Letter From the Editors

We think people are scared of creating. Creating something means we are pouring our hearts and souls into a sliver of the universe that anyone can access until eternity. If we create something, then we are opening up ourselves to judgment. Anything you create reflects a part of you. So if someone hates your writing, they hate you! Of course that’s not actually true, but we think that is the fear. It definitely is a fear I share. Why put yourself out there? Why try? Deep down, we believe it’s a fear you share, too.

So little is asked of us today. All of us have worked while thinking, “how little effort can I put into something and get away with it.” We have become complacent bystanders. There is no value in trying. We have lost sight of the beauty in taking risks. Our motivation is at an all-time low. We have become numb to passion. We are no longer enchanted. 

We believe enchanted means being enamored by something, being drawn in, needing more of it, falling in love. It means embracing the whole of the other while seeing its flaws. It means showing myself something I want to have in my own soul. Art can have this effect. We just have to let it. We challenge you to be enamored by the breathtaking simplicity of the flower with “Close-up of Flower and Bee”, the raw honesty “six things i don’t like” calls us to have while hoping for the future, and the everyday whimsies around every corner in “Bear Claws of Virgo Crackling at the Planetarium." So for one moment put your fear of trying, fear of failure, fear of expressing yourself to the side with us, and explore the beauty of vulnerability. 

Welcome to Vermilion Issue 9!

Ricardo Ramos and Ann Pierson

Co-Editors-in-Chief, Vermilion