Words By Shelly Brown
Photo by Mary Gates Kennedy
As I write this letter, I’ve just watched the sunrise on a farm in Georgia. Frosted fields sparkled as the sun reached further back onto each frozen blade of grass. I’m reminded of how many constants surround us even in chaotic times. Just like the sun will rise, the years will pass and change will come. As we step into 2021, our team hopes to be a part of positive change for the year ahead. To tell stories of the people who work towards a new future and celebrate the grit of our culture.
To kick this year off, we’ve made some changes to Good Grit. We’ve moved into quarterly issues, ramped up our digital content and added a section to our magazine that has been a long time coming, Home. We’ve always focused our brand on telling damn good stories. With years of issues behind us we realized that the common thread of almost every single story we tell was the story of home—where people come from, what it felt like, who loved them well, and who taught them lessons or treated them poorly. Everyone’s story begins at home. Home is more than just the place you sleep, it’s a place that shapes you. Our home section celebrates the beauty and love that so many pour into their home. The design and aesthetic of a home creates a sense of place and safety. I’m so inspired by stories of people who create the homes they never had, and learned that places can break chains and places can become poetry.
In this issue we look at the coming year through the lens of grace and hope. What does the future hold and how can we be a part of it? Our own Ashley Locke takes us on a deep dive into our cover story, Cities of the Future with community builder Mark Deutschmann. We are inspired by people like Dorothy Grady-Scarborough who are leading the charge in their communities on the importance of healthy agriculture (pg), and we begin a journey of celebrating the place we all come from in our new Home section.
While we know that the sun will rise, we don’t know what the year ahead holds. My hope for this issue is that you find some inspiration to stay hopeful, inspired, and working towards a better future. What kind of place are you creating?