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The Mythic Stages of Grief
Joseph Campbell was the first person to write about the motifs and archetypes underlying myths, stories, and spiritual traditions. Christopher Vogler, in The Writer’s Journey, further developed this...
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Three
Three is a powerful number that satisfies our deepest needs for symmetry. Three gods ruled the earth—Zeus, the god of heaven; Poseidon, the god of the sea; and Pluto, the god of the underworld. People...
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Keeping Track of Characters
I don’t often do character profiles before writing a novel except to decide on basic information — gender, a couple of physical traits and maybe general idea of personality type. I prefer to let the...
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A Dearth of Matches
Early in the twentieth century, Ivar Kreuger, a match manufacturer and financier, managed to corner the match market. Through various deals, he ended up with the exclusive rights to sell matches in...
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Secret Stairs (Part I)
A friend invited me to go on a trip with her for a “secret stairs” hike in Hollywood. Even though I didn’t know what the hike was about, of course I said “yes.” I have developed the habit of saying yes...
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Secret Stairs (Part II)
[A continuation of Secret Stairs (Part I)] Secret. There is something about the very word that rouses our curiosity, making us wonder what dire (or delightful) truths are being kept from us. Secret...
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Secret Stairs (Part III)
[Continuation of Secret Stairs (Part I) and Secret Stairs (Part II)] The third and final leg of the journey to search for secret stairs in Hollywood took us to the Temple Hill neighborhood. There...
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All is Well, Safely Rest
The story of “Taps” might seem a bit of a stretch for Mother’s Day, but my mother has been gone for six and a half years now, so death is on my mind today. Apparently, there are all sorts of myths...
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The One / Three / Five / Seven / Ten / Fifty Exercises You Should Never Do
A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article entitled, “The One Exercise You Should Never Do.” The never-do was one of those machine exercises that strengthens and bulks up your quadriceps without...
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Wake Up and Die Right
At an exercise class today, we talked a bit about the murder mystery I’m going to write about the class (assuming I get myself in gear), and then we did warm up exercises while the teacher sorted...
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The Continued Deforestation of America
I’ve been sorting through files that belonged to Jeff, my life mate/soul mate, files that I couldn’t sort through right after he died. It felt voyeuristic then, and it feels voyeuristic now because the...
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Bah Humbug
I went to see a movie at a theater today, the first time in maybe thirty years. (Yeah, came as a shock to me too when I realized that.) And it might be another thirty years before I go to a movie...
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Raining Deer
This is the season where deer seem to rain down on us by the bucket loads, where they reign in various decorations, where they are often seen yoked together by reins. You’d think reindeer would refer...
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It’s Christmas, Not Santamas
Conrad Guest, author of A Retrospect In Death and A World Without Music (plus several other books) just posted a blog about tolerance, and how there seems to be so little of it, especially now during...
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Happy End of the Creeping Darkness!
6:03 pm ET marked this year’s winter solstice, ending the creeping darkness. “Solstice” comes from two Latin words, sol meaning “sun” and sistere meaning “stationary” because on this day, in the...
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A Perfect Day
This is one of those perfect days, a gift from the universe. The weather isn’t particularly nice, none of my problems have been resolved, I’m still facing life alone and yet . . . and yet . . . I’m...
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Pilgrims and Pilgrimages
I just got a notice on Facebook that I’ve been approved for a group called “American Pilgrims on the Camino,” though I’d never requested to join, never even knew there was such a group. I do know that...
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A Ghost of Times Past
I am a generation of one, without roots, and currently without even a place to call home, so people’s rootedness often seems strange — and compelling — to me. Perhaps the most fascinating story of...
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Field of Dreams
I enjoyed the movie Field of Dreams and even liked the ending as long as I didn’t let myself wonder how the magic had already reached out to all those folks, bringing them to the field. Unless they...
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My Humpty-Dumpty Arm
I went to the doctor on Wednesday to get an update on my arm. The news was sort of disappointing. I’m not healing very fast at all, so the external fixator has to stay on another four weeks if I can...
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