Dear Readers,

We hope you’ve been enjoying your copies of The End, our Winter 2014 issue; we’ve certainly enjoyed hearing your comments, so keep them coming. Here at Geez headquarters we’re gearing up to bring you more contemplative content in 2015.

Spring issue coming soon
Our Spring issue is titled Happiness is Illusive. In it we stipulate that happiness can be problematic, which may sound like a contradiction. We’re exploring what happens when our pursuit of happiness becomes oppressive to others, when it places investing in capital gain, being a consumer, and conforming to white, heteronormative values over listening to the suffering of others. We’re not saying that people shouldn’t be happy, but instead challenging them to think about where their happiness comes from.

We also feature a photo series of people showing us their best “Mona Lisa” smile and explaining what brings them joy.

Guest editor announced
We’re happy to report that Steve Heinrichs will be serving as the guest editor of our Fall 2015 issue on decolonization. Steve is the Director of Indigenous Relations with Mennonite Church Canada and the editor of Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together (Herald Press, 2013).

How can we begin to repair the damage imposed on First Nations peoples by European settlers and their descendants? In this issue we hope to explore, through art, poetry, illustration, and creative non-fiction, the relationship between First Nations Peoples and settlers.

Watch your inboxes for the pitch call we’ll be sending out in the coming weeks. If you aren’t on our writers’ list and want to sign up, send an email to stories@geezmagazine.org.

Thank you
We want to say yet another word of thanks to all of you who sent a donation to support our project in December. Your support gave us a much-need bump at the end of 2014 and we are grateful for that.

Wretch
We still have copies of the 2015 Wretch Day Planner left. Wretch is hand-drawn by our friend Morning and includes group prayers, personal stories, and memory verses. You can find it on our website for only $14.

Highlights from the Geez blog

• Two posts discussing the controversy around Jian Ghomeshi: the first by Kurt Armstrong: O, Brother Jian, Where Art Thou? and a response by Hannah Foulger: Listen, Then Shout
• The second post in my Flailing Feminist series: Patriarchy Problem

In case you didn’t know already, here are just a few ways you can support our project and help us pay for rent, office supplies, postage, and contributor fees.

• Subscribe to Geez magazine for your self (if you haven’t already)
• Subscribe to Geez magazine as a gift for a friend
• Make a donation
• Tell your friends about Geez and help spread the word.

We appreciate the continued support of all our readers and hope that you’ll find Geez magazine life-giving in 2015.

On behalf of the Geez team,

Kyla Neufeld, Managing Editor