“A generation of great thinkers is bringing us innovative understandings of social conditions. We must listen and be ready to reform the broken world we’ve inherited.” – Rhea Wolf, Mother Tongue Ink
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
