This is the Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion.
You've heard the news.
Here's what to make of it.
I'm Amy Nezuka Matato.
I'm a parent of two teen boys.
I'm a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Mississippi,
and I'm the author of two essay collections and four books of poetry.
I don't think you can be a parent at this point or just even someone who looks at the news
and not be worried about all these kinds of scary things that are going on in our environment.
But I find that when I am overwhelmed with the news,
I find that I do the most action when I hear about something
that I love or when I get inspired by hearing about what somebody else loves.
I find also that sharing what you love is contagious.
You realize, oh, without them, that would be a sad world.
And so I just thought, what would happen if we lost the world's favorite smell?
I just worry for the future of vanilla.
As a girl who moved around a lot when I was younger,
my parents are immigrants and my mother, we had to move several times because of her job.
So I don't really have a sense of home the way my husband has a sense of home.
He lived in one state all his life.