Life Well Lived #7: Change

To change is to be vulnerable.  And to be vulnerable is to be alive. –Alexis De Veaux A phrase that makes me smile [sometimes grimace] are Seneca’s words about how those who go willingly are guided by The Fates while those who resist are dragged.  I smile thinking of times I’ve resisted changes of habits, work and associations and had to be dragged in new directions. Change can be difficult. It means stepping away from the familiar and into the unknown. It can also be vital. In researching good reasons for change, I found a list of ten reasons, including new opportunities for happiness and the fresh starts that add excitement to life. Read more. Another list offers twelve benefits, such as the increased resilience, versatility and confidence that build strength. Read more. Change. Hmmm. Now I’m thinking: What must be modified before The Fates drag me again? What door must close so that new ones open? How can I feel more alive? The answers are challenging. How about you? When has a change helped? Why not share a few words? Comment on this post [Leave A Reply below]. * Fireballs & Star Showers Social distancing and quarantining has definitely limited entertainment options. Next week, the heavens offer two marvelous and free shows. With a waning, quarter moon, they will be easy to see. Here’s how to find the celestial star shows. [Fortunately, as Earth spins, Pittsburgh will turn toward those constellations at night, rather than during daytime,] For summer’s best and brightest, see the Perseids Also view The Delta –Aquariids and alpha Capricornids Comment. Leave A Reply [below] if and where you see the star shows. Enjoy. * This Week’s Special Offer Each week, my Featured Art is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries].   Shop here. Thank you for visiting my galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar.

Circles and The Hero’s Journey

The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. ~ Ivy Baker Priest A Meditation Years ago, I founded a Creative Writing Program at the Allegheny County Jail that is now called Words Without Walls. In one class, a student said that addiction and crime had taken them to an end from which they saw no new beginning.  I mentioned Joseph Campbell, the myth interpreter who believed the monsters we face [a/k/a obstacles and barriers, the difficulties, betrayals and defeats] are the vampires, hydra and furies we’ve been prepared for and that people with huge potential don’t get tiny, irksome problems. They must fight fire-breathing dragons. The Circle that is the Hero’s Journey seems designed to both reveal hidden strengths while forcing growth that could happen no other way, and be continuous. Over and again, failures allow fresh starts. Opportunities dress like challenges. Dead ends reveal paths to new beginnings on the hero’s journey that is life. Please view and enjoy this  “Every Story” video. NOTE: Featured Image is “Riding The Enterprise,” (c) 2020 by Sandra Gould Ford. “Enterprise” is an amusement park ride named for the Star Trek starship.

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