Editorial

“X” Marks the Spot

by Éric P. Lemoine

What’s all the fuss about this “X” on the cover, you may wonder.

You would be right to ask. It is not innocent that we used the roman numeral for this issue of Wisp. There are certain emotions that some symbols convey with less effort than others, even if they are supposed to represent the same concept, and this one is no exception.

What do you feel when you write an “X”? It doesn’t look like as innocuous as a stroke and a round (10) does it? The cross seems to have subtle implications, it is disruptive of a comfortable cycle, and it indicates some change.

If you pay attention, you will probably notice some of these changes in Wisp. The size, the layout, many of the already familiar markers have shifted, and yet everything still looks mostly like it was.

We may reassure you, it’s all for a reason… or is it really?  
Truth is, many things happen in a synchronistic way, and you may or may not listen to what your impulses are at the moment, but one thing is sure; you’ll only know what you are gaining once you’ve listened to them and acted upon them. The game doesn’t know any other rules —otherwise the rewards wouldn’t be as great.

About a month ago, while working on the third book compilation of the last Wisp issues, it occurred to me that it demanded a lot of effort and that it was not really a fit to the demand. A question was looming for a while: how to make it more efficient and an exciting venture for all involved? contributors, readers… regardless of monetary issues, as unlike other magazines, this not Wisp’s primary concern.

So I started making it more simple, streamlining the process where it could be done, and trying to give the next issue the time it required to reflect enough change to be a worthy new cycle of issues. As all slowly started to move towards a new issue, there was still frustration lingering, mainly because the last book wouldn’t print despite all efforts, and it was reinforcing that feeling of weariness. One of those funny pseudo Chinese proverbs I particularly like says something like “You’re the closest to your goal when you’re about to abandon.”  
Once again, it was true. In a matter of seconds, that final burst of frustration gave me the incentive to look for other means, and in a matter of seconds, I had a “perfect” answer coming up, despite searching previously to no avail. The next moment, the printer just as unexpectedly sent me an email that the book was printing at last.

But it didn’t matter any longer, as I knew that new pathways were forming that wouldn’t require me to go to these lengths.

So this issue is special, because it will be the first to be released as a real magazine, printed on demand for all to enjoy (currently only shipping in the US, Canada and U.K.)

It would be misleading to say that the search for a new means of distribution (other than through the Internet) was the drive behind having a delayed issue. In a strictly cause-effect point of view, it would be a conveniently valid explanation, but it wouldn’t be true.

Sometimes, we are feeling without a hint of a doubt that “change is in the air”. Not compromising with the comfort of old defective systems may be tough, although we could ask ourselves: can it be as simple as just doing without doubting?