Ruth Ann Harnisch on life as the fairy godmother of newsletters, podcasts, and blogs.

It was

the hometown of my heart and not my true hometown.

Mm hmm.

But yeah, as you said, you you have spent your career since then giving a lot of people their big break, giving them the funding they need to launch the documentary, launch the publication, expand in a new direction.

I assume that that is a pretty wonderful feeling to be able to give that to people.

Last week I was out running errands.

I think it was last week.

hot and sweaty and I was doing way too much in way too much heat for a person my age carrying as much physical stuff as I was carrying and When I got home, my heart was racing.

My resting heart is usually in the 40s.

At sleep, it's in the mid to high 30s.

I do yoga every day.

I'm pretty fit.

So this was unusual.

And I was hydrating.

I always keep a big bottle of water.

And I was doing my best to assess whether I need to call 911.

And I just... decided i'm going to i asked i asked claude do i need to call 9-1-1 what is your temperature 96.6 normal okay uh asked other things are do you feel tightness and no i do not are you short of breath no i am not no you don't need to call 9-1-1 you need to stop looking at your symptoms for what stop looking at your heart rate for at least 20 minutes hydrate and rest and so i did that and i did that So I was away from texting phone and stuff while I was running these errands with my hands full.

And while I was resting, I'm going to say five hours.

And when I went back online, I wondered if I had died because somebody that I had done something for decided to thank me in front of a listserv to which I belong.

And then someone else said, while we're saying something nice about her here, let me say, and my inbox was filled with messages from people for whom I had made a difference with my words, with my showing up, like more than money is what I'm saying here, with support that was meaningful and tangible, and in some cases literally palpable, Over decades, because I've been in this group for decades, and I didn't remember almost any of it because part of my philosophy is give with an open hand.

So many people give with strings attached.

To me, it's not a gift if there's a string.

That's different from a contractual agreement.

But most times, the kind of generosity I'm being really thanked for, I'm not asking for anybody to do anything for me.

I don't