A Fearful Nation

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” So said the Jedi Master Yoda in the 1999 movie, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Wise words for a short, green fictional character.

Ever since the 911 attacks, Americans have turned their lives inside out with fear, much like they did in the 1950s. Just substitute “communist” with “terrorist” and it’s the same hysteria. We live in fear of terrorists. Fear of guns. Fear of Muslims. Fear of using the wrong bathroom. Fear of breastfeeding in public. We have become a country of scared little sheep, suspicious of anything and everyone who’s different.

The Brink of Disaster

What if your right to vote was taken away from you? How about your right to decide how many children to have? How would you feel if all the progress you’ve made throughout the course of your life had been stripped away and invalidated? What if it was okay for people to treat others with disrespect, to sexually assault someone, or to advocate racial segregation and deportation? Would you be okay with that?

What if that was just the beginning? What if we didn’t just send our sons off to foreign countries to fight wars? How would you feel if those countries brought their wars to our shores? What if you were so busy waving your flag on the Trump bandwagon that you couldn’t see the train wreck waiting for all of us around the corner? Would you dismiss someone if they told you it was coming?

How Not To Pitch To An Agent

Last weekend, I attended the 2016 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conference in Denver with my friend and fellow indie author, Melissa Stacy. To say this was an eye-opening event would be an understatement. It was a great learning experience, though, and I’m already planning to attend next year’s conference. However, I’ll be better prepared for that one.

A Life Undone

Life makes no promises, except that it will one day end. No details are etched in stone. Nothing is certain, not even how or when we meet our demise. We know only that it will eventually happen. Everything from the moment of our birth until that day is as much a mystery as why we’re here in the first place.

3 Planes and 4 Airports

Remember waiting at the gate to pick up someone or see them off at the airport? Flying somewhere used to be an adventure, a journey I looked forward to, but those days are long gone. So much has changed in the way we travel. Unless you have a ticket to fly somewhere, for example, you aren’t allowed past the security checkpoints. Now we must say our goodbyes to friends and family before they go through the screening stations two hours prior to their departures. Forget watching the plane back away from the gate and waving your final goodbye from the terminal windows as you watch the plane take off and fly out of sight.

Giving and Receiving

Most of us like to think of ourselves as good people who do good things for those who are less fortunate. However, the truth of the matter is that few people actually walk the talk. We mean well, but when it comes right down to it, we just can’t be bothered with the problems of others. If you’ve ever needed help but were made to feel like a burden because of it (intentionally or not), or if you’ve been put off by those well-meaning folks who don’t follow through with their offers to help, you know what I mean. It’s frustrating. It’s also important to understand that being grateful for help can be just as taxing as helping people. Here’s why:

The Color of Angels

Homemade apple pie was my little girl’s favorite dessert and she never missed an opportunity to watch me make one. Her eyes would sparkle in anticipation of the mouth-watering gift from the gods, the divine taste of hot apples swimming in a syrupy bath of cinnamon and wrapped in a buttery crust. The pies couldn’t bake fast enough.

Watching Clouds From A Swing

The clicking of the film feeding through my memory’s projector keeps a steady rhythm with the little girl on the swing. Her hands clench the chains and she leans back to push forward, her eyes fixed on the clouds above. With each forward thrust, there’s a sense of independence, of flight, of carefree abandon. When the momentum shifts, just before that invisible force pulls the swing back, her body stops in an exhilarating nanosecond of weightless anticipation. In surreal slow motion, the cycle repeats.

What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?

I saw a post on Facebook today and it got me thinking about my own situation: “Move through discomfort, and push towards your personal victory.” Move through discomfort. Face it head on. Acknowledge it, but don’t give it power to keep you from pursuing your dreams and achieving your goals. Those are inspiring words, especially if you tend to create your own discomfort.