Wisdom Wheel

For a fellow who passed a dozen years ago, Crichton’s warnings have proven rather prophetic. Especially with regard to this pandemic and our politics. As we approach the Clarity time of year, October 23-November 21, let’s call upon all our powers of discernment, while choosing our candidates in next month’s election, and celebrating the birthdays of our Scorpio friends. 

Crichton’s Birth Law was Clarity. By plotting his life on the Wisdom Wheel, we see he also died at the Clarity time of year. Depending upon how we Process what we realize, Clarity can be a curse or a blessing. In Crichton’s case, I discovered some enduring lessons. 

During his Harvard student days, he realized one of his professors harbored a bias against him and his writing. What did he do? Rather than indulge in self-sabotaging anger, or wilt at having his talent rejected by this man, he exposed him. He enlisted another teacher ‘s help to conduct an experiment. He purposely plagiarized George Orwell’s work, to reveal this man graded even the work of a known genius poorly, when he assumed Crichton had written it. 

We can all conduct Clarity experiments, for any reason, including the revelation of bias, in others or ourselves. During this season of fake news versus facts, we need to reconsider our sorting methods. How do we distinguish truth from fiction? We rely upon our beliefs for our processing. Do we prefer Clarity, or fantasy, memoir or escapist entertainment, for instance? 

As new information comes in, writing is a useful tool, for tracking our thoughts and realizations. If he hadn’t needed to process more bias observations, during his residency practice rounds at Boston City Hospital, Crichton might never have become a professional writer. Seeing how often the reputations of doctors were favored, over the best interests of patients, upset him enough to quit medicine.

But those experiences provided the background for his ‘24 Hours’ pilot script. That turned into the ER television series, which lasted 15 seasons. In ’94 he had a #1 TV show ER, a #1 movie Jurassic Park and a #1 book, Disclosure. A feat no one else has duplicated, so far. Did the stress get him? He died at my current age, 66. His prolific output can be traced to his overarching Clarity about human failings. Nowhere are these more starkly revealed than in how we relate to our machines and technologies.

News & Events

Company Matters, the musical, debuted last Friday night for friends and family! This story, of triumph over corporate corruption, has been my husband Malcolm’s labor of love for over twenty years. In the next issue, there will be a link for you to listen to it. When he was still working at Sony Music, Malcolm would tape me plucking out a tune for his lyrics on my guitar as I sang them over the phone. Now in this podcast premiere, we got to hear the professionals, belt out the polished tunes. Thanks to the strange silver lining of COVID, wonderfully talented actors and musicians were available to work on this project, instead of touring with the Hamilton production, since live performances have been cancelled.

In my debate club, my partner and I just won our argument this week. We marshaled enough facts to prove “the fast fashion industry is paying only lip-service to the movement towards sustainability.” Two years ago I was invited to join this Rhode Island group of feisty women who care passionately about a wide variety of issues. My debate debut was scheduled for March. But the coronavirus suspended in person gatherings, for the first time in the club’s 123-year history. Thanks to Zoom, my partner and I were finally able to present our arguments, after an 8 month pause. 

Thanks to technology life goes on, despite the continuing havoc COVID is causing with in-person plans. If your organization needs to raise funds, or plan something fun, let’s talk. For book clubs, ordering more than 10 copies, I will bulk mail my memoir at a discount, and visit virtually to respond to readers’ questions. 

These ongoing Zoom groups meet regularly:

• Every Saturday morning 10:30 am Westerly Writing group
• Every other Wednesday evening 6pm Book Writers group
• Every Monday evening 7pm Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Due to rising numbers of COVID cases, our November Lodge ceremony is on hold. We hope to have it after the November 3rd election. The same for our Winter Solstice ceremony, scheduled for Sunday December 20th. We will adjust according to the restrictions in place as the time approaches. For all updates, check our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page

Wisdom Wheel

What “ideal condition of mind and heart” guides our lives each day?

My guiding ideals are the 36 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel although Baldwin’s words come from today’s page in the Gifts of Wisdom (email me to buy directly) my perpetual calendar. When putting the quote collection together, I organized them to honor each author on their birthday. This helps me remember their Birth Laws too. Baldwin was born under the Forgiveness Law, like all Libras, who are currently celebrating their birthdays. Although she passed away 42 years ago, Baldwin’s words are worth remembering. Wisdom never goes stale or out of style.

Despite how few ask for it, wisdom is the one thing I wish we all had more of, including myself. This desire inspired me to develop the Wisdom Wheel more than twenty years ago. It offers a way to define our ideals and live by them, day by day, year after year.

Today another group began their 1,000 Days Journey on the Wisdom Wheel. Each new (online) class starts on a full moon. The next group is being assembled for October 31st. (contact me for info about the Introductory offer) This sequence of daily emails takes readers on virtual, month by month tour of the Wheel and its 36 Laws. Every email includes a quote, some Daily Guidance, and an excerpt from my journal. Those who complete this course earn the certification to teach the Wheel to others in their study circles. Many do the Wheel with a study buddy. And several have done the thirty six month Journey more than once because there is a lot to learn.

A hearty thanks to each person, who volunteered to share their life Journey turning point details, for our research project, to validate the forthcoming Wisdom Wheel book. There are a few spots left. Contact me if you want to see your entire life laid out on the Great Spiral of the Wheel.

More gratitude is due to those who surprised me by purchasing a Gifts of Wisdom perpetual calendar after seeing it in the last newsletter. They make great birthday or holiday presents for men or women. I will mail them to anyone you designate for $19.95 (plus shipping). Supplies are limited so order yours soon.

Publishing News

Rosanne Romiglio continues to help me redo my author website. It will be unveiled in next issue of newsletter. The graphics for the Wisdom Wheel book are also coming along thanks to my talented designer/editor Gigie Hall.

The second memoir is now on hold as the Wisdom Wheel book has taken priority. The word count grows, slowly but steadily. All the hair pulling and teeth gnashing it took to learn to write the first memoir is paying dividends now. Knowing what readers want more of, and how to assemble scenes into chapters, is making this one easier to write. We are looking at publishing dates for both books. Stay tuned.

Events

Covid continues to play havoc with in-person plans, yet life goes on, thanks to Zoom. I am happy to report The Importance of Paris book club package raised $500 for Lisa Guillette’s non-profit Foster Forward online fundraiser auction. This package included 10 signed copies of my memoir, complete with my agreement to appear via Zoom, to answer all questions from book club members. The lucky winner Susan lives in South Carolina. You can still donate to Foster Forward. If you need to raise funds or plan something fun for your group, let’s talk. Bulk orders of more than 10 copies are mailed at a discount.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Those serious about getting stories written and published can also join The Story Circle Network and the National Association of Memoir Writers. Having participated for many years in both organizations I can vouch for their lasting impact.

Ceremonies

We held our Autumn Equinox Lodge ceremony and our next one is Sunday, October 4th. Updates concerning Covid restrictions and complete calendar for 2021 can be found on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page. We continue to experiment a limited number of regular participants doing their own rounds.

Lastly, today is also World Elders Day. Since watching the presidential election debate this week, I must say what I most hold against the current US president is that he shows no interest in wisdom or maturity, which Elders are supposed to have. This might be more forgivable if he was only running one of his companies, but not when he’s leading our beloved country.

“‘[…] women need to develop a new moral system in an otherwise doomed world… Not being sadistic, as a rule, women often fail to understand the basic fact about sadistic behavior: it is stimulated by the appearance of vulnerability in the prospective victim… It would be better for women to assert their right to judge, to be bolder in questioning male authority, to demand the respect due to them as mothers and decent, caring citizens… The Crone can still serve as an empowering image of biological truth, female wisdom and mother-right, to which men must learn to defer, if they are ever to conquer the enemy within themselves.” ― Barbara G. Walker, in The Crone

Wisdom Wheel

A good friend recently admitted, “I don’t always read your newsletters.” I congratulated her on the honest feedback. At my age the preference for truth outweighs the need for compliments. Although people may want to “see things in new ways” more than ever during these contentious days, do they read what anyone writes? Why do I persist?

Having lived with doubt for decades, I’m not easily dissuaded. Writing is my calling. I love it. The thoughtful words of other authors inspire me daily. I won’t deny the lovely feelings when readers tell me what my stories meant to them but I’ve committed to doing this anyway. Encouraging others to be brave gives me great satisfaction.

Doing this strictly for money would be ridiculous. Only 300 fiction authors in the US make enough to live on from their writing alone, according to a recent article. Cheryl Strayed, author of the best-selling WILD memoir admitted, after investing in her creative writing masters degree, “Well, I might make zero, or I might make $5 million!… But I would have written my books whether I was paid for them or not.”

Despite full awareness of the terrible odds, I hung out my shingle, published my work, and declared myself an author. And a mystic. The second informs the first. All writers must face the fact that our work may not be valued or supported enough for us to survive by our pens alone. Teaching, speaking, and other jobs fill in that gap. Remaining a writer, year after year, requires an odd mix of hubris and humility. To make our offerings, it helps to surrender attachments to particular outcomes. This is where being a mystic comes in handy.

You can look up the meaning of mystic or ask me directly. Formal definitions include those who believe in the possibility of attaining insight into the mysteries, transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy. A person initiated into religious mysteries, who seeks truths beyond the intellect.

Being a mystic is its own reward. No amount of money can purchase transcendence. When my best writing comes, I call it taking divine dictation, grateful that it originates beyond the scope of my small ego self. In 1996, this is how the Wisdom Wheel arrived, after I dared to ask the Universe for guidance about my work. I’ve discovered not many ask for wisdom. Entertainment and escapism yes, real wisdom, not so much. I’d love to be proven wrong!

To test this assumption, email me to order my Gifts of Wisdom perpetual calendar. Each is quoted on their birthday. For $19.95 I will personally put this labor of love in the mail to you. Surprise me!

Publishing News

Rosanne Romiglio at cleanclearcreative.com is helping me redo my author website, which took priority this month. The graphics for the Wisdom Wheel book are also coming along. We are currently seeking 10 volunteers. To demonstrate how priorities change over time in peoples’ lives, we are collecting stories. If you are ready to see your life reimagined in entirety, on the Great Spiral of the Wisdom Wheel, please contact me.

The second memoir word count grows, slowly but steadily. All the hair pulling and teeth gnashing it took to learn to write the first memoir is paying dividends now. Knowing what readers want more of, and how to assemble scenes into chapters, is making this one easier to write. We are looking at publishing dates for both books. Stay tuned.

Events

Covid continues to play havoc with our in-person plans yet life goes on thanks to Zoom. Tomorrow is the virtual 25th Anniversary celebration of Lisa Guillette’s Foster Forward non-profit. Please donate. The fundraiser auction includes 10 copies of The Importance of Paris. The lucky winner gets these for their book club members. I promise to attend their gathering via Zoom to answer all questions. If you are looking to fundraise, or plan something fun for your group, let’s talk. Bulk ordered copies are mailed at a discount.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge
Those serious about getting stories written and published can also join The Story Circle Network and the National Association of Memoir Writers. Having participated for many years in both organizations I can vouch for their lasting impact.

Ceremonies

In honor of the Autumn Equinox we hold our next Lodge ceremony Sunday, September 20th. Updates concerning Covid restrictions and complete calendar for 2021 can be found on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page. We continue to experiment with a limited number of regular participants doing their own rounds.

A hearty Happy Birthday to all our Libra friends whose celebrations soon begin. Having Forgiveness as your Birth Law, I leave you with this quote.

“Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” ― Christopher James Gilbert, better known by his pseudonym Criss Jami

Wisdom Wheel

Has this quote inspired you? I rediscovered it last week, while taking some time off from social media and the relentless barrage of negative news. The story behind this quote deserves telling. It also describes a Wisdom Wheel Journey with the Cause & Effect Law and a few others.

Perhaps you are one of the millions who still believe Nelson Mandela said those words. For a quarter of a century now Williamson’s quote has been consistently misattributed to the formerly jailed freedom fighter, who became the president of a post-apartheid South Africa in 1994. The New York Times has reported on its continuing misattribution, as even Senator Hillary Clinton, astronaut Mae C. Jemison, and former Spelman College president Johnnetta B. Cole have credited those stirring words to Mandela, rather than their author, Marianne Williamson.

She hasn’t taken offense. “As honored as I would be, had President Mandela quoted my words, indeed he did not. I have no idea where that story came from, but I am gratified that the paragraph has come to mean so much to so many people, ” replied Williamson when asked to comment on this controversy.

But last year while Williamson was leading her own campaign, for the Democratic nomination for the US presidency, her previous words received criticism not applied when people assumed Mandela had uttered them. For instance, in July 2019 Constance Grady wrote (in Vox): “[…] Williamson’s philosophy is seductive. It places the individual at the center of the world, and it appeals to our sense of grandeur. ‘Ah yes,’ you might think, reading, ‘I really am the most important person in the world; I always suspected it.’ […] If we are personally responsible for the bad things that happen to us, then we are personally responsible when we are the victims of crime, of war, of illness, and poverty. Structural inequality isn’t to blame for those problems: we are.”

Grady’s points have some validity, but it is also true that individuals need to stand up to change those structural inequalities, as we see today’s peaceful protestors and activists doing. We cannot sit back and expect a corrupt system to change itself.

Kerry Pieri was one of the writers who came to Williamson’s defense: “[…] Williamson is trying to teach us that our mind-set needs a new baseline, one of true empathy, so that it becomes impossible to deny people basic health care, so that Americans would never for one second think that separating breastfeeding mothers from their infants at the border is in any way acceptable.” (Harper’s Bazaar)

The Wisdom Wheel Laws are all about resetting new baselines too and in my last newsletter, I promised to show how the wisdom of the Wheel applies to the work of cleaning up corruption. So let’s put Williamson and Mandela on the Wisdom Wheel, to look for any relationship between their lifetime Journeys and purposes.

Marianne Williamson was born July 8, 1952 and Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918. They share the same Initiation Birth Law. Both are proven initiators of cultural change. And their messages resonate so well it’s no wonder they get co-mingled.

Another surprise came when I looked deeper into the origins of Williamson’s inspiration, for her best-selling 1992 book A Return to Love, where that controversial quote first appeared. Williamson subtitled her self-help book, “Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles.” (aka ACIM)

And the woman who “scribed” ACIM, between 1965 and 1972, was Helen Schucman, born July 14, 1909, under the same Initiation Birth Law as Williamson and Mandela. They certainly carried the Initiation baton forward. For a final insight, I put Oprah Winfrey on the Wheel too, because of all she has done to publicize Williamson’s work. Oprah’s Birth Law is Renewal, which happens to be Marianne’s balancer. Combining opposing energies strengthens each other’s work. Each has translated transformative energy into words, deeds and results. The key takeaway here is to remember how every person fulfills the promise of their Birth Law. And together this advances the peaceful power of evolutionary principles.

Yes, the coronavirus continues to ravage the world, and the fear mongering and conspiracy crap grows louder as we near another US election. But we do not have to succumb to the downward spiral. Practice self-care as if your life depended upon it because it does. Stay healthy. Step back from the human news hurricane regularly. Contemplate the Bigger Picture. Hit the reset button, often. Our journeys are longer than the current crises.

Publishing News

The second memoir has grown to 25,000 words, about one quarter of the total. Exciting to begin considering cover design and potential dates for publishing next year. In next newsletter we will share more news about the Wisdom Wheel book and its graphics. If you would like to volunteer to have your Birth Law story featured, please contact me.

Since winning an IPPY award, I have been invited to participate in reading and helping to judge entries for another contest, the Sarton Awards. It’s an honor to give back to this organization after benefiting from belonging to it for over a decade. I can vouch for the genuine impact SCN has on writers’ lives, including mine.

Work continues on the redesign of my author website. Can’t wait to unveil the new and improved version! Other initiatives continue on my social media pages.

And I must continue to thank each of you who have bought my books. Especially those how have given additional copies to friends. Word of mouth is the best way to reach new readers. Even if you write one sentence reviews, about the history you learned from reading my books, on Amazon and Goodreads, it will help tremendously. Measuring Distances is selling but we must wait for the coronavirus threat to end before having a proper, in-person launch party.

Events

Any of you doing fundraisers for worthy causes? Lisa Guillette has asked me to donate a Zoom Book Club facilitation session for the 25th Anniversary celebration of her Foster Forward non-profit. Please donate if you can. It’s an honor to be asked. The lucky winner also gets 10 copies of The Importance of Paris for their members. Contact me to set up something fun for your group. When ordering copies in bulk, I can mail them at a discount.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Next Lodge ceremony is Sunday, September 20th in honor of the Autumn Equinox. See latest updates concerning Covid restrictions on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page. We continue to experiment with having a limited number of regular participants doing their own rounds

“When we look at the role that emotion plays in White Nationalism… the role of emotion in those movements is undeniable. Hate is powerful and hate is contagious. And it is not enough to meet [it] simply with an intellectual analysis or rational argument. The only way you can defeat them is by overriding them through an equal force is exerted when people are awakened to those positive feelings and positive emotions.” ― Marianne Williamson

Wisdom Wheel

On this dark, New Moon time, it is Lebanon, and its tragedies, that need honoring. They are a cautionary tale for the rest of us. We face the potential for even greater tragedies if we don’t address our corruptions. The coronavirus crisis, and the economic destabilization triggered by the lack of leadership are stark reminders. Those who’ve read my memoir or poetry know what happened in the former “Paris of the Middle East.” You understand what lessons I mean.

Two weeks ago the port of Beirut erupted in a massive, unprecedented explosion. It left 300,000 people homeless, nearly 200 dead, and 5,000 wounded. Silos containing 85% of the nation’s grain supply were also destroyed. The accidental eruption of tons of carelessly stored ammonium nitrate, impounded from a Russian ship seven years ago, has caused $15 billion in damages and there is no money for repairs. This is a tiny country, already reeling from decades of war, financial scandals, hyperinflation, and a collapsing economy. Renewed street protests forced the government to resign.

And a verdict finally came today, from a special tribunal in the Hague, concerning another Beirut explosion fifteen years ago. That Valentine’s Day blast in 2005 killed Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others. The perpetrators were Hezbollah operatives. They have been judged but have yet to be captured or punished. In the aftermath of those crimes, there were some positive changes. The Syrian Army, who occupied Lebanon for 30 years, departed. But not long after their return to Syria, civil war began there. Now Syrian refugees in Lebanon outnumber Lebanese citizens.

I often return to the writing of Khalil Gibran (1883-1931). The Lebanese philosophical essayist, novelist, poet, and artist was quoted at my high school graduation in Beirut, in 1972. He spent time in the US, but our commencement speaker did not tell us Gibran had died (40 years earlier) in New York City, of alcoholic despair, at age 48. Instead the focus was on Gibran’s trans-Atlantic success and his best known book The Prophet. Translated into a hundred languages, it has never been out of print since its publication in 1923. Yet how many have heeded Gibran’s cautionary example and advice? It is time to do something constructive while we still can.

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain…”

We have almost reached the Journey Law place on the Wisdom Wheel. Time to celebrate the birthdays of our Virgo friends (August 23 – September 22) whose Birth Law is Journey. Click here to learn more about your Birth Law and its balancer. Next year I will be living under the Journey Law as we all do at ages 13, 40, and 94. In our next newsletter we will share some news about how to plot your lifetime Journeys using the wisdom of the Wheel. And how learning to live by the Laws relates to cleaning up corruption.

Publishing News

Since the memoir won an IPPY award, we have kicked things up several notches, with the help of The Jenkins Group and other initiatives on social media. Once again I must thank many of you for buying additional copies to give to friends. Word of mouth is the best way to reach new readers. Even if you write one sentence reviews, about the history you learned from reading my books, on Amazon and Goodreads, it will help a lot.

The poetry collection Measuring Distances is available but we wait for the threats from the coronavirus to cease before we have a proper launch party.

Events

We had a far ranging discussion, in our masks outdoors, at the book club meeting, in Providence. I want to thank Katherine Touafek for the distinct pleasure. If your book club selects The Importance of Paris, I will attend via Zoom if we cannot do it in person. Contact me for set up. To prompt group discussions, see the list of questions, in the back of the memoir. If your book club orders copies in bulk I will mail them at a discount.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Next Lodge ceremony is Sunday, September 20th in honor of Autumn Equinox. See latest updates concerning Covid restrictions on our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page. We continue to experiment with having a limited number of regular participants doing their own rounds

Stay safe. And be brave. Defend principles not personalities.

“We felt no joy in seeing Vienna undone and the Germans broken, but rather anguish. Not compassion, but a larger anguish, which was mixed up with our own misery, with the heavy threatening sensation of an irreparable and definitive evil, which was present everywhere. Nestling like gangrene in the guts of Europe and the world. The seed of future harm.” ― Primo Levi, If This Is a Man • The Truce

Wisdom Wheel

You don’t need me to tell you how dire the situation presently is in our country. Between the mounting Covid cases and casualty rates, the unemployment figures, and the collapsing economy, the pressure is on us like never before. It may seem odd an odd time to cite the need to accept personal responsibility for becoming more ethical, but if we don’t, things will get even worse.

Iman knows the long-term consequences firsthand. She witnessed what happened in her Somali birthplace. Instability led to thirty years of civil war. And what led to instability? Corruption. Refusing to take responsibility for ethical behavior destroys societies. Those of you who have read my memoir, The Importance of Paris, know what corruption did to the former “Paris of the Middle East,” Beirut, Lebanon. A cautionary tale for sure.

Ethical dilemma stories currently dominate US news headlines, from the recent funeral of Civil Rights leader and longtime Congressman John Lewis, to the Black Lives Matter protests, and Portland’s Wall of Moms. Those who won’t wear masks are yet another example of the refusal to accept ethical responsibilities. At the root of all this is the psychological Shadow, on full display, overshadowing common sense and decency.

I chose this photo to test your level of preparedness. It was taken recently in Portland, Oregon. Reflect upon the fact that this woman’s taxes pay that guy’s salary. Rehearse your level of ethical preparedness in private. If unidentified, camouflage-clad officers in full battle gear, emerged from unmarked minivans in your city, what would you do? Look the other way? Find excuses? Or stand up to them before it was too late? History is full of examples of what happens if citizens don’t push back against political corruption and police brutality and demand ethical accountability.

Oregon’s governor and Portland’s mayor both told this Administration to back off and remove these uninvited goons. This desperate, election year tactic is illegal. And it has backfired. Peaceful citizens, moms, military vets, journalists, and volunteer medics exercising their First Amendment rights were tear-gassed and shot at close range, with rubber bullets as the live streamed videos proved in real time.

More unrest may be on the way. People who’ve lost their jobs, and health insurance, may soon lose their homes. Meanwhile Covid rages on and the man in charge lies to us and plays golf. This woman’s photograph and Iman’s words are warnings to us all.

Publishing News

The Jenkins Group is taking me on as a client to help market my books. Since the memoir won the IPPY award, it was time to kick things up a notch. In next newsletter I will share more details about ongoing publicity but I want to thank so many of you for buying additional copies to give to friends. Please leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads even if you only write one sentence about what you learned from reading my books. Measuring Distances has yet to get a proper launch party but we can blame Covid for that.

Events

This month I’ll facilitate another Rhode Island book club meeting, in Providence. If your book club selects The Importance of Paris, and I cannot make it in person, I will attend via Zoom. Contact me for set up. For group discussions, see the list of questions, in the back of the memoir. If you order bulk copies for your book club I will mail them at a discount.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Next Lodge ceremony is Sunday, September 20th in honor of Autumn Equinox. See latest updates concerning any Covid restrictions on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page. We continue to experiment with having a limited number of regular participants doing their own rounds

Stay brave. And be safe. Defend principles not personalities.

Wisdom Wheel

During these highly politicized days, of protests and the ongoing pandemic, the darker side of human nature is very much in evidence. Acts of callous disregard, stubborn ignorance, and violence force us to ask, what is at the root of such behavior. Visible evidence of the Shadow surrounds us. Becoming more conscious of it is how we can heal it. And now is as good time as any to explore this subject, for we have just arrived at the Shadow time of year on the Wisdom Wheel.

We all have our Shadow sides. But Leos carry the Shadow as their Birth Law. Ideally they can teach us more about this topic. Carl Jung was a Leo, Shadow Law person, and he was the one who began to popularize the concept, in Europe in the mid 1890s. Jung also warned of our tendency to project our Shadow sides onto others, unconsciously. We do this because it is so difficult to recognize the suppressed, unsavory truths about the Shadow sides of our personalities. But if we don’t bring our Shadow into the light of our consciousness, it will sabotage even our best efforts.

Jung witnessed this phenomenon, of the Shadow and its projection in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. The psychological defense mechanisms of the Germans triggered their refusal to consider the very real problems of their own inner darkness and Hitler’s. It was easier, and far more politically expedient, to idealize themselves and blame (project) their ills upon others like the Jews and gypsies. Clinical psychologist Mary Trump’s new book Too Much and Never Enough, explains the Shadow’s influences on her uncle, and provides clues to those who cannot see it in him.

Racism is an obvious form of Shadow projection. Those who heap their unresolved anger and prejudice upon others unconsciously refuse to examine their attitudes origins or take responsibility for healing them. The difficult inner work one must do, to outgrow a peer group like the KKK, is hardly going to be rewarded by them.

As we circumnavigate the Wheel of Life, we are offered every kind of opportunity to learn and grow. And we are all given chances to carry the Shadow Law, at ages 12, 39, 66, and 93. To celebrate the Shadow during this, my 66th year, I recently purchased this oil painting by Canadian artist Melissa Burgher. The Raven often represents the Darkness and yet this animal can turn putrid roadkill into nourishment. We could benefit from such transformational abilities. Shadow work confronts our deepest wounds, which are paradoxically the source of our greatest creative powers. Self-knowledge about what we’ve buried in our Shadows is key to our growth and development, as individuals, as well as cultures.

Publishing News

The publishing date is not yet set for the Wisdom Wheel book, but stay tuned for news on that score soon. More writing is getting done, because I cannot (safely) be on the road this summer, selling my memoir and poetry collection as planned. The pandemic has forced me to stay home but writing makes me happy. And so do modest, steady sales. A big shout out to my repeat customers, I’m thrilled to have fans who have bought multiple copies.

Events

On August 4th I’ll facilitate another Rhode Island book club meeting, in Providence. If your book club selects The Importance of Paris, and distance is a challenge, I will attend via Zoom. Contact me for set up. For group discussions, see the list of questions, in the back of the memoir.

Several ongoing Zoom groups are meeting regularly:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

We continue to hold our ceremonies as scheduled. Next one is Sunday August 2nd. Having experimented with allowing a limited number of regular participants to come and do their own rounds, we have now confirmed no harm was done. So we are offering this option to others. The August Lodge is already full but the September 20th ceremony, in honor of Autumn Equinox, still has spaces. Message me for details. See latest updates concerning ceremonies on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page.

In need of hope, I looked at these transformative photographs. Taken in 1972, the year I graduated from the American Community high school in Beirut, Lebanon, they marked not just the date of my personal coming of age, but also humanity’s. Or so I thought when astronaut Neil Armstrong said walking on the moon was a small step for him as a man, but it represented a “giant leap for mankind.”

That picture of Earth from space meant a lot to me when living overseas as an expatriate American because it drove home the inescapable fact that ours is a shared fate. Whoever snapped our global group photo was less important than the incontrovertible proof, we are all one tribe of fellow Earthlings.

Yet on the 244th anniversary of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Americans seem in retreat, headed in the opposite direction. The complex reasons can be debated but unless the center holds, we may lose everything.

Publishing News

While living and working abroad, I understood firsthand why people need an expanded sense of identity, the umbrella of an idea large enough to fit everyone under. Otherwise we risk being dismissed, by anybody’s racism or jingoistic nationalism, anywhere. Part of me believed Americans had a global advantage because we had tried to build a more inclusive system. Taking people in from the world over, and making it work albeit imperfectly, had convinced me the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence had inspired the cooperative spirit. Hadn’t this also helped us get to the moon first?

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

But while reading the words of another astronaut in 1985, I learned one did not have to be an American or an expatriate, to experience these global epiphanies.

“The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.”

The man who expressed these sentiments was the world’s youngest astronaut. Only 28 years old, he was also the first Muslim, the first Arab and the first prince to fly into space, Saudi Royal Air Force pilot, Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. He was a payload specialist on the 18th flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. His comments made me wish we could afford to launch everyone into outer space to initiate a massive global coming of age. Maybe then we’d appreciate the miracle of life on this Blue Marble and be better at collaborating.

Measuring Distances

To measure the distances between our stated ideals, and the truth of how much further we have to go, is the moral dilemma explored in my poetry book. One would think a nation cobbled together from people who came from all over the world would have had plenty of practice with diversity and excel at getting along. With all our opportunities, what holds us back? It generates the ongoing protests over income inequality, police brutality, racial, gender, and class inequalities.

Excerpt from Measuring Distances Introduction:

“…This collection of poems reflects my ongoing efforts to hold myself accountable to standards I had to invent by trial and error. If not for the endings of empires, I might have remained just another white Anglo-Saxon Protestant female, feeling no need to measure any kind of distances. Born in a US Naval hospital in 1954, there was nothing particularly unusual about my middle class family of origin, except that we wound up in Saudi Arabia after my flight engineer father was laid off from his job with Trans World Airlines.

For the next twenty years (1962-1982) we were foreigners in the minority, western outsiders making our home(s) in the fractious Middle East. Our family became part of a newer, less celebrated phenomenon — the American expatriate exodus. Reversing the plucky immigrant story that had captivated my Scotch Irish, French, English, and German ancestors, we went east for economic survival. And those formative decades sent me careening around the globe for the next thirty years. Facing such complex realities without an adequate internal compass, the only things I had to guide me were the dubious prejudices of clashing cultures. What I longed for was an evolving ethos, some system of navigation that would integrate everything, within a vision of a sustainable future. But we had gone abroad before there was a word to describe the process we were part of. As globalization’s early pioneers, we lived to see our efforts become a dirty word, as the pendulum of change swung backwards over the ensuing fifty years.

…my father once lamented to a friend of mine, ‘ I think we did the wrong thing, raising our kids abroad. They have one foot in each world and don’t belong anywhere.’

Upon hearing this, I told my friend, ‘But it’s one world.’ Having never imagined this, he had to disagree. And therein lies the conundrum.

…My peripatetic existence demanded I discover larger ideals than the ones my parents had inherited. Mine had to encompass the incongruous contradictions I was raised with or else I could not function beyond the expat enclaves. If aspiring to global citizenship sounds presumptuous, consider the less savory options. Neocolonialist. Ugly American. Imperialist. Corporatist. White supremacist…”

Events

Need a staycation? Try reading The Importance of Paris memoir. If you have a book clubs I will happily facilitate the discussion via Zoom if not in person. Contact me to set one up! Several ongoing Zoom groups continue to meet.

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

We continue to hold our scheduled ceremonies and on July 5th we experimented with allowing other participants to do their own rounds. Once we confirm no harm was done, we may offer this to others. See the latest updates about ceremonies on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page.

So much is happening right now I have to slow way down to take it all in. Everything is clamoring for attention in the heaving human turmoil surrounding us. At this Initiation time of year, on the Wisdom Wheel calendar, I am struggling with too much light, too much Awareness. The celestial events, new moon, Summer Solstice, a fire ring eclipse, and a bittersweet Father’s Day, were already lot to register.

But yesterday a damselfly alighted beside me during ceremony. As it opened and closed its iridescent wings, the tiny creature imparted a reverberating lesson. When its wings were shut, my attention was arrested by the bright white dot on its wingtips. Focus, it said. Pick a single spot. Then the four iridescent wings opened. The single dot split into four. This is how it’s done. When Awareness is allowed to blossom, into a beautiful quadrant, the Beauty is so satisfying, like a flower’s petals parting. I look on in awe rather than look away. Must remember this and practice it more often.

Publishing News

Time to celebrate the public Initiation of Measuring Distances. My brand new cross-cultural poetry book is officially available on Amazon. I hope my poems will encourage more Awareness. As we re-examine our history of racism, sexism, favoritism, police brutality, and crony capitalism, it is useful to look at these issues through an expatriate’s global lens. The ebook is $3.99. We are keeping the print book affordable at $9.95. Due to coronavirus precautions, we cannot have an in-person launch party, only a virtual one. Stay tuned for the date of that event and a promotional video coming soon.

Events

Although I forgot to snap a picture of them, we had a wonderful meeting last week with the book club women who read The Importance of Paris memoir. All but one had been to France on vacation so they were familiar with the city. What surprised them was what they had not known about Middle East history. Having such a good time facilitating the discussion, and talking about the next memoir, I’m eager to do book clubs more often.

And there continue to be several ongoing Zoom groups:

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Although our community cannot attend in person, we continue to hold our scheduled ceremonies, eager to see the end of this pandemic, which has infected almost ten million (confirmed) people worldwide and killed nearly half a million, with 123,000 lost in US. We are taking no chances. There is no way to sit six feet apart and wear a mask inside a sweat lodge. See the latest updates about ceremonies on our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page

On this Full Moon Friday the multiple tragedies in our country have eclipsed my personal happiness and I’m okay with that. My heart goes out to each person peacefully protesting for positive change. My memoir is my cri de coeur on this subject. Unless we do our utmost, to clean up every kind of corruption, we risk losing everything. The infestation includes racism, sexism, favoritism, crony capitalism, and the massive fraud committed by this administration. But to accomplish this, we can’t stay angry at each other.

“Ignorance is our enemy, not each other,” said William Nevin, our White Eagle Sundance Chief, on Elsipogtog Mi’qmak reserve, in New Brunswick (from my third planned memoir, Every Day Is Sun Day).

I’m holding onto his teaching for dear life today. Despite what’s happening right now, we are not enemies. What is more appalling actually is our ignorance. Everyone can do something about that, simply by stopping to listen to each other’s firsthand experiences, in person and on social media. What is also staring us in the face is our (planned) ignorance about the peaceful ways to create more equitable societies.

That need is exactly what inspired the creation of the Wisdom Wheel in 1996. Bonds can be formed between individuals from all backgrounds when we have discussions about our deepest values. Unfortunately, we were never taught to do this. So I invite each of you to find 36 smooth rocks. Write the Universal Laws upon them and make your own set to work with.

Lay them out in a circle and invite people to educate you about their experiences with these words. Heart to heart, hear each other out. Don’t we all have the rights to Balance, Integrity, and Right Relationship and so on?

When we take the time to sit down together, we can honor legitimate shared needs. Doing this reminds us of our common ground so we can go on to address the imbalances. All of us want the peace, justice, and equality, so long promised in our constitution.

You could pick one word to focus on this month. The first Law is Balance, the centering Law of life. Working to restore it requires greater Awareness (Law #2): of what is wrong, who has been wronged and how to right those wrongs and the extremes we wish to correct. The basis for establishing Right Relationships (Law #4) is listening to each other. To solve our problems together, we must learn to collaborate.

Time has shown me we must also focus upon what we want more of.

Declaring what we are against is only half the equation. To maintain a sustainable change Process (Law #6), to achieve dynamic balancing, we need transformative energy from beyond our conditioned ego personalities. Only properly understood Power (Law #33) can turn the downward spiral upward, so devolution can become evolution. As Darwin demonstrated, the survival of species is dependent upon their adaptation skills. Let’s have Clarity (Law #19) about what we want to adapt to and have more of.

I see this in my own marriage. The difference is between resenting what isn’t working versus making the Commitment to growing what is good. Yesterday my husband Malcolm and I celebrated our 20th anniversary (alone at home due to the coronavirus). We often joke about the Wheel and how it has supported our Right Relationship efforts, through two decades of mediating squabbles, facing Power issues, and triggering each other’s self-protective mechanisms. To transcend our old wounds and lighten up, we work (continually) to keep our eyes and hearts open. The fact that he could be genuinely happy for me (for us), when the memoir won a prestigious IPPY Award last month, is a testament to how far we’ve come. He said, “You hardly know where to put this praise after being put down and criticized so much.”

Events

In the meantime, we have become quite proficient with Zoom. If your book club is meeting virtually like ours, I will happily facilitate a discussion of The Importance of Paris memoir. We have one scheduled for June 18th. Contact me for set up or to schedule a Wisdom Wheel reading. There are several ongoing groups to join.

Every Saturday morning 10:30 am, Westerly Writing group
Every other Wednesday evening 6pm, Book Writers group
Every Monday evening 7pm, Zoom Lodge

Ceremonies

Malcolm and I continue to hold the scheduled ceremonies. Next one is Sunday June 21st for Summer Solstice. Our Rhode Island governor has phased out some restrictions on gatherings. We should know soon whether coronavirus cases are continuing their downward trend. See the latest updates about ceremonies on our HOPE-HOUSE Facebook page.

Publishing News

The brand new poetry book is due out on Summer Solstice. Preorder signed first edition copies, and receive 20% prepublication discount, until June 21st. I leave you with a poem from the Measuring Distances collection.

The Lizard’s Logic

Clever the chameleon
changing his colors
to suit
environment.

How intelligent not
to resist
but rather
to accept
the givens through the skin
and find protection
in response

without the need for knowing.

We are not so
duplicitously simple.
If you lay against a stranger
you will see how pale or dark
you are.

And rarely do we stay
for long
without a likeness
to spare us
the effort
of being different.

We are susceptible
judges, who know not
how to yield to logic
that would change our minds,
though it fails to change our skins.