Mira Prabhu's Blog, page 56
February 20, 2016
The Moment of Clarity (Guest Post by #Author Toni Pike)
“Until the trigger is pulled, a gun will not fire a single shot. But after that, it’s ready, aim, fire! In our mind we have a trigger moment and and we are off, changing our life forever.” Toni Pike speaks of that single flashing moment of clarity when we decide to take on a project…in my case, each of my three novels began as seeds planted in my mind a very long time ago…Whip took me 20 years to complete, Krishna’s Counsel, on it way out of the womb, probably about 16 years, and Copper Moon dates back to my years in the Himalayas, another 16 years….the root of karma is thought – followed by speech and action – and everything we do must first originate in the mind and the heart. Read on….and thank you Chris Graham, for sharing.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
The Moment of Clarit y
The moment when we decide to achieve a dream
The moment of clarity is the most mysterious part of achieving a dream. It is that one lucid moment before you start to follow a plan and achieve a goal. No one can explain why, after years of longing and setting targets that were never met, everything changes. It is a magic moment when the fog in your mind lifts and your purpose becomes clear.
Just pretend for a moment that you want to go on a holiday. Not just a few days by the beach, but an overseas trip that you have been thinking about for a long time. There is a vague idea in your mind that you would love to see a certain part of the world.
When and why did you decide that you would love to see Scandinavia or Asia or…
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February 19, 2016
Harry… (Guest Post by Author Frank Parker)
I am a passionate lover of “story” and Frank Parker’s poignant story of how Harry became part of his family moved me greatly….hope it will do the same for you…thank you Frank Parker and Chris Graham!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
Born in August 1905, he left school at 12 to go to work on a farm. Not, you understand, his family’s farm, but a farm some distance away from his home. So far away that he was required to ‘live in’. He would, I have no doubt, have worked long hours, outside in all weathers. But he learned a number of skills that were valuable in later life. How to use and to take proper care of hand tools, how to work with animals, how to shoot rabbits and pigeons, both to limit the damage done to crops by these creatures, and to provide food for the table.
By the time I first met him he was working for the local council. Here his job involved cutting the grass verges along the lanes and highways of our rural district, keeping ditches, gulleys and culverts clear, assisting road repair crews, repairing…
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As a writer, will I ever become famous?
“So, whatever you do, don’t be disillusioned by the brutal reality of our calling. Instead, gird your loins, toughen up, and just keep on writing…” says Jack Eason, as he concludes an interesting post on the possibilities of a modern writer achieving fame….now read on! And thanks, Chris Graham, for sharing.
One of my all time literary heroes – Eric Blair aka George Orwell 1903 -1950
~~~
Probably not. All that any of us who are serious about what we do can ever hope for is to keep on writing. Most of us are lucky if we make a few pounds/dollars per year. Very few ever achieve fame and fortune. J.K.Rowling immediately springs to mind as an obvious modern day exception to the rule.
Even once you have shuffled off this mortal coil, there are still no guarantees of fame, despite the world’s book shelves being full to overflowing with dust covered books penned by dead writers. But then again back here in the land of the living, so is the list of those who were never read, or are ever likely to be by all accounts, despite the majority of them being gifted writers.
But will anything I write do…
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February 13, 2016
Five Fascinating Facts about Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan…Behemoth…grand titles…author: Thomas Hobbes, brilliant and controversial. One of his phrases sticks in my mind: that the life of man in his times was “nasty, brutish and short”. Has that really changed for some segments of our modern population? Read on for more about this interesting human….
Facts about the life and work of Leviathan author Thomas Hobbes
1. Thomas Hobbes was born premature, because his mother was worried about the imminent invasion of the Spanish Armada. Hobbes was born in April 1588, several months before the Spanish Armada of Philip II of Spain set sail for the English Channel. In the months leading up to the invasion, England was full of fear about the coming attack. As Hobbes later put it, ‘my mother gave birth to twins: myself and fear.’ Hobbes would live a long and productive life. Although he famously described human existence as ‘nasty, brutish, and short’, Hobbes himself lived to be 91, dying in 1679.
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February 5, 2016
How Do You Get On The New York Times Best-Seller List?
“The New York Times doesn’t have a best-seller list, no matter what they call it.” Go ahead and read all of this interesting post on how writers get on the Times best-seller list…sounds like everything on this planet is rigged!!!
Short answer: Who the [bleep] knows.
Long answer: It seems obvious, right? The book was a best-seller, meaning it sold more than all the other books that weren’t on said best-seller list, correct?
Well, maybe.
Publishing insider Tim Grahl recently posted an article that outlines the eternal mystery of landing a book on a best-seller list, specifically The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The New York Times is notoriously secretive about how books land on their list, but we do know they factor in a lot more than just sales. According to Grahl:
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BE TRUE UNTO YOURSELF…
…and it shall follow as the day the night…thou can’t then be false to any other man (or woman or child or animal, for that matter)….thus spake Hamlet and he spoke true.
When I first came to Tiruvannamalai almost seven years ago, I rented an apartment that looked great from the outside, and was more than adequate as temporary living quarters, but it was also surrounded by noisy families and the morning din in particular was terrible for one hypersensitive to noise. As a result, I did not care to use my kitchen. Since I lacked personal transportation at the time, I began to eat all my meals at the little restaurant connected to nearby Seshadri Ashram.
Here I happened to connect with a well-educated middle-aged renunciate who, one sleepy afternoon as we sipped our hot chai post-lunch, told me his story:
He had done so well in engineering college, he said, that after he graduated he became a sought after star lecturer. Then the big questions of life and death began to haunt him and he took to eastern philosophy with a passion, seeking answers to his angst, and even donning the robes of a renunciate.
Soon he got so good at spinning Advaita that he was asked to speak publicly. But once again he began to feel uncomfortable playing this role—this time because he himself was not yet enlightened, and because he had come to believe that only a sage (one who has gone beyond desire and fear) can truly teach at the highest level.
So another coin dropped as he acknowledged that the job of becoming free begins and ends with oneself: Fix the little self and the Big Self is known; or else, he said ruefully, no matter how much we know intellectually, we are no better than the blind leading the blind.
Photo Credit: Saravanan Dashnamoorthy
Over the years I have lived at the base of holy Arunachala, I realize the profound truth of what this man said to me that sleepy afternoon. Today I accept that the truly committed seeker of wisdom must be willing to travel alone so as to focus on the awesome task of breaking down the egoic self.
This does not mean that while we are journeying we do not connect with or help others along the way; we do so, with full hearts, as long as we are not hurt or blocked from onward progress in the process. (I myself have terrific friends, but I did not seek them out; we come together in odd ways, and I welcome them into my life if I feel we can be of mutual help to each other on this path less traveled.)
Back to the true sage who has transcended both desire and fear and consequently does not need anything because s/he is complete, reunited with cosmic Self. Whatever comes, the sage says, comes from the source of all being, and those committed to this wisdom accept all things, seemingly good or bad, with grace. We do not struggle with “what is” because that would be struggling against the consequences of our own actions. This is the path of jnana, of wisdom, and it is a path that most shy away from.
However, it works perfectly for me. What does this mean, relatively speaking? I help those I can help, and I do so as generously as I can, but I also keep the focus on myself—because if I am reeling, emotionally or physically, drained by the demands of others, I can be of little use to myself or others.
You see, I still have vices and vasanas (blocks) that need clearing; until that work is fully done, I cannot bring illumination to others, as brilliant sages such as Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and so many others keep doing via their extraordinary spirits and powerful teachings. Instead I make sure that every single day I do something to bring me closer to my own light; still, the curtains of darkness fall from time to time, and then I do hesitate to use the tools given to me via the sages, in order to restore me to balance as I continue along this razor’s edge to perfect freedom.
Greetings from Arunachala, Shiva in the form of a mountain, who promises to destroy our false coverings so that we can realize who we truly are beyond name and form—the Self, blissful and immortal, fearless and wise, intrinsically connected to all things manifest and unmanifest, One.
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February 3, 2016
Joan Didion Talks About Female Writers
Joan Didion on female writers and more: “But this whole question of sexual identity is very tricky. If I were to read, cold, something by Anaïs Nin, I would probably say that it was written by a man trying to write as a woman. I feel the same way about Colette, and yet both those women are generally regarded as intensely “feminine” writers. I don’t seem to recognize “feminine.” On the other hand, Victory seems to me a profoundly female novel. So does Nostromo, so does The Secret Agent.” Read on!
I’ve said this many times, but I love The Paris Review “Art of Fiction” interviews. They really are a fascinating look at famous authors.
The interviewer always manages to get these writers to open up about their craft, and even their personal life to some extent.
Joan Didion’s feature on The Paris Review was no exception. She talked about a variety of subjects, including female writers.
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February 1, 2016
The Dragon and the Giant
I loved this excerpt…perhaps because both giants and dragons intrigue me…thank you, Cathleen Townsend, and good luck with California Trail Rose, such a lovely title!
Rose looked around the fire at her family’s pinched faces. It was this terrible place. The Humboldt Valley was the cruelest land she’d ever seen. Constant worry–for the horses, for each other, for the terrible choices they might still have to make–they had all taken their toll.
As a small act of defiance against the fear that pressed in all around them, Rose fetched her journal and read them the story she’d finished last night.
“Once upon a time there was a dragon. He was proud and cruel, and his kingdom was in the desert, where he lived on rattlesnakes, lizards, and sage brush. He spewed out his poison on the ground, turning it white, and the only place left that was green was a river, for even a dragon must slake his thirst. But one day, he decided he wanted new lands, with slaves to do his bidding and…
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January 30, 2016
What to do with your manuscript when it’s finished – David Mitchell. Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
All writers agonize over their work…knowing when to put the lid on it is an art, a gift…how here’s David Mitchell’s view. Thank you Bridget Whelan!
Send the thing out and forget it. Quickly get to work on the next thing. Don’t sit by the phone or watch your email. Don’t hope. You’ve done a big thing by finishing something. Spend all the energy on possible despair. Avert that possible despair. Transfer the despair to the next manuscript. Right away, like the next day.
David Mitchell
photo credit: Neon Jordan via photopin(license)
January 27, 2016
Louis Nizer-“The excitement has never diminished.”
Speaking for myself, I could never get too excited about the happenings of the relative world – this is the effect that delving into mysticism over a long period of time has on the psyche.
However, if we do choose that path, then it is best to do so with undiminished excitement – or why bother?
I like this quote: A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994. Read on for more about this interesting man, and thank you Ronovan Hester, for this post.
Who in the world is Louis Nizer? It might sound a bit crazy to some people to have a man who once held the title of highest paid attorney in the world.
Nizer was the senior partner of the law firm he began in 1926, Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon. At the age of 92, he was still going to work almost every day until 10 days before his death in 1992. Was he a workaholic, control freak, or a man passionate about his choice of career? I’ll take that last one. For some reason I can’t see a person devoting 70+ years to unless they were passionate about it.
“The excitement has never diminished. Indeed it has grown. The challenge is ever new. The contest is ever intense. Surprise is ever present.”-Louis Nizer Attorney and Author February 6, 1902 – November 10, 1994
A partial…
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