Letter From The Editor: Late Bottled Edition

By CHARLES DION SPRINGFIELD

Welcome to the very first issue, and what I’m now affectionately calling the “Late Bottled Edition,” of DION’s January 2025 issue. I’m so happy that this moment to share the magazine with you has finally arrived. 

Launching a magazine was not something percolating in my head for a long time. Despite having dreamed of living single and working in New York City magazines after college, this idea only really popped into my head in late July of 2024.

There were three major events that inspired me to start this digital magazine. You can read all about that in “Discovering DION By Rediscovering Dionysus.” Spoiler, DION is named after the Greek God of Wine, Dionysus, and it also happens to be my middle name.

But while having less than six months to launch a publication, from initial ideation to full production, I was Virgo-determined to start off this new year with a January issue. I needed something significant to mark a new start in my life in 2025. Surprisingly things were progressing fairly smooth for a while. That progress ultimately came to a screeching halt after hitting a slew of technical complications the first week of January. 

My confidence on this particular issue — and any other issue for that matter — ever seeing the light of day was shrinking. I thought to myself: “How can you have a February issue if you don’t have a January issue? Shelving the January 2025 issue just didn’t feel right. 

With each passing week, I got closer and closer to losing my window of opportunity and my cool. 

Then I thought of my conversation/interview with Malek Amrani, co-founder of The Vice Wines, who is this month’s cover and cover story. He’s offered some valuable advice about pursuing a dream or starting something new this year. 

“We all have struggles and challenges with keeping things consistent,” he said. “Try not to beat yourself up too much.” Then he went on to say: “None of us can control the outcome of the harvest, for example. But what you plant is what you (do) get to harvest.”

It all reminded me that life and plans do not automatically reset on January 1st like many of us would want and hope. Sometimes it happens on January 31st.

Amrani’s wisdom paired perfectly with the personal perspectives shared by Yannick, Isis, Jamie and Chuck. Each essay inspired me to give myself grace as I was fighting fears, battling burnout, grappling with grief and struggling to find the faith to keep this project alive. 

This process of putting together this inaugural January issue has reminded me that no matter the obstacle — and there will be several in 2025 — there are ways to work around it and to move forward.

I hope sharing my story, as well as the contents of this magazine, help encourage, empower and inspire you to press on despite adversity and try to find the joy in everything.

We can do it. It is possible. And with the help of some very special people, that I know and don’t know very well yet, this very first issue of DION magazine is not only possible — it is a reality. 

The journey has officially begun. I hope you continue to join us along for the ride.