Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The Ways of a Woman


This amazingly insightful comment on the feminine mystique comes from "book three" by the late Robert Jordan, a novelist famous for his fantasy epic The Wheel of Time.  His three predominant young male characters are constantly being schooled in the differences between what our modern culture sometimes refers to as Mars and Venus.

The brilliance of this 14-book series is its realistic complexity.  In general, fantasy is pretty simplistic about good versus evil, and readers know instantly which characters will do the right things, and which ones won't.  But real life isn't like that.  Even the best of humanity sometimes gives in to fear, hatred, greed, lust. etc., and even the staunchest do-gooders often do more harm than good when caught up in their zeal.  Jordan paints this aspect of humanity beautifully throughout his stories, along with a clear look at the strengths and the weaknesses inherent in both men and women.

My nephew, Jesse gave me book one, and got me hooked.  For that, among many other delightful reasons, I'm am blessed to have him in my life!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Thursday, January 10, 2013


My Grandfather and Grandmother Bear Stories collection is now available in paperback at Amazon.com!  This series of children's stories emulate the Native American oral tradition, and are intended to be read aloud by an adult.  Do you read to your kids/grandkids?  Do you know someone who does?  Please check out the Grabndfather and Grandmother Bear Stories.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Daily Dose #171


Daily Dose #171
1/8/13

Time Flies

Somewhere in the last week or so a new year crept up on me and slipped on into its second week.  Where does the time go?  I've been privileged to have several friends hit their sixties before me, so I saw the symptoms and read the signs before I got here, but that didn't lessen the hit much.  There's a unique type of melancholy which often strikes folks my age when the spiritual growth spurt we began in our 40s crosses into our 60s.  In some ways, it's not unlike that year we crossed over into understanding the truth about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny.

To one degree or another, it boils down to recognizing a bigger spiritual picture and not only wondering how different we might have acted had we understood sooner, but coming to grips with all the nasty ramifications of our best intentions of youth.  Of course, some people seem totally devoid of best intentions, but I wasn't one of them, so the shame and the guilt tended to begin piling up around age sixty.  But, as with every other period in my life--in fact every day, hour, and minute of my life--I get to choose what I'll focus on in this Now.
          
Today I choose to forgive myself for being a human who lived a somewhat slower learning curve than I might have wished for, and I will gratefully celebrate every penguin step I took that got me to today.