18-Mar-2004
NEWSLETTER --
LIVING RADICAL PEACE
March/April 2004 issue
Copyright © 2004 Claire Krulikowski
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
-- The Animans, and my long-lost "uncle
-- Fear and Reckoning
-- March 20th - Say "Yes" for Peace
-- Appearances in March, April, May, and August 2004
-- AshootingstarZ Production – Services for Writers and Business Owners
-- Moonlight on the Ganga, and Rapture
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THE ANIMANS
Imagine my surprise in 2004 to learn (via a gift of a book from my aunt) that the brother of this aunt "had always had odd ideas" and actually published a book of fiction in 1972 that dealt with the evolution of people coming to understand their divinity within the physical living of their daily lives; and also dealt in the telling with matters of racial prejudice, tolerance, multiple planes of existance, astral projection, the love of the universe and love within ourselves.
1972. While I was out having a good time in college and not giving a hoot's thought to my purpose for living, this gentleman (who is now in his 80s) was living in the industrial section of Perth Amboy New Jersey and planting the seeds.
"Why can't you foretell some future event? Why can't you visit a friend a thousand miles away and be in two places at the same time?", asks a character in the story. In another part of the story, a gentleman states, "I am using the word, 'conscience.' When I say a conscience is to be cultivated and fed in order to grow, I do not wish to imply it will grow in size. A conscience does not grow in size; it does not get bigger or heavier. Growth is measured in the elevation of frequency...The negative thoughts that have been instilled within you hinder your good will..."
I'm happy to say I now know this man. He'd self-published The Animans through Vantage Press - whom authors now know as a subsidy publisher that takes lots of money and leaves you with a garage full of books. In the over 30 years since it was written, most of these copies have been dispersed or dispensed with yet, it surely seems to me as though this book has a place and readers who'd be interested in reading it even today, so I'll be attempting to find an e-book publisher who might be interested in re-publishing The Animans for this "great Uncle (as it were)." If there are any of you with connections or ideas that might assist, I'll be happy to hear from you.
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FEAR AND RECKONING
No matter what the situation, when 'fear' is your motivation and/or guidepost, you are not responding from your wisest self, and you are not being led towards higher ground. Instead you are looking down, dwelling in a survival mode ("want/need"), looking towards maintaining a fist-hold on what was/is rather than living in and building towards a "better" moment right now that can create many more "better" futures.
Vision can be choked by the grip of fear just as human life, prosperity, and ease are choked by fear, making every step the more difficult and establishing a pattern of "fear/want/need/desperation".
Events of the last few years have all been played out in the theatre of "fear - or not." A war, no matter whose side seems to start it and no matter who retaliates for whatever noble reason they state, is always rooted in fear. It creates fear (and death and pain which in turn feeds increasing fear).
The war in Iraq was/is rooted/marketed in fear and want by those seeking to gain a modicum of security as well as profit from the act. Yet, now within the U.S. presidential race, the desires of those who have voiced some desire that new routes be followed have fallen into the trenches of fear.
When it is announced, time and time again, that people are voting for John Kerry because they're afraid of what George Bush might do with another four years and so they feel a need to ignore others and unite behind Kerry to vote OUT George Bush, I do not hear or feel an impulse towards real true change/ improvement/grand vision. Instead, I hear and feel a motivation of fear.
My life is not ruled by such propaganda, and I am alert to (hopefully) not allowing my life to be motivated by fear .
Only when all of us stop being driven and manipulated by fear will real change take hold. Till then, we are replaying cycles of our past. Why, oh why, have so many people loosed themselves from their desires and vision and succumbed to fear?
It's an easy thing to do. Why are we, as a culture, settling for less than we can have?
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MARCH 20: SAY 'YES' TO PEACE DAY
March 20th is the one year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
This is a day for people the world over - whether you agree or disagree with the U.S./coalition invasion of Iraq - to spend some amount of committed time in focused prayer and meditation that true peace be attained. It is time on (at least!) this day to remember and pray for all who have died in the conflict - soldiers and civilians on both "sides" because we, on some level, must understand that there are no "sides," that when we hurt another, it is our selves we hurt and it is that hurt we will have to deal with again.
Praying for "peace" is not of a nation's act, or of a national victor. Peace is beyond claim by country or structure or political party, and eminates from and for the unfoldment of goodness and well-being of allpeople.
Putting aside trifling political and fear issues, can you commit that on this day of March 20th, 2004, you will link with the heart and soul desires of so many millions of others around the world that peace be expressed in the region of Iraq and by the leaders of all governments?
There are also international actions and gatherings planned on March 20th. Go to: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ to check for additional information, and also check your local media and coffee houses for announcements about activities in your region.
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APPEARANCES
March 27th in Ashland, Oregon. Seminar entitled: The Why and How of Writing A Book Proposal. $12.00 with pre-registration and payment required.
April 24th in Ashland, Oregon: Seminar entitled: Promote Your Book: Websites are Essential. $12.00 and pre-registration and payment is required.
May 1st in Ashland, OR: Seminar entitled "Query Letters: Your First - And Perhaps Only - Chance"
August 7th and 8th in Portland, Oregon:
Two seminars scheduled during the annual Willamette Writers Conference. One seminar is on travel writing; the other about manuscript query letters. See www.willamettewriters.com for conference details when they become available.
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ASHOOTINGSTARZ PRODUCTION – Services Benefiting Writers & Business Owners
WRITERS Benefit from: Guidance on manuscript submissions and agents; Direction on proposal writing; Manuscript Copy Editing or Proofreading; Researching or Ghostwriting material for your manuscript; classes on writing subjects for groups of five or more writers.
BUSINESS Owners benefit from: Professional advertorials; Promotional and PR Material.
For more information, you may visit my website's homepage at www.clairekrulikowski.com OR, contact me directly at: ashootingstar@charter.net .
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MOONLIGHT ON THE GANGA and RAPTURE
Both of my books are available through bookstores, Barnes and Noble stores, and www.bn.com. OR, you can purchase directly through me.
Moonlight on the Ganga (Daybue Publishing; 2001)shares my experiences and insights while strolling along the Ganges River and has received numerous reviews and rave endorsements from authors including Jean Houston, Lynn Andrews, Geoffrey Fox, and others.
Rapture (The First Word Publishing; 2003) offers a mystical, sensual, and entwined vision of spiritual love. "...Pressed between these sheets, the poetry of such whispered moments reflect and acknowledge a sacred romance and Spirit's greater desire for personal intimacy with each person willing 'become other than we have been hitherto...' "
---from the Introduction to Rapture
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I invite you to visit my website at www.clairekrulikowski.com
Enjoy,
Claire
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