— Bette Midler

When we find it hard to be happy for others, what can be done about it?

Being on both sides of this issue has taught me a few things over the years. I can vividly recall my old feelings of inadequacy. Each time I saw another book published by writers I admired, it stung, because I had yet to see my first one come out. In our competitive, score keeping culture succumbing to these comparisons can poison our better impulses. Until my memoir was completed and published, I did not comprehend the down side of what the entire process demands. 

Being a published author has since replaced my envy with genuine admiration and compassion. Anyone brave, or foolhardy enough, to attempt these feats deserves all the applause we can offer. And these days I am genuinely happy for all creative souls. Their gifts enriched my life and nurtured my belief in the possibilities. These experiences have convinced me jealousy and the sense of inadequacy can be replaced with virtuous, reinforcing circles by exchanging our creativities. 

To write is only the tip of the iceberg. The grueling follow through, the drafts, all the marketing, distribution and publicity efforts required to reach our readers, is as trying and exhausting as anything I have ever attempted. And that includes raising three children and running my own business. In this issue I am shamelessly celebrating both the creativity and success of those closest to me. 

News & Events

I am positively thrilled for my eldest Mira Z. Barnum, and my husband Malcolm this month. He’s gone from death’s door, with COVID in Qatar, to the cover of our little local paper with a story about his musical Company Matters.

And my daughter has won a prestigious Grand Prize, for her one hour pilot TV script, written separately and in addition to her work on the hit show Lucifer for the past several seasons. On March 3 the 2020 Big Break® TV award was presented to Mira Z. Barnum for “Beirut.” Winners of the Big Break® Screenwriting Contest receive $10,000 cash, career coaching, and meetings with renowned screenwriters and literary managers. Winners have signed to professional representation in recent years, have had their scripts optioned, sold and produced, and work in writer’s rooms across the television landscape. 

In her acceptance remarks she wrote, “[…] I’m thrilled (!) and incredibly grateful. It means so much to write about the Middle East, where my father is from and where my mom lived. This script is a love letter to resilient Beirut.” 
Those of you who’ve read The Importance of Paris know about my years in the former ‘Paris of the Middle East.’ And why writing about it was so important to me, but who guessed how many other cycles of growth and development it would help to catalyze?  

“They’ll either want to kill you, kiss you or be you.”
– Suzanne Collins

A shout out to everyone starting Part One with me on Monday evening, March 15th ‘Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir?’ We filled all available seats for my first Zoom course! Sorry if anyone felt bombarded by the automated ads. But they convinced me of the old saying, “Ads need to be seen at least 7 times before viewers take action.”

Many thanks to Story Circle Network, my collaboration partners. Part Two of this eight week course will soon be posted. It begins Monday May 17th and covers what must be done once your manuscript is ready for publication, marketing and distribution. Even before your book is finished, there are things you can start doing. The emphasis is on indie & self publishing and all the things I wish I’d known starting out! Sign up via this link and see the other courses offered.

You do not have to be a member of SCN, although members receive discounts. I highly recommend this organization. You can submit excerpts or shorter pieces to their many periodicals. My dozen years with them helped me go from wannabee writer to published author. 

A few Return to Wisdom 2021 planners are still available at half price from our online store. We created a version on Amazon where the 2022 and 2023 planner journals will be available. We plan to cover all 36 Laws, 12 at a time in these yearly planners.
 
For those using these planner journals, based upon the Wisdom Wheel, we continue our virtual gatherings. We discussed Balance in January, Awareness in February and Self is this month’s theme. Next Zoom gathering is Wednesday March 24th 6:30 pm EST. Contact wisdomwheelwoman@gmail.com for more information.

Ceremonies

Our 2021 four day Bear Fast, leading up to Spring Equinox runs from night of March 17 to 21st. Participants are sharing fast days in place. Those vaccinated can attend Lodge ceremonies. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for ceremony updates. 

Are we reaching towards our better selves? How do we know if we’re evolving or devolving?

Ah, the maddening ambiguity of becoming! We’re never done. We like to think we are. But life challenges us continuously. Keep up. Change and adapt. Nature does this, constantly evolving, and so must we. I try to take my cues from Her. Even the darn coronavirus is evolving, creating new variants.

When it infected my able-bodied husband, it turned him into a hospital patient. To get better, his defenses had to kick in. Luckily he got the help he needed, and he wanted to get better. His body was able to keep evolving. Although his CT values (Cycle Threshold measurements) put him in the mortality category, he managed to regain his health. Finally well enough to leave Qatar, he flew home on Valentine’s Day. But now my son has it. In an LA quarantine facility, he does not yet know how mild or severe his case will be. Will it ever end? My friends are coping with suicides, house fires and heart attacks… My heart goes out to every one of them.

Michelle Obama reminds us how vital it is, to keep reaching forward, despite the struggles. They can make us stronger but we have to marshal all our forces. Her attitude helped her become our First Lady. Yet she wasn’t done when she moved into the White House or out of it. She has not rested on her laurels, expecting the struggles to cease. She remains dynamic, reinventing her Self, evolving, becoming.

As we seek to better ourselves, to evolve, our expectations have to sync up with the realities of life’s complexities. The struggles are constant and we need to be nudged into a continuous process of realignment, with Nature’s forces. I see this conundrum reflected in survivors and new students of the Wisdom Wheel. It is not some static set of materials one masters once to pass a single test. Ideally it becomes a dynamic companion, on our up, down, all around journeys. The Wisdom Wheel mirrors this cyclical process, nudging the evolution of our understandings, to support our becoming. But Nature and the Wheel can help us only as much as we consult them.  

The quadrants of the Wheel help structure these investigations. During this month of March, those using the 2021 Return to Wisdom planners are focusing upon the Self. We carry this theme around the circle to better understand others and ourselves. Each week we consider one of our four basic parts: mind, heart, body and spirit. While doing this, we’re also learning how the Wheel works. It encourages a continuous form of inquiry. With each completion of the circle, we add another layer of comprehension to our multidimensional map of reality.

We are studying the Self theme at the Surrender time of year on the Wisdom Wheel calendar. Our Pisces friends and family are celebrating their birthdays. One thing they’ve taught me about Surrender is not to give up, but to give over. I try to rely upon my spirit, soul Self when my ego/personality small self cannot take anymore. Some lessons make me laugh, like my Misfits surprises. Each week another box of organic produce arrives at our house from this company. Sure, I could email them, and control what comes by giving them my orders. Instead I’m practicing acceptance, another word for Surrender. How else would I learn to ask for golden beets? Until they showed up in my box, I’d never heard of them.

Likewise, no one thinks to ask for the Wisdom Wheel.

News & Events

As we were running out of Return to Wisdom 2021 planners at our online store we created a version to offer on Amazon.

Our virtual gatherings continue, for those using the planner journals, based upon the Wisdom Wheel. We started with Balance in January, discussed Awareness in February and Self is our theme for March.

Our Zoom gatherings are Wednesdays, March 10 and 24^th 6:30 pm EST. To join us contact wisdomwheelwoman@gmail.com for meeting ID. Your feedback helps us to refine future planners for 2022 and 2023 as we complete all 36 Laws, 12 each year.

Ceremonies Spring Equinox celebrations -the dates of the four day group Bear Fast are March 17 to 21.^st We continue to monitor the pandemic situation and collect information about the safety of allowing vaccinated people to attend. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for updated news about this and other ceremonies.

Note to Readers:

For simplicity’s sake we have split these newsletters into two subject streams.

If you were on my original mailing list, you will continue to receive both issues bimonthly, unless you request a change.

The newsletters are archived on separate websites, each with its own mailing lists: www.thewisdomwheel.com and my author site https://cynthiafdavidson.com  

On Full Moons – like this one – the subject is the Wisdom Wheel.

On New Moons, books and writing are the focus.  Change is not easy! So share your thoughts with us.

“Evolution requires the evolution of our human consciousness. Consciousness cannot evolve unconsciously. Humanity’s evolution must involve our will, which cannot evolve involuntarily.” – G.I. Gurdjieff

— Parvathy Indian film actress

Are you a participant or a spectator? How do you qualify your story’s perspective?

The storyline between participants and spectators in this pandemic has certainly shifted again for our family. After two frightening weeks of treatment and oxygen in a Doha, Qatar hospital 6,530 miles away, my husband is finally well enough to be released. He’s feeling extremely fortunate to be alive. Currently convalescing in a quarantine place, he hopes to board a plane back to the US soon. To each of you who reached out after my last newsletter revealing his COVID diagnosis, we send heartfelt gratitude. He swears he could sense the energies of your cares and prayers.

We all have COVID fatigue at this point. No one wants to be reminded of it yet despite the deaths of 475,000 Americans, so far, some continue to deny its’ seriousness. This is another reason why I encourage survivors of all sorts to document and share their stories for the official record as witnesses to history.

If we do not tell our truths how can we blame others for not knowing, or understanding, what we have endured? Many memoirs are about the theme of recovery, in its various forms. And COVID will continue to spawn many mental, physical, emotional, and financial crises. Books about overcoming loss, rediscovering joy and purpose after a catastrophe, will be more important than ever.

If you are a survivor of some kind, please write down your story. Besides the therapeutic value to you personally, someone not yet born may one day benefit from your participant wisdom and perspective. My grandmother lived through the 1918 pandemic but left no record of how she got through it. How I wish she had!

I dedicated my Paris memoir, ‘To each reader who needs to tell their own story.’ And my determination to help others write their stories inspired my “in-person” workshops. It has taken a while to get their contents ready for prime time on Zoom but I hope to see several of you online next month.
 
‘Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir?’ Monday evening classes start March 15^th via my collaboration with Story Circle Network. Sign up via this link and see the other courses offered. My course is an overview of the entire process from concept to distribution. We’ll cover the information in two parts, each one four weeks long. Part 1 covers the creation/writing parts of a memoir. Part 2 covers what happens after your manuscript is ready for publication, marketing, and distribution. The emphasis is on indie & self-publishing and all the things I wish I’d known starting out! 

SCN members receive discounts although you do not have to be a member. After being with them for a dozen years, I recommend joining this organization. They helped me make the journey from spectator to participant, from wannabee writer to published author.
 
Although we might form an on-going group at the end of this course, for those who decide to make the commitment, we won’t do a lot of writing. So bring your questions and concerns to class. The aim is to help you make a fully informed decision, about what is required to write a book about your life and get it into happy readers’ hands. Learn the unvarnished truth about how long it took me to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris. And what I’ve learned since from other memoirists.

News & Events

As we were running out of Return to Wisdom 2021 planners at our online store we created a version to offer on Amazon. The 2022 and 2023 planner journals will be available there as we cover all 36 Laws, 12 at a time in these planners.

Our virtual gatherings continue, for those using these planner journals, based upon the Laws on the Wisdom Wheel. We started with Balance in January and are now sharing our stories about Awareness, February’s theme. The participant feedback helps us to refine our future planners.

Next Zoom gathering is on Wednesday February 24th 6:30 pm EST. If you would like to join us Contact me for meeting ID.

For some comic relief, let me recommend my husband Malcolm’s musical Company Matters now available via streaming podcast.

Ceremonies

Several have asked about the 2021 four day group Bear Fast, leading up to Spring Equinox. The dates would be from night of March 17 to 21^st and a lot will depend upon the pandemic situation by then. We are considering allowing those who have been vaccinated to attend. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for updated news about this and other ceremonies.

— Margareta Ekström, from her book The Day I Began My Studies in Philosophy

Where is your Awareness going to right now? And what Awareness is coming in?

My husband has just been diagnosed with COVID-19. Nothing quite focuses the mind like the potential loss of my partner of these past 20 years. He started feeling unwell several days ago and so did I. We’d been sharing and comparing our sniffle stories on Facetime since he’s working eight time zones away in Doha, Qatar since 25th November. After these many careful months, of near quarantine and mask wearing, my own COVID test just came back negative and we’d hoped his would to, but his was positive. 

I want to get on an airplane and go to him. But they would quarantine me for seven days upon arrival. And he’ll be in quarantine (again) once he leaves Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital. He’s receiving excellent care and says most of the nurses are male and Filipino. “Stay put,” he says. “Don’t take the risks.” 

What can be done from here, beyond praying and paying attention, as he endures this so far away? More than ever I feel a tremendous solidarity with the loved ones of the 425,000+ American souls who have already departed since this pandemic began. And I feel more anger at the cavalier deniers whose behaviors are perpetuating this contagion. It is so cruel. Too many are suffering after not being allowed to be beside their loved ones, to help them back to health, or at the end. Also prohibited from giving those who’ve died a proper send off, via traditional funeral gatherings with extended family and friends, they grieve in isolation. This makes it more immense and unbearable. 

Careening between the thought poles: “he’ll be fine” and “what if he doesn’t make it,’” I revert to my habitual modes of redirecting and distracting. I am trying to push away the overwhelming Awareness of what cannot be controlled or circumvented. Yet Awareness prepares us. Reality must be faced. We cannot ignore truth. The refusal to look and learn is at the root of all ignorance. This week I lashed out (online) at one of the faux “spiritual” types. She was praising her followers for refusing to watch the news. No wonder they fell for the QAnon conspiracies. Inside their reinforcing echo chambers, they pass around the kool aid, remaining incapable of holding themselves, or anyone else, accountable. Who profits from disarming the critical thinking of an entire population? 

“Humankind cannot bear very much reality,” wrote poet T.S. Eliot, after surviving two world wars. But we need more Awareness, not less. Why are we refusing to look or listen? This has been a problem for centuries addressed in Old Testament Torah verses like this from Ecclesiastes:”For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” But this is no excuse.

News & Events

This month we held our first two virtual gatherings for those using the 2021 Return to Wisdom planner journals. Such an eclectic mixture of ages and stages, each person sharing their wisdom stories, from as far away as Florida, Utah and California, the newbies along with 20 year Wisdom Wheel veterans.
 

We have less than a two dozen Return to Wisdom 2021 planners left, and are selling them at half price now, $13.50 includes tax, shipping & handling. These gently guide users on a 12 month tour of the first 12 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel. Balance started us off in January, and we take up Awareness for the month of February. Participant feedback is helping us prepare future planners, for 2022 and 2023, to cover the all 36 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel. We will gather via Zoom on the 10th and 24th, Wednesday evenings, 6:30 pm EST. Contact me for meeting ID.

Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir? starts March 15th via my collaboration with Story Circle Network. All new classes will be posted in February and you can sign up via this link. This overview course is in two parts, each four weeks long. Part 1 covers the creation/writing parts of the memoir. Part 2 covers what happens after your manuscript is ready for publication, like marketing and distribution. The emphasis is on indie and self publishing and all the things I wish I’d known starting out!

You do not have to be a member, although SCN members receive discounts, and I recommend joining this organization. Having been with them for over a dozen years, I am pleased to collaborate with them, to bring this eight week series to a larger audience.

We won’t do much writing, although we might form an ongoing group at the end, for those who decide to make the commitment. Bring your questions and concerns so I can help you make a fully informed decision, about what is required, not only to write a book about your life, but to get it into happy readers’ hands. I will tell you the unvarnished truth about what it took to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris and what I’ve learned from other memoirists.

Very proud of our Westerly writing group, and our Homeland anthology being featured in the local paper. 

For some comic relief, let me recommend my husband Malcolm’s musical Company Matters now available via streaming podcast.

Ceremonies
Several have asked about the 2021 four day group Bear Fast, leading up to Spring Equinox. The dates would be from the night of March 17 to 21st and a lot will depend upon the pandemic situation by then. We are considering allowing those who have been vaccinated to attend. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for updated news about this and other ceremonies.

Our nation is convulsing. We almost succumbed to mob rule one week ago on January 6th. Our enemies are gloating over the prospect the USA may self-destruct without them having to fire a shot. On January 20th let’s pray we manage a peaceful transfer of power, or else.

Where would we be today if those rioters had succeeded? They intended to take our elected representatives hostage. And their online oaths were about doing a ‘live stream’ as they ‘put a bullet into Pelosi.’ What did they propose to put in place of our Constitution? Do they have something better to suggest than just more violence with their fellow white supremacists in charge? They’ve proven there is nothing ‘supreme’ about them. Wake up guys. We are sick to death of this regressive crap. 

The seditious events at our Capitol were the whipped up last-ditch efforts of a disgraced scoundrel. A man whose skin is too thin to admit to the fact he was voted out. The most appalling fact is how his followers took down our flag, to replace it with one that had a single man’s name on it. This violates every principle we stand for. They might as well go back to the times of King George III, and the days of one man rule. Is that what they want?

Tonight we are doing something to dispel this. We are going to act as a transition team, by gathering via Zoom to create a transformational circle. We will use the Wheel to ground and center ourselves with Balance, Right Action, Trust, Higher Purpose and Integrity. I am a student of history and understand what it proves. The institution of better Laws is what you focus upon to sustain lasting change. The people who stormed our Capitol were under the spell cast by violence. But what we really need to clean up the corruption is a decent code of conduct, not more death and chaos. 

Remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And the way she ‘stormed the Capitol.’ Her example deserves to remain a source of inspiration to us all.  Over her lifetime, she achieved far more for the rest of us, than any guy waving a gun around. One of the first women in law school in her day, she worked to improve our Right Relationships via the legal system. This is how you fight peacefully method to dispel the ignorance, which makes some fight each other. 

That longstanding wisdom is encoded in the Wheel and its 36 Laws. The post insurrection suicide, of 51 year old Capitol police officer Howard Liebengood, reminds me of my doctor’s recent suicide. Too many men have irresolvable, painful conflicts within themselves. This makes them lash out and harm others too. 

Women are proving themselves to be better leaders during this time of severe crisis. During the pandemic, female heads of state have done far better at protecting their populations. For centuries we were prevented from entering universities, law schools, and the chambers of power – where Laws are written and enacted – but those days are over and we must do our parts. We can institute positive changes in our daily lives that strengthen the fabric of our culture and our nation. This work is from the ground up. It must occur at the level of our values and beliefs. We ‘Return to Wisdom’ by refocusing upon the bedrock principles guiding our behavior, and steering our choices. 

If we don’t believe in BALANCE and work toward it, we will never see justice or equality either. Sustainable, evolutionary, improvements are a BALANCE, of Vision, coupled with ground up grassroots movement. That’s why we’re initiating a new Wisdom Wheel virtual circle tonight. Even if you are not already using our 2021 Return to Wisdom journal planners, you can join us. Just email me. We have a few copies left.

We are wedding the two essentials: a Vision of the way forward, with Clarity to achieve what we want more of. We are taking the daily steps required to get the spiral going upwards. Balance: between ‘die nobly for a cause or live humbly for one.’ Balance does not tear something down without a clue of what to put in its’ place. 

Balance tells us to not only crack down on the hot heads but also to lift up those falling into despair over this juvenile display of petulance. The con man driving these divisions cares about our laws only enough for using them to lie, cheat, steal as his many bankruptcies and court cases prove. His incompetence, and bloated ego, have made him the laughing stock of the entire world. Yet some I love have fallen for his poison. 

Mere anger sickens the soul. I’ve been rightfully livid too, about the injustices in our world, for YEARS. But I worked hard to heal myself, to harness that energy, rather than blow up in a single eruption of orgasmic anger. My patriarchal inheritance was a Remington .22 rifle on my 12th birthday but I put the gun down. My dad was a lifelong NRA member. But it did little to heal his wounds. I watched him drink himself to death at 71. None of his beloved guns kept my sister from getting shot in Beirut, nor keep him from getting kidnapped there. 

It takes REAL GUTS to put down the damn guns. But we can do better. There are other ways to address the legitimate issues but they require hard work on ourselves. Picking up a pen saved my life. Even Napoleon, the French emperor general knew ‘the pen is mightier than the sword.’ And he got 60,000 of his men killed in a single battle, Borodino fought in September 1812. We must progress from this mindset, or we’ll perish. On the same day as the Capitol siege, we lost nearly 4,000 American lives to Covid-19, the worst death toll in a single day so far. And the siege was a super spreader event. To those who aren’t there yet, let me say it plainly, grow the f*ck up. Grab on to something more life affirming than a gun. Don’t weaponize the fight against your own potential. 

Anyone who wants ‘to take the law into their own hands’ had better be able to recite by heart what those Laws are. I’ve got 36 of them, all spelled out in a Wheel. Show me yours. Start connecting the damn dots. 

News & Events

This is my 50th edition of this newsletter. Can hardly believe how the time has flown. With it, we are splitting the contents, between my author website and the redesigned Wisdom Wheel website. Although we are still tinkering with that, this month we celebrate its soft launch. For brand new newsletter subscribers going to that site, this newsletter will be number one, First Year, first month. Those editions will better serve users of the journal planners for the coming three years. The author site newsletters have similar content but those interested primarily in writing can be equally well served.

Only a few copies are left of our Return to Wisdom 2021 journal planner, co-created with graphic artist, Rosanne Romiglio-Ashley, The $27 price includes shipping and handling. This planner gently guides users on a 12 month tour of the first 12 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel. We started with Balance in January, and we’ll end with Integrity in December. Years 2022 and 2023 are being prepared to cover the rest of the 36 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel.

The online Zoom version of my popular class, ‘Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir?’ is coming in two parts in 2021. Part 1 will start March 15th. You can sign up for it via the link I’ll provide in next newsletter or by going directly to the Story Circle Network as soon as the program is posted. You do not have to be a member but I can highly recommend SCN after being with them for over a dozen years. Since being nominated to the volunteer Board, I am pleased to collaborate with them, to bring this eight week series to a larger audience. Each of its two parts is four weeks long. Part 1 covers the creation of a memoir, part 2 covers what happens after your manuscript is ready for publication, marketing and distribution. The emphasis is on indie & self publishing.  

My course is designed to provide an overview of the entire process. We won’t do much writing, although we may form an on-going group at the end, for those who decide to go for it! Bring me your questions and concerns, and I will help you make an informed decision, about the commitment to write book about your life. My course will take you from understanding the memoir genre, through conception, the (many!) drafts of the writing process, plus publishing, marketing and distribution options. I will tell you the unvarnished truth about what it took to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris.  

For those looking for some escapist fun, I offer my husband Malcolm’s streaming podcast of his musical Company Matters.

Ceremonies

Since the coronavirus prevents us from doing public ceremonies, or in person study circles, we are offering our twice monthly Return to Wisdom Zoom story circles, for those using the journal planners. We will convene on new and full moon times, starting with this Jan. 13th New Moon. Next Zoom meeting will be on January 27, Full Moon.This theme of the month shared Journey and story circle can help us all to synchronize our inner hopes with our outer actions. Contact Me for the link.

On January 20th we will conduct a private sweat lodge Purification ceremony, to pray for those suffering from the coronavirus, and to support the swearing in ceremony of our next American president Joe Biden. Your prayers can join ours from afar. 

Several have asked me about the 2021 group Bear Fast, leading up the Spring Equinox March 20th. The dates would be from the night of March 17 to 21st. We hope to be able to gather for that annual four day event, but it depends upon the pandemic numbers then. During this season of hibernation, I’ll be going deep into dark, rich, fertile loam of the mythic imagination and unplugging from social media. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for any ceremony news and updates.

“Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit, and do on increasingly higher planes. We deceive ourselves if we think that any one of these is sufficient. To keep progressing, we must learn, commit, and do — learn, commit, and do — and learn, commit, and do again.”

— Bethan Bishop 

— Cynthia F. Davidson

Wisdom Wheel

What touchstones are guiding you as this New Year dawns? Over twenty years ago that motto arrived to guide me, coming the way dreams do, from beyond my petty ego mind. I took it to heart. And so far it has steered me through two decades of work with the Wisdom Wheel. I hope your dreams come to steer you through this and every year.

This is the Renewal time of year on the Wheel. And Renewal is being demanded of us. We will each undergo some type(s) of Initiation. On this New Year, I recall what has worked during my prior crises, like the one that brought me to Rhode Island in 1999. Hindsight is 2020 as some say… After each crisis it is easier to appreciate what got us through.

Back in 1999, there was no way I could know how things would turn out when I took the risk and left my corporate career, my former marriage, and my commuter life behind. Off into the wilderness I went, with my little bag of touchstones. Only later can anyone clearly see what worked when facing so much doubt and ambiguity, and so I share what worked for me and hope you’ll share what works for you.

Our country is facing transformative challenges. Between the pandemic and the politics, all semblance of normalcy has been removed for so many. We need trustworthy guidance. When facing my personal crisis in my early forties, all I consciously knew was my crying need for sanctuary and certainty.

“The peace which passeth all understanding,” was my desire. To stop the demands upon me long enough to figure myself — and everything else — out sufficiently. This is familiar to anyone who has been in survival mode. You feel propelled to take action but unsure which choice to take. I wanted Mother Nature to instruct me. So I departed the cacophony and confusion of city and suburbs and returned to the wisdom of bedrock principles, the Universal Laws of existence. And I used them to rebuild my life, more solidly and surely.

Spirit guided me to Rhode Island, a state not previously on my radar. I settled on a small island, six miles long and two miles wide, in Narragansett Bay. Reachable only by ferry, this place became my crucible. The island’s old timers considered me crazy. “You’re moving here with three young children, when you know no one and have not a single relative?”

Yet I stayed, creating a modest spiritual retreat center, to share my need for sanctuary with others. I named my little wooden home Touch Stone Center. And I taught those who wanted to learn about the Wheel. For the next fifteen years many others gravitated to the island, by word of mouth, for vision quests and ceremonies. I remained there the longest of any place I have lived in my sixty six years. In 2014 we relocated to the mainland, but the Wheel, the ceremonies, and the teaching and writing have continued, in our new home, Hope House. Thanks to each of you who have come here.

News & Reviews

And a big shout out to all those who ordered our 2021 Return to Wisdom journal planners! We have increased our donations to healthcare workers and teachers. Your payments allow us to mail theirs free of charge.

This year you will learn more about these touchstones by being “on the same page” literally, with me. If you haven’t received the introduction items emailed to those on that list, contact me right away. And we apologize if your planner journal is stuck in the mail backlog. You are not alone. As we discovered after mailing them, many postal workers have the coronavirus, or need to quarantine. I resorted to hand delivering the local ones in Rhode Island.

Our twice monthly Zoom sessions start this January, on the Wednesday evenings 6:30 PM EST, on the 13th and 27th. Contact me for more info. We still have some planners and places left. CLICK HERE to purchase the 2021 planner.

The other big news is my volunteer job on the board at Story Circle Network which officially begins today! Please visit their newly revamped website to learn more. A wonderful group, I will say more about all this in next newsletter. In mid-March 2021 I’ll be offering my memoir writing course via SCN. So be on the lookout for more info in mid January edition.

Email me if you are interested in any of our 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

The next issue is my 50^th . We are going to celebrate by sprucing things up a bit. Starting with the next newsletter, the contents will be slightly altered. They are becoming a bit too long. You won’t have to do anything about your subscription, but from now on the Full Moon editions will be mostly about the Wheel, like this one.

And the New Moon (mid-month) editions will focus upon the writing work. This helps us divide the contents between the two websites: www.thewisdomwheel.com and author site cynthiafdavidson.com. Hope your New Year holds some happiness! Please write to tell me what you’re up to.

— Henry David Thoreau

Wisdom Wheel

Maybe it’s the other way around. Living in this world changes our beliefs. Which of your beliefs changed over the course of this tumultuous year? Glancing backwards over the past months of 2020, what strikes me are the links between our beliefs, our politics, the on-going pandemic, and its economic fallout. Americans have been shaken to our very cores. Sadly our beliefs and behaviors have caused us more suffering than many other nations. Prior to this December 9th would you have believed a novel coronavirus could claim 3,124 American lives in 24 hours? That is more than we lost on D-Day, Pearl Harbor or 9/11. Over 2,000 souls are departing each day now.

Would Thoreau be surprised to see our United States today? When he died in 1862, at age 44 of tuberculosis during our civil war, his passing went unnoticed. His writings did not catch on until the next century. Yet his focused time alone on Walden Pond, for instance, remains a prime example of what it means for an individual to consciously choose which beliefs to live by, and bear the consequences. In his “Civil Disobedience” essay he wrote, “I cannot for an instant recognize the political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.” An abolitionist, Thoreau was protesting more than slavery by making the case that we citizens are obligated to refuse to cooperate with political injustice, even when it is the current law. Thinking deeply about the outcomes of his beliefs convinced him of the need for evolutionary change. The same can happen for us. Read more about Thoreau here.

At least the first Covid vaccine shipments are on their way. My nurse daughter in the Rhode Island field hospital will be among the first to receive it. I worry about any unknown, long term side effects since it was rushed to market. My beliefs, and my experiences in corporate ranks, leave me suspicious about ‘for profit’ medicine, and exploitive value systems, whether it’s big pharma or big oil.

During my decades in executive education – as a global management development consultant – I was stunned to discover how few business leaders could write a list of their beliefs or link them to their behaviors. This is another reason why I developed the Wisdom Wheel in 1996. I knew we needed help to do this work to clarify our values. Unless we understand the bedrock of our own beliefs, how can we know which ones we share with others, and discuss them?

One thing we can do at home, to improve things in our world, is to begin taking inventory of our beliefs. On a blank sheet of paper you can write down at least ten of your core beliefs. Then connect them to your behaviors. What behaviors have your beliefs produced? For example, by choosing to believe, “I could never write a book,” our actions will tend towards making this true. By the same token, we are free to believe the opposite, “I can learn to write a book.” And voilà we commit ourselves to the work and the books get written. By taking stock of your inherited value system, you can trace how all your words and deeds spring from those rocks and roots. And you can decide to make new choices.

News & Events

A hearty thank you to each person who has already ordered our Return to Wisdom 2021 journal planner, co-created with graphic artist, Rosanne Romiglio. More copies are still available for $27, plus shipping, as soon as they arrive from the printer. This agenda book will make a unique Christmas or birthday gift. It gently guides users on a 12 month tour of the first 12 Laws on the Wisdom Wheel, starting with Balance in January, ending with Integrity next December. Contact me to order.

Complete with directions, quotations and lunar cycles, this exploration of beliefs can be combined with our twice monthly Zoom discussions, a members only Facebook group, and series of emails. Resolve to track your behaviors in 2021. See if this theme of the month Journey helps you synchronize your inner hopes and outer actions. Contact me to attend our Question & Answer Introduction session on Zoom. We appreciate your interest. Reserve a seat. 

Apologies for any difficulties you may have with the previous link to the Company Matters musical in last newsletter issue. Try this link now. Watch for the 50% off Cooped Up Covid Christmas sale, on the recording of my husband Malcolm’s brand new musical comedy. The upbeat music and satisfying storyline will cheer you up. A Russian theatre producer has expressed interest in a stage performance. Yes, Malcolm had his musical translated into Russian because he worked there often in the last few years. Stay tuned for more about this.  

The online Zoom version of my popular workshop, Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir? is coming in 2021, around March 15th. This six-week series is designed to give you an overview of the entire process. We won’t do much writing, although we may form an on-going group at the end, for those who decide to go for it! Bring me your questions and concerns, and I will help you make an informed decision, about the commitment to write book about your life. My course will take you from understanding the memoir genre, through conception, the (many!) drafts of the writing process, plus publishing, marketing and distribution options. I will tell you the unvarnished truth about what it took to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris. Email me to reserve your spot.

Despite the pandemic our Westerly writing group managed to get our 2020 anthology published. This year our title was HOMELAND. Each of us has about five pieces inside. Kudos to Wendy Bradford and Dyann Boudreau. They did so much work behind the scenes to make this happen. This is our second year publishing our own work and we’re planning next year’s already. This was our 2019 issue.

Email me if you are interested in any of our 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

We sadly canceled our traditional Winter Solstice (sweat lodge) Purification ceremony, planned for Sunday December 20th. The ongoing surges, in coronavirus cases, continue to make it unsafe to include anyone. Our prayers will be joined with yours from afar. We will retire the Bear song until the Spring equinox. By then we hope to be able to celebrate the annual four day Bear Fast. As this hibernation season begins, don’t be afraid to go deep into dark, rich, fertile loam of the mythic imagination. On the Wisdom Wheel, this is the Renewal time of year, along with the birthdays of our Capricorn friends. Mark the start of the return to light. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for any updates.

“I think of you as a voyager, someone who has to travel, to explore, to try something new and different and maybe explore the past to preserve the wisdom of what was – to match the wisdom of what is – to build the wisdom of what will be. I’m glad to be part of the exploration.“

— Dawn Robertson, founder of Strategic Change Resources

— Toby Ord, senior research fellow in philosophy at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, author of The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity

Wisdom Wheel

What fascinates you at the moment? What fascinates me is how we’re going to save ourselves. Our belief systems are at the root of all our behaviors. They contributed to this pandemic, for instance. To navigate our way out of it, and our other problems, we need to reconsider the basics of our social structures, in light of what ensures our lives, hopes, and futures. 

Like many others, I’m back under lockdown again. Given the dire news of our current situation, Toby’s suggestion we “write a constitution for humanity” and become “founding fathers and mothers of the future,” sounds rather lofty and far-fetched. But so did the bold language of the US Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution, during their day. 

Crises create changes. They clearly demonstrate what’s not working. How to “ensure we set a course towards achieving bright potential” when our state has just run out of beds under the surge of Covid patients? This morning my nurse daughter reported for work at a makeshift field hospital, nine months into this catastrophe. She just moved back in with us because she couldn’t find a safe room to rent in Providence. People don’t want to share their spaces with healthcare workers right now. My husband is currently in solitary confinement quarantine, eight time zones away, in the Middle East. He must remain in his room on the 20th floor of a hotel in Doha, Qatar for two weeks before being permitted to begin his eight week consulting assignment. We did not have the luxury of celebrating Thanksgiving together, and he’ll be missing Christmas and New Year’s…but at least he has work. 

In the face of all this, what good can the Wisdom Wheel do? It steadies me. I use it to steer through the chaos as Covid continues to test our stamina, characters, and coping mechanisms. Before the Wheel, I survived other rough patches in my life, but I am grateful for its very concrete guidance more than ever. Not feeling lost, and knowing we’re in the time of Choices, heading toward Renewal etcetera helps curb my impatience. 

Until Toby Ord suggested it, I had not considered the Wisdom Wheel and its 36 Universal Laws to be a potential constitution for humanity but it’s a great idea. The world needs to articulate a common set of beliefs. And these themes come from the ground up quite literally. That avoids the resistance to a top-down set of rules, imposed by force. 

This is both the strength and weakness of the Wheel. People have to want self-rule. And voluntarily choose to live by a shared code, which honors the needs of the many as well as the rights of each individual. 

I’d like to invite you to put the Wheel to the test. Is it a potential candidate for humanity’s constitution? Let’s conduct an experiment. Join our 2021 theme of the month Journey. Use our new planner journal to keep track. To participate, all you have to do is commit to live consciously by the Wheel’s first twelve Laws. And see if your daily life improves by applying them. We will share our findings, via email, and a members only Facebook group. Twice a month we will check in, via Zoom meetings, to discuss our discoveries and cheer each other on. Those who contact me for more information will receive an invitation to our Question & Answer Introduction on Zoom. Reserve a seat. Your interest is much appreciated.

News & Events

We are taking pre-orders for the 2021 Return to Wisdom journal planner, I co-created with Rosanne Romiglio. This agenda book makes a unique gift for Christmas or birthday. Now available for $27, plus shipping, it guides users on a 12 month tour of the Wisdom Wheel. Complete with directions, quotations and lunar cycles, it features one Law per month, starting with Balance in January. Easy to follow, it can track the results of applying these bedrock principles.

My husband Malcolm’s brand new musical comedy recording is now available. On sale, at half price, for the next few days, the upbeat music and satisfying storyline will cheer you up. 

The online version of my popular workshop, Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir? is coming soon. This six-week series is designed to give you an overview of the entire process. From conception through the writing process, publishing and distributing, it will answer your questions and concerns about this genre. Find out if writing a book about your life is what you want to do. I will tell you the unvarnished truth about what it took to write my award-winning memoir, The Importance of Paris. Contact me to reserve a spot.

You can see samples of the writing by our Westerly writing group in HOMELAND, our 2020 anthology. We each have about five pieces inside. Kudos to Wendy Bradford and Dyann Boudreau who did so much behind the scenes to make this happen. This is the second year we have  gathered and published our own work. This was our 2019 issue.

Email me if you are interested in any of our 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

Soaring coronavirus cases have made it unsafe to include anyone from outside our immediate household for this Winter Solstice ceremony, Sunday December 20th. Prayers will be said for all as we enter this season of hibernation. Check our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for any updates.

“We the People… in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution...”

Wisdom Wheel

What are you doing to improve your understandings and reform the broken world we’ve inherited? The Choices we put our Faith in have rarely seemed more important. I am relieved the majority of my fellow citizens voted for change in these fractious elections, during a runaway pandemic, with our economy sputtering. Although the man in our White House still refuses to respect the will of the American people, reform is already underway.

Many of us are consciously joining the Transition Team – in its largest sense. Adapt or die. Those are stark Choices. But with every decision we make, even about mask-wearing or how to spend our Thanksgiving holidays, we are contributing to an upward spiral or a downward one.

Sadly I say this after just learning my primary care doctor has committed suicide. He was my age, 66, and had recently retired. When his obituary omitted his cause of death, it seemed odd. I had to contact colleagues to confirm my suspicions. Adapt or die. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, white, middle-aged males account for 70% of the nearly 50,000 suicides annually in the US. Men kill themselves at 3.5 times the rate of women. In view of these statistics, none of us can afford to follow those who despair to the point of death, who lack understanding, or the hope necessary to reform our broken world.

As our indigenous friends have always advised, think of the next seven generations when you consider the future and your Choices. To make wise decisions we need to align ourselves with evolutionary energies during these crucial days.

News & Events

Feeling the urgent need to reach out in solidarity with those who want to keep the spiral turning upwards, I have teamed up with an old friend and ceremonial sister, Rosanne Romiglio-Ashley. During her work to revamp my author website, we decided to collaborate on another project, Return to Wisdom. 

We’ve co-created a lovely planner journal for 2021. You will see it in the next newsletter. Designed to support users daily, every step of the way, it lays out 12 monthly themes that reinforce the Wisdom Wheel’s bedrock principles. This is one way to keep the spiral pointed upwards. Contact me if you want to reserve a copy. 

For those who choosing to follow its guidance, we will begin holding regular Zoom meetings, and online check-ins, starting January 2021. More about this program in next newsletter.

In the meantime, I want my fellow writers to know – in time for making your New Year’s resolutions – that I will be offering an online version of my popular workshop, Would I, Could I, Should I Write a Memoir? Instead of waiting to resume the in-person kind at my home, we will do it via Zoom, starting in January. There will be more information in the next newsletter but this course is designed to give you an overview. I will share what I wish I’d known before starting out on my writing journey over twenty years ago. Bring me all your questions and concerns. I will tell you the truth about what it took to write an award-winning memoir. The Importance of Paris is the first in a planned series. Having participated in several writing groups, I am convinced of the need to support my fellow writers and for those wanting to continue with me after taking the initial workshop, I will explain the ongoing course. Please contact me if you are interested in committing to writing your book. 

One of the many benefits of penning a memoir is how it can reconnect you with people from long ago and far away, like Anora McGaha. As a child, she lived near my family in Saudi Arabia, and she also lived in Beirut, Lebanon. Anora McGaha could appreciate The Importance of Paris better than most and I salute her by sharing her review: “Bravo! What a captivating read! Between the mysteries of your quest and your loves, there was always a pull through the book! The Importance of Paris reads like a novel. What a weave of history, cultures, romance, and truth-telling. Informative, fascinating, tantalizing. Encore!” 

Our Westerly writing group has just published HOMELAND, our 2020 anthology! Very proud of my gals and pals and their work compiled in these pages. We each have about five pieces inside. Kudos to Wendy Bradford and Dyann Boudreau who did so much behind the scenes to make this happen. This is our second year in a row, gathering and publishing our own work. This was our 2019 issue.

Our ongoing Zoom groups 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

Our November Lodge ceremony will be held on Sunday the 22nd but due to rising numbers of COVID cases, we are strictly observing restrictions. For our Winter Solstice ceremony, scheduled for Sunday, December 20th we will adjust accordingly. For all updates, check our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page.

“A word after a word after a word is power… War is what happens when language fails” — Margaret Atwood

Wisdom Wheel
Many of my friends are frightened right now, about the soaring COVID cases, the economy and the outcome of the US presidential contest. Despite the provocations, I remind them to have Faith in themselves. “Don’t to give in to the trumped up fear and chaos. We will get through this. Don’t descend into disorder. Focus instead upon what you can do, daily. Maintain order in your own life. No matter what happens on Election Day, decide to make the best of things.”

This is why Valerie Kaur’s words resonated so deeply when I listened to her TED talk recently. She describes our Choices with Clarity. Seekers of vengeance may find it hard to understand how many of us are not interested in it. We would rather respond to the need to “reorder the world.”  While some people I know are buying guns and ammunition, in expectation of post election violence, many more of us are expecting positive change, because we are already committed to it. 
We’ve seen how risky it is to rely upon external forces alone for law and order. We have to maintain order in our own worlds, at least. What are you doing to bring order, and some balancing stability, to your circle of friends and family?

Two decades of discipline with the Laws and order described on the Wisdom Wheel keeps me from flying apart. I ground myself, quite literally, by sitting upon the floor and laying out the 36 stones. I ask the Universe for guidance, Faith, Clarity and vision to keep me, and the people I love, in alignment with forces of Nature and evolution. No imposed, manmade order from the outside will help us evolve like learning to radiate our sense of order from within.

Request what you want to see more of like Balance, Right Relationship, Awareness, Trust and Integrity and so on. The more of us who resist violence, the better we can hold the center, together. Contact me if you want to explore the Wisdom Wheel this month. We will send you a calming series of emails to introduce you to this method. More than anything at the moment we need order.

News & Events
It didn’t feel right to reveal the newly improved author website, with so much going on now, so we’ll feature it in next newsletter on November 15th. It does feel right to reveal another completed project however. Our writing group has just published HOMELAND, our 2020 anthology! So proud of my fellow gals and pals, whose work appears within these pages. Each of us has about five pieces inside. Kudos to Wendy Bradford and Dyann Boudreau who did so much behind the scenes to make this happen. 
This is our second year in a row, gathering and publishing our own work. This was our 2019 issue. If you want to commit to your own writing work this winter, contact me. 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 20.th We will adjust according to the restrictions in place as the time approaches. For all updates, check our HOPE HOUSE Facebook page