't have to.

What we need to do is invest our time in friendships. And our readers are always our best friends. They get us. We get them. What could be more beautiful? More loving? More secure?

I'll never forget how when I learned that my mother had a heart attack and a stroke, and I had no funds to the airplane ticket to go to Moscow, after shaking in fear of rejection and ridicule for the best part of the day, I finally asked my readers for help, and within hours they have donated exactly how much I needed, even more, so I was able to fly to Moscow and see her.

This is community. Love. Support. Not the amount of $$$ in the bank.

This is what we will cherish and remember on our deathbeds. 

This is who YOU ALL are to me—my best friends forever. I love you. I know that if I fall, you'll catch me. And if you fall, I'll catch you. 

Illustration by Elise Gravel