Loved this. You’re right: it’s been a deliciously hard, trudging, grotesque few years for so many, myself included. And yet such simultaneous joy! A teenage niece’s suicide attempt. My father’s terminal cancer. Moving to and then leaving Manhattan. The pandemic. Near suicidal depression. But: Falling in love. Starting my Substack writing journey. Banging out a memoir about NYC during Covid. Learning to let go. Turning 40.
Life is a gift. A sometimes dark, odd, mysterious gift. But a gift.
Love this, Sharon: "The world isn’t ours to save. It doesn’t serve us or the world if we’re constantly bowed under the weight of a burden of godlike responsibility for it. All we can usefully and meaningfully do, in service to that world and those beings – and to ourselves – is to carry on doing what we were born to do. Keep on working. Keep on creating. With joy, as well as hope and perseverance. And trust that that is enough." These words are so refreshing to read and desperately needed by so many of us who are simply attempting to 'carry on.' Best wishes for a peace-filled New Year!
I’m very pleased to have found you Sharon, via your book If Women Rose Rooted. Just started it, and into the words about wells, I live one quarter of a mile from Holy Well, and it’s prompted me to find out more. So happy to have more of your words to read. Your January newsletter resonates very much. I’ve been noticing ‘stabs of joy’ for a good while, listing things I love helped me out of a dark time. Thank you
Thank you again, Sharon! ‘Very much appreciated your take on how we might engage in end-of-year self-reflection, and sharing Manda Scott’s perspective. And BTW, that’s a great photo!
Wonderful post thanks Sharon. I really resonate with that notion of creativity as a response to crisis and engaging with the cultural conversation as a constructive way to be in a dangerous world. Thank you x
I needed these words — thank you. Over the last week, while reflecting on the year that was, I’ve realized just how much I have missed that sense of fellowship, of being part of an active, engaged community of others working for the same thing. And for that work to be rooted in JOY! To hear someone else voice the same need means more than it likely should right now. Enjoy your time at ORFC (it sounds fascinating) and wishing you a happy new year!
Thank you for all you create, Sharon! I've appreciated your work since Earthlines. You introduced me to a whole world and way of seeing that has been a guide into my own creative flourishing. Happy New Year!
Jan 2, 2023·edited Jan 2, 2023Liked by Dr Sharon Blackie
I am happy to have found you, Sharon. You increase the light on my ever-emerging path. I have only known that I quest and that I strive to stay on the path to an unknown, resonant, yet unclear. Today l see the shape. It is meaning. There may be more, but meaning clearly pulsates.
I was struck by your words on the disappointment that is today’s fiction, the failure to transform, the hole in the shape of a heart (thank you Jackson Browne). Your reading of the fishwife’s story is magical. Your telling is extraordinarily meaningful; it moved me. Not just the words, but the song of your voice, the vision you painted, the spell you wove, the heart-meaning you gave.
Thank you. I look forward to more.
Me? I have begun my own substack in the form of a podcast. I don’t write fiction. I tell stories already captured on the page. My material at this point is exclusively classic short fiction, i.e. public domain, for several reasons, namely: story, heart, transformation, meaning, no copyright restrictions. I’ve posted four short stories so far since launching Nov. 30, 2022. Just getting started. Still deciding whether to include text. I’m thinking I probably should.
This is a new direction for me. It feels like an important bend in the path. Please post more of your own readings when you are able.
Cheers, and may the new year bring you rest from your journey and food for your soul,
Thank you for sharing your guiding wisdom and clarity about what is and is not our responsibility to take on. It seems that at the heart of the question of how to serve life in this time is the realization that in order for us to do healing, transformative and authentic "work," it must be born out of our true gifts, passions and joy. I'm currently reading "The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy" and McCarthy's central idea is that, in defense of the natural world, what has been too often missing from the conversation is joy. He writes that we need to "offer up what [the earth] means to our spirits; the love of it. We should offer up its joy." And we can only do that through the alchemy of our own particular experience, voice, and ways of seeing. Love the synchronicity with your post. May 2023 be a year of insight and illumination for all on this journey.
What a beautiful, touching entry! I especially loved this bit: “Once you feel as if you’re really aligned with your calling, really embodying your own unique gift, your own unique expression of what it is to be human in that fractured world, everything slots into place.” I am so grateful to have finally found this feeling in 2022, and your book The Enchanted Life is what set me on my current path. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with the world and leading your readers towards enlightenment. Here’s hoping that 2023 is a magical, fulfilling year for all of us 💛 Cheers!
Jan 1, 2023·edited Jan 1, 2023Liked by Dr Sharon Blackie
As always, such a pleasure to read your monthly newsletters, in large part because they feel both conversational and genuinely welcoming, as well as informative and practical. The wisdom you've acquired has been hard-won; through many trials and challenges, but as a result, you're able to be so aware of what matters deeply to you now, and to live with intention and joy, and connection, in the midst of the chaos. Thanks for sharing your experiences and deep wisdom!
"The world isn’t ours to save. It doesn’t serve us or the world if we’re constantly bowed under the weight of a burden of godlike responsibility for it. All we can usefully and meaningfully do, in service to that world and those beings – and to ourselves – is to carry on doing what we were born to do"
This brought my heart so much peace, and some resolve for a dissonance I carry around this topic-- the attempt to reconcile the seeming insignificance of my own art/work against the larger matters of the world. So beautiful.
Dearest Sharon, thank you! Your piece today illuminated the warrior spirit of your soul. Your hard won freedom, that shines like a bright star! While I live on a continent, distant from you and Satish, your lives and work are not separate from my life and soul journey. I am continually star struck by the Mystery of life's abundance. Your reflections today touch me as an offering of deep appreciation for the year to come! Gratitude, blessings & love, Laurie
Loved this. You’re right: it’s been a deliciously hard, trudging, grotesque few years for so many, myself included. And yet such simultaneous joy! A teenage niece’s suicide attempt. My father’s terminal cancer. Moving to and then leaving Manhattan. The pandemic. Near suicidal depression. But: Falling in love. Starting my Substack writing journey. Banging out a memoir about NYC during Covid. Learning to let go. Turning 40.
Life is a gift. A sometimes dark, odd, mysterious gift. But a gift.
###
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Love this, Sharon: "The world isn’t ours to save. It doesn’t serve us or the world if we’re constantly bowed under the weight of a burden of godlike responsibility for it. All we can usefully and meaningfully do, in service to that world and those beings – and to ourselves – is to carry on doing what we were born to do. Keep on working. Keep on creating. With joy, as well as hope and perseverance. And trust that that is enough." These words are so refreshing to read and desperately needed by so many of us who are simply attempting to 'carry on.' Best wishes for a peace-filled New Year!
I’m very pleased to have found you Sharon, via your book If Women Rose Rooted. Just started it, and into the words about wells, I live one quarter of a mile from Holy Well, and it’s prompted me to find out more. So happy to have more of your words to read. Your January newsletter resonates very much. I’ve been noticing ‘stabs of joy’ for a good while, listing things I love helped me out of a dark time. Thank you
Thank you again, Sharon! ‘Very much appreciated your take on how we might engage in end-of-year self-reflection, and sharing Manda Scott’s perspective. And BTW, that’s a great photo!
Thank you Sharon for sharing your words here, and for the link to Caroline's newsletter! I hope 2023 brings you easier times x
Thanks for a heartfelt post. Creativity remains my way to deal with my current challenges.
Wonderful post thanks Sharon. I really resonate with that notion of creativity as a response to crisis and engaging with the cultural conversation as a constructive way to be in a dangerous world. Thank you x
I needed these words — thank you. Over the last week, while reflecting on the year that was, I’ve realized just how much I have missed that sense of fellowship, of being part of an active, engaged community of others working for the same thing. And for that work to be rooted in JOY! To hear someone else voice the same need means more than it likely should right now. Enjoy your time at ORFC (it sounds fascinating) and wishing you a happy new year!
Thank you for this new year's gift, Sharon. 🙏
Thank you for all you create, Sharon! I've appreciated your work since Earthlines. You introduced me to a whole world and way of seeing that has been a guide into my own creative flourishing. Happy New Year!
I am happy to have found you, Sharon. You increase the light on my ever-emerging path. I have only known that I quest and that I strive to stay on the path to an unknown, resonant, yet unclear. Today l see the shape. It is meaning. There may be more, but meaning clearly pulsates.
I was struck by your words on the disappointment that is today’s fiction, the failure to transform, the hole in the shape of a heart (thank you Jackson Browne). Your reading of the fishwife’s story is magical. Your telling is extraordinarily meaningful; it moved me. Not just the words, but the song of your voice, the vision you painted, the spell you wove, the heart-meaning you gave.
Thank you. I look forward to more.
Me? I have begun my own substack in the form of a podcast. I don’t write fiction. I tell stories already captured on the page. My material at this point is exclusively classic short fiction, i.e. public domain, for several reasons, namely: story, heart, transformation, meaning, no copyright restrictions. I’ve posted four short stories so far since launching Nov. 30, 2022. Just getting started. Still deciding whether to include text. I’m thinking I probably should.
This is a new direction for me. It feels like an important bend in the path. Please post more of your own readings when you are able.
Cheers, and may the new year bring you rest from your journey and food for your soul,
Curt
Thank you for sharing your guiding wisdom and clarity about what is and is not our responsibility to take on. It seems that at the heart of the question of how to serve life in this time is the realization that in order for us to do healing, transformative and authentic "work," it must be born out of our true gifts, passions and joy. I'm currently reading "The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy" and McCarthy's central idea is that, in defense of the natural world, what has been too often missing from the conversation is joy. He writes that we need to "offer up what [the earth] means to our spirits; the love of it. We should offer up its joy." And we can only do that through the alchemy of our own particular experience, voice, and ways of seeing. Love the synchronicity with your post. May 2023 be a year of insight and illumination for all on this journey.
What a beautiful, touching entry! I especially loved this bit: “Once you feel as if you’re really aligned with your calling, really embodying your own unique gift, your own unique expression of what it is to be human in that fractured world, everything slots into place.” I am so grateful to have finally found this feeling in 2022, and your book The Enchanted Life is what set me on my current path. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with the world and leading your readers towards enlightenment. Here’s hoping that 2023 is a magical, fulfilling year for all of us 💛 Cheers!
As always, such a pleasure to read your monthly newsletters, in large part because they feel both conversational and genuinely welcoming, as well as informative and practical. The wisdom you've acquired has been hard-won; through many trials and challenges, but as a result, you're able to be so aware of what matters deeply to you now, and to live with intention and joy, and connection, in the midst of the chaos. Thanks for sharing your experiences and deep wisdom!
"The world isn’t ours to save. It doesn’t serve us or the world if we’re constantly bowed under the weight of a burden of godlike responsibility for it. All we can usefully and meaningfully do, in service to that world and those beings – and to ourselves – is to carry on doing what we were born to do"
This brought my heart so much peace, and some resolve for a dissonance I carry around this topic-- the attempt to reconcile the seeming insignificance of my own art/work against the larger matters of the world. So beautiful.
Dearest Sharon, thank you! Your piece today illuminated the warrior spirit of your soul. Your hard won freedom, that shines like a bright star! While I live on a continent, distant from you and Satish, your lives and work are not separate from my life and soul journey. I am continually star struck by the Mystery of life's abundance. Your reflections today touch me as an offering of deep appreciation for the year to come! Gratitude, blessings & love, Laurie