Roger B. Burt's Blog, page 31

Part 4 : Our Nation in Crisis

Our National Turmoil

[image error]

The People’s Business

Each morning when we turn on the television we are greeted with coverage of a pathetic and terrifying political scene of a Washington in disarray. Certainly there has always been a dark side to politics and inspiring leaders with wisdom are often not too common. There is an important question. “Would it be possible for us to have a representative democracy?”

There are ongoing hints of deeply rooted corruption and authoritarianism. The unwise Citizen...

Devoted to Vision

 

[image error]

Devoted People

Books have characters who are key to the story. In the case of the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy there is a core people, the Tethyans, who are key to the story as well.

At the time the story started to develop we seemed in a hopeful period in our world. There were beneficial changes in many regions. But then it seemed we began a downward spiral and today we look at considerable risk.

Even during the more hopeful period, the existence of a people devoted to stewardship and the futur...

Speculative Fiction – Inspiration, Personal Growth and Authenticity

 

[image error]

Focus on Our Personal Meaning

Here is a difficult but intriguing question. What is your personal meaning? In the end the meaning of how the world is must be less important than our exploration of our own reality and meaning. In doing so speculative fiction may aid us. And that fiction may involve a search through ancient mysteries that may be intriguing as we attend to our own growth and inspiration. One viewpoint is that such a focus is too self centered but if we don’t guide ourselves th...

Stepfamilies – Struggle and Triumph

 

[image error]

Do you know what a stepfamily is?

A stepfamily is also known as a blended family or a remarried family. It happens when people who have children from a former marriage marry. If there are no children, it is simply a remarriage.

Years ago people used to hide the fact that they were a stepfamily. Children were adopted or the fact of the nature of the family was a secret. And then in the 1970s a stepfamily movement took shape and people began to discuss their existence and the problems they f...

The Overlords in the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy

 

[image error]

Universal Struggle

Struggle is universal among the animals of Earth. Competition presses their development. And we see that competition in the interactions of protagonists and antagonists. In this series the antagonists are called Overlords. One of the essential struggles is against their greed and domination.

People are predators who had their origins in the sea. The Tethyans were some of those who developed in the sea but were charged to contain their predation. There were other predator...

Dedication

The Sources of Inspiration

In writing we often get so focused on the work at hand that we forget that our inspiration requires a statement of dedication. I find that defining the dedication may not be simple and may require attention to the diversity. Our inspiration may be somewhere close at hand or may involve much larger players or forces.

[image error]

Dedication To Women

Yes, in our love stories men celebrate the women they come to love. But there is a larger context to which we often don’t attend. F...

The Myth Underlying the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy – Part 6

[image error]

The Forces at Work in the Growing World Conflict

The core mission of the Tethyans is to oversee the future of our planet and humankind. And, of course, this mission will inevitably involve considerable conflict sooner or later. And in that conflict fundamental forces will be involved. For millennia the Tethyans had been at peace or at least not central to conflict. The Progenitors in the hidden cities tended to their preparations and the Primal families built their own futures on land and c...

Core Themes in the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy

 

[image error]

Where Do Core Themes in Fiction Come From?

I’ve found that for me at least core themes are emergent. It’s probably safe to assume they were down there yearning to break free. Or at least that is how it felt. The story may begin with an idea or a question but it is hardly a linear process.

How It Began

In global terms I have always been fascinated by mythology. Part of that fascination is because as a psychologist I studied the human mind. And things were definitely not simple or linear no...

Life Inseparable

 

[image error]

Do you “have a life” or did you “get a life”?

What Are We Trying to Say?

When we refer to life what are we talking about? Are we talking about the body, mind, spirit collectively? Or are we talking about something which is a form of earth energy. We use the word “life” carelessly. At times it is hard to imagine what we are meaning when we use the word. We use it to refer to the form and elements of our existence as well as referring to the underlying process itself.

Rarely do we question w...

The Context of Gaia’s Majesty-Mission Called: Women in Power

 

[image error]

Childhood Innocence

One day in 1945 I was standing on Fifth Avenue with my aunts. Before us marched troops returning from the terrible world conflict which had just ended. Above us were flights of planes also proclaiming victory.

Five years later my family visited Europe. I recall the streets of London cleaned of rubble now to the side in seemingly endless piles. In France there were the faces of people haunted by the horrors of the Nazi occupation.

Only later did that child come to unders...