YOU ARE SONGS UNFINISHED

Call me the Turquoise Woman

My names have been so many over the eons. 

 Even I have forgotten some of them by which fearful two-leggeds spoke of me.

Poor two-leggeds 

You think you know so much, but so much of what you know is sadly not true at all.

And Reality has no mercy on those who walk unwise paths.

You can only know what you have experienced.

And what you have experienced

 is so little

and so little of that is seen 

for that which it truly is.

You often see only that which you expect to see and are blind to that which is outside your framework of thought.

I look out from my consciousness surrounding this planet that is my body,

and my horizon spans the swimming bodies of my sisters who wheel in their sweeping dance of gravity about Father Sun.

And You?

Your minds are much like unfinished songs.

And nothing makes you so aware of the fragility of life as songs unfinished.

 HERE IS A SECRET

We are all songs unfinished.

We start with names ... 

but what illusions are names.  

You look about you and think you see me, but you do not even see yourselves.

You perceive yourselves as myths you breathe into being 

within your minds to mask the truth you are loathe to stare upon too closely.

The Lakota called me the Turquoise Woman.  

The Greeks called me Gaia.  

The Ancient Egyptians called me Hathor.

I call all of you temporary.  Some I call cherished.  

Many of you are merely a rash that itches all across my surface.

Bemused, I watch you scurry over my skin, bemoaning you are bringing an end to me.  

I would laugh were it not so tragic.

You are merely bringing an end of life to yourselves.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT LIFE IS?

A firefly's flicker in the night,

the breath of a buffalo in winter,

a cloud shadow that races across the green grass to lose itself in the blood-red of the sunset. 

Do not try to understand me.

I look, not only down upon you,

but out across the vast glittering sea of eternal night.

The colors of my thoughts are the Northern Lights

and the reach of them is from horizon to horizon and unto the vastness of the stars.

The electro-magnetic field of my body gave birth to my consciousness

long before there were human hands to chisel stone into mute, blind idols

or to brush your world in blood on cave walls.
 

Your only true contribution to me was your language.

Before you crafted words into being, my consciousness was unfocused.

I listened with wonder as you spoke to one another,

slowly piecing the concept of language together in my thoughts.

Through the prism of your languages, my awareness crystalized.

I became aware.

Now, I know a haunted melancholy. 

Like a windmill's blades, my thoughts dip into my memories.

In misty after-images, 

I see your fleeting lives walking prayer-soft across my green fields only to fade into the inflamed oblivion of the sunset. 

No, rather try understanding yourselves and the boiling storms within you.

If you come close to self-awareness, you will better understand those about you ...

who are stumbling in the darkness of their own refusal to see life in all its facets.

1.) UNDERSTAND THE NARRATIVE OF YOUR LIFE

Your narrative identity is the story of your life; but it is more than just a story. 

How you understand your narrative frames both your current actions and your future.

2.)  STEP ASIDE EACH DAY TO REFLECT ON THE DAY BEFORE

This enables you to focus on the important things in your life, not just the immediate.

3.)  LOOK INTO THE MIRRORS OF TRUSTED FRIENDS

All two-leggeds have traits that others see, but you are unable to see in yourselves. 

I call these "blind spots."

 Do you see yourself as others see you? 

If not, you can address these blind spots by receiving honest feedback from people you trust.

4.) DO NOT MERELY LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES BUT FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR THEM.

It will help you to forgive others. 

I END WITH SEVEN WORDS:

Live well. 
Soon I will miss you.

If you want to see more of the 
TURQUOISE WOMAN,

listen to THE LAST SHAMAN:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Shaman/dp/B00DO91AIU/

Only $6.08!

OR Listen to 

 https://www.amazon.com/Hibbs-Cub-No-Clue/dp/B00Q3HFAKY/

AS THE STORM CLOSES IN

I watch as the world goes 

steadily insane.

On my way to deliver Convalescent Plasma to hospitals with patients dying with Covid-19, 

I hear on the radio of crowded protests 

with not a word of caution for those participating 

that they may be infecting or infected by the disease currently killing thousands.

California recorded its highest-ever seven-day average 

of new coronavirus cases Sunday since the pandemic began.

Gee, I wonder if all those unrestrained, crowded protests might have anything to do with that?

The news outlets are strangely silent.

Now, there have been multiple shootings in CHAZ, and 

outrage that the EMT's won't enter since the police are banned from that region.

Mayor Janet Durkan of Seattle predicted a "Summer of Love" about CHAZ 

while telling Trump to go back to his bunker.

Didn't quite work out that way, did it?

Unrestrained Anarchy led to the madness that was WWI.  

Is it coincidence that the Spanish Flu which decimated the world happened at the same time?

Where is any sane response to this?  

I do not see it.  

Do you?

WHAT RAY BRADBURY HAS TO SAY TO US TODAY

“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”
― Ray Bradbury 

Ray Bradbury was acutely aware that human society can easily become oppressive and regimented.

His Fahrenheit 451 (the temperature at which paper burns) seems a precursor to today's Cancel Culture.

If I dislike a shirt you wear, I try to get you fired, kicked from whatever medium you speak upon.  

In essence, I try to erase, to burn you from existence.

The ability to reason is what sets humans apart from animals and technology; 

we must not squander this evolutionary advantage!

I do not see much evidence of reason in mobs that pull down statues that offend them.  

The rule of law says that we seek legislation to remove those statues without vigilante storming,

How can Gov. Cuomo or Mayor Bill de Blasio, justify penalizing anyone for drinking or dining in the streets, when they all but cheer people protesting?

If it is all right to protest, how can you ban funerals?

It is 1984's DOUBLE SPEAK but this time in reality.

What would Ray Bradbury urge us?

 “Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. 

Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.”
 
 "But you can't make people listen. 

They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened 

and why the world blew up around them. It can't last.”

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

"The world is doing its best, 

night and day,

 to make you everybody else."

 - E.E. Cummings

Try as we might not to be blinded by society’s prescriptions for happiness, 

we are still social creatures porous to the values of our peers.

We seem lost, myopic about the things we believe will complete us as human beings, habitually aspiring to the wrong things for the wrong reasons. 

We are beings profoundly different from what we imagine ourselves to be. 

The things we pursue most frantically are the least likely to give us lasting joy and contentment,

  “It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement — that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.”
― Sigmund Freud

 “I cannot cause light; the most I can do 

is try to put myself in the path of its beam."

- Annie Dillard

“No one can build you the bridge on which you,

 and only you, 

must cross the river of life.”

-  Nietzsche

You can't grasp the concept of the soul, of your psyche.

Like a dust mote or a ghost, 

it can only be seen out of the corner of your perception.  Looked for directly, it disappears.

Like happiness or contentment, it comes to you while you pursue a needful goal or easing another's pain.

 

What do you think is 

the path to self-awareness?

WRITERS IN A CAGE

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” 
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Are you a writer in a cage, 

a cage of your design?

Often we are our own worst enemy, 

denying that we are capable of achieving more than we give ourselves credit for.

We are tempted to give up on our dreams because the road to them is arduous and slow.

Our behavior, our attitude, our bad habits are all within our ability to change for the better 

but we prefer the comfort of the familiar. 

We choose the path of least resistance, of a way of life that neuters the potential of success within us.


WHINING OR WINNING?

Have you pulled over on the side of the road to success, declaring defeat before you have even given it your all?

A well-functioning adult who puts in sufficient time, focused brain-storming, and quality effort can succeed in most endeavors.

You may not become the next J K Rowling, 

but how will you know if you do not rally everything within you and at your disposal in the attempt?


LAW OF LIFE

With a positive mind-set, willingness to learn, courage to change, and an iron resolve to work hard daily, you can ONLY get better.


DISCIPLINE NOT DESIRE

Great writers like Stevenson wrote daily, not when the desire struck them.  

You must, too.  How can you expect the water to flow if you do not turn on the faucet?

Stevenson spent long years of dying slowly, painfully each day, but he wrote classics each of those days. 


IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU

You are an adult, capable of becoming a professional.  

A great archer does not think of himself before he fires his arrow.  He thinks of his target.

Your target is not you -- it is the reader.

How can you write a book whose every page will excite the reader?  

That is your goal each moment in the chair before the computer screen.


WISHFUL THINKING NEVER WROTE A SINGLE WORD

Daydreaming is a pleasant haven from the hard work of putting evocative words on paper.  

But wishful thinking of impressing your co-workers or becoming the next Neil Gaiman will only leave you with what you put into your dream:  

Nothing.


PLAYING IT SAFE NEVER SCORED A TOUCH DOWN

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all have a few things in common:

They dropped out of college to pursue their dreams.  

They dropped activities that drained their time and spirit to focus on working on their goals.

They continually re-invented themselves and their work, growing better with each painful transformation.


PIMP-SLAPPING YOURSELF IS NOT GOING TO GET YOU THERE

 Why talk to yourself in ways that you would never talk to a friend?  

You are your best friend.  And if you are not, that is one problem to tackle first off.

Jettison the "I can't."  

Speak truth to yourself.  

Making a mistake does not make YOU a mistake.  It makes you human.

If you tell yourself "I'm nobody.  No one will buy this," you hamper your imagination.

Stop listening to your fears.  You are not psychic.  The future is up for grabs. 

 Look at the headlines:  

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Life may be less than pleasant right now.  That is now.  

Tomorrow is a land of endless opportunities.

Be a pioneer of that unknown territory.  

Take those reasoned steps that will bring you closer to your dreams each day.

YOU CAN  SUCCEED

BECAUSE OTHER UNKNOWNS 

HAVE DONE IT BEFORE YOU. 

What bars have you erected

in your own cage?

GEORGE CARLIN was a prophet

Take that protester critically injured

after the statue he was helping 

to topple

fell on him.

Or take Chaz.

"The homeless stole our food!

Bring us Vegan Pizza!"

I have no words.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said, 

 "It’s too soon to link a sharp uptick 

in coronavirus hospitalizations 

to the massive George Floyd

 protests taking place 

across the city 

over the last week."

Meanwhile,

Covid-19 is on the upswing

in 20+ states. 

All those congested protests

had no harmful effects, 

right? 

 Elmer Fudd had his gun

taken away,

because a scythe

is so much less violent?

I'm sure you have your own examples of 

"The Emperor has No Clothes" 

you could point out.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Protester critically injured after statue he was helping topple landed on his head

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/11/protester-critically-injured-statue-was-helping-topple-landed-head-12838502/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

Protester critically injured after statue he was helping topple landed on his head

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/11/protester-critically-injured-statue-was-helping-topple-landed-head-12838502/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

Protester critically injured after statue he was helping topple landed on his head

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/11/protester-critically-injured-statue-was-helping-topple-landed-head-12838502/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

HOW TO KEEP ON WITH YOUR NOVEL

HAS IT ALL CAUGHT UP WITH YOU?

You're in good company:

Mark Twain

  Mark Twain's brilliant authorship of American classics such as Huckleberry Finn 

might have had its roots in his tendency to depression. 


But this famous depressed writer also lived with a lot of family drama 


that could have contributed to his STRESS
 and depression. 

Depression's role with creative writing will also be a function of the individual writers,


 their personal history, their circumstances, and the nature of their depressions.

 

Stephen King

  Stephen King, a modern master of suspense and terror, has quite a body of work to his name. 

Yet his fame and talent didn't forestall the devastating effects of the drugs and alcohol 


he allegedly had been using to cope with ongoing unhappiness.

Substance abuse and alcohol use 


often play roles as people struggling with depression attempt to self-medicate. 


During those years, this famous depressed writer also produced some of his best-known works, such as The Shining, Pet Cematary, and Carrie.

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

  F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda were known for their glamorous and tumultuous lifestyle, 

full of wild parties, travel, and larger-than-life characters. 

The Great Gatsby remains his best-known work, 


but other novels such as The Beautiful and the Damned detail a lot of the same ground. 


Their glittering life had a dark side, punctuated by alcoholism and depression for both of them, 


and their legacy includes being famous depressed writers. 

HOW DO YOU KEEP ON WRITING DESPITE FEAR, DOUBT, & SELF-CRITICISM?

1.) ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU WOULD DO IF YOU'RE WEREN'T AFRAID OR DOUBTFUL.

The mere act of doing usually makes the fear recede in just a few minutes.” 


Pretend, just for a moment, that rejection or failure isn’t the end of life as you know it.

2.) STOP INDULGING YOUR FEARS, DISCOURAGEMENTS, REJECTIONS, & DASHED DREAMS.

Much as we’re driven to write, we feel we must be in the mood – 


as if the clouds should part, the sun should shine and every possible interruption should be silenced

.

None of that matters. Write anyway. 

Don’t think about how you feel or if it’s a perfect time to write 

or that you have a thousand other things to do. 

Write anyway. 

You have nothing to share and nothing to sell if there are no words on the page.

3.) REMEMBER THAT REJECTION ISN'T NECESSARILY ABOUT YOUR WRITING. 

You have to be totally dedicated to your writing. 


Forget about rejections – they’re a mandatory part of any career. 

A writer writes. 

If you feel you’ll keep writing even if you never get published, then you’re a real writer.

The markets want they want.  


Tastes will change.  You will grow as a writer if you do not give up.

4.) SEE PAST YOUR EXCUSES TO YOUR REAL FEARS

Writers need to look at their fears directly.


 Recognize them for what they are, 


and be honest with yourself about why you’re not moving forward with your writing goals.

This can be difficult because we give excuses rather than facing our fears.

5.) SET SMALL GOALS

Long-term goals are great for inspiration, but keep a list of small, attainable goals, too, 


and allow yourself to feel proud when you achieve them. 

Reward yourself for finishing a chapter or short story. 

Recognize that sending a few query letters to agents takes time, thought, and effort, 


and don’t discount the success.