I’ll admit that on my way to Millay Arts in August of 2020, I was worried. It was my first residency and I was dealing with a hefty dose of impostor syndrome. Surely the other artists there would be more established and more serious than I was, surely they’d be put off by my odd sense of humor. I was prepared for a lonely but productive month. Instead, our group fell into a quick and deep friendship. I’ve never been so happy to skip the small talk. We understood each other almost telepathically, recommending the right essay, poem, or song at the exact right time. We meshed so well that Emi Makabe (composer), Nadia Liz Estela (visual artist), Jay Parabue (poet), and I scheduled a Wintertide Reunion: an intense period of creative output slash week-long sleepover. A creative ecosystem emerged again in which we shared art and ideas, laughed a lot, and felt safe and free enough to share works in progress (in my case, the opening pages of my novel, which at that point I hadn’t shown to anybody). Since then I’ve exchanged writing lessons for piano lessons with Emi and met up with Jay and Nadia in New York for one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. The sort of artistic individualism I envisioned early August 2020–lonely, productive–was born of fear and I’m glad it never came to fruition. Instead, I found that when the four of us are together, we flourish.
