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
