DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE SUNSET _ A New Year's Musing

The movies have taught many in the entertainment field (like we writers)

that either you soar and reach the rarefied air of Super-Stardom or you are a failure.

Was Emily Dickinson a failure just because she was never recognized in her lifetime?


She tenderly crafted the words singing to her soul 

and wrote what she felt was beautiful and true even if no one else felt the same.


Do you think she felt herself a failure?  I hope not.


What will we do to our souls 

if we follow the Yellow Brick Road left by the footprints of some best-selling author?


Sean Rowe's song, TO LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND, 

heard at the end of the excellent movie, THE ACCOUNTANT, speaks to me on this.

Did it speak to you?

You may never reach Mt. Everest's top, 

but if you reach the peak of your own abilities and help others along the way ...

your pockets may be empty, but your soul will be full.

Perhaps the sun has set on your dream of whatever it had been, 

but sunsets have their own beauty and their own quiet peace.


 And sunsets are but the promise of new dawns.  I wish you new fulfilling dawns, my friends.

Missing Midnight, I just re-watched

 KEDI:

This Turkish documentary, the debut feature for director Ceyda Torun, 

turns the cameras on a group of stray cats 

as they amble around 
their customary haunts in Istanbul. 

While the film indeed exposes the day-to-day goings-on of felines,

 each with a distinct character, 
what ultimately ends up on screen 
appears to be 

a rich portrait of a very ancient city 

full of equally interesting and distinct individuals.

 Why not explore Istanbul in a different way — with some stray cats as your guides.