12-Jan-2005
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- To All Things A Season
- Create Your Own Happiness
- "Beyond the Beyond" - poem from Rapture
- Reprint of Editorial: "All But One"
- The Hunt Called Off
- AshootingstarZ Production
- Southern Oregon University Writer Class in March
- Question: Do you read(or would you like to read)e-books?
- To order Rapture
- Einstein quote
To All Things A Season: Making Your Day
I wish you all a very fulfilling New Year. This marks my second winter in Southern Oregon, after moving from the mountains of Issaquah, Washington to the Rogue Valley in Autumn 2004. The weather (cold and relatively dry and, so far, only a dusting of quickly melting snow on the town streets) as well as the creative climate provided by the highly gifted community of Ashland continue to prompt my gratitude. Yet, this is the first winter for pup, Chase, an energetic, always happy youngster who has taught me to lighten up, laugh, and play -- as well as providing me with ample opportunity to forgive and to live compassionately (anyone over 40 who's raised a lively puppy will understand).
Create Your Own Happiness
If you find yourself too busy, preoccupied, stressed, or even angry to laugh lots daily, I suggest one exercise that, honestly, will begin to untie the knots in your life: While driving to work every morning, start to laugh. Over nothing. Create your own happiness. Too hard? Start out with a chuckle and keep it up for a minute. Do this every morning and in just a few days you'll begin to really let loose. Give yourself the freedom to chuckle, chortle, guffaw, and even let those tears stream down your face. Try it everyday for at least one week, and you'll notice a shifting and new "lightness" within yourself. That one week assessment will be enough to motivate you to keep it up longer and allow bigger changes to occur in your life.
No joke. Not only does laughter release oodles of chemicals into your bloodstream that helps shift your perception and approach, you're also feeding yourself and becoming open to accepting new energies.
Don't worry about appearing foolish to total strangers - What makes you think your frowning or arguing with yourself in the car looks good? The sight of you laughing just might make their day, too.
Beyond The Beyond
Following is a short poem, entitled "Beyond the Beyond," reprinted here from my poetry collection, Rapture, Copyright 2003 Claire Krulikowski, All Rights Reserved:
"What lies beyond all that I see
bright sky, star light, majestic sea;
the same exists in me.
Jeweled waves flow and burst
colored tapestries on earth;
the same formed me at birth.
Set your sights on infinity
beyond, beyond see divinity;
the same calls us to be."
All But One
I wrote the following commentary, which has appeared in several newspapers. My local paper printed it January 7th as a "letter to the editor" at the following link, and I've also pasted it below:
http://www.dailytidings.com/2005/0107/010705letters.shtml
"The only difference between the tsunami's destruction and horror and the armed devastation and horror ongoing in Iraq, the Sudan, the Middle East, and elsewhere is that all but one was created by people.
Thousands dead, loss of livelihood, daily fear, infrastructure destroyed, insufficient food and medicines to care for all ... these conditions exist in other lands, such as Iraq, the Sudan, elsewhere. So, when we allow ourselves to be touched by this tsunami tragedy, we owe it to ourselves and the whole of humanity to connect the dots:
How could the suffering/destruction brought about by a natural disaster be somehow more devastating than the suffering/destruction caused by armed conflict?
Could the terror and the loss of the thousands whose homes and loved ones are destroyed by U.S. bombers and soldiers in Iraq be less than that of those devastated by the tsunami? And why aren't we outraged to be the force causing such "shock and awe" pain?
Oddly, why do individuals feel more "horror" when suicide bombers kill dozens? (Are their bombs less "right" than ours?)
As individuals watching the news, we find ourselves imagining the terror of people swept out to sea, wonder what went through their minds, and how on earth their relatives are coping emotionally, physically, how damaged their psyche must be. We cry in our livingrooms as a child's body is handed to a wailing father and family. We see the photographs of bruised and bloated bodies laid out in courtyards so people can claim their loved ones. Yet, what of the "shock and awe" bombs that fall from our bomber bellies in accordance with governmental policy and practice. Those deaths, too, come without warning or protection. What of governmental genocide as prevalent in Sudan? Can you also share that grief, imagine that terror for mothers, fathers, children? Is it, somehow, more understandable?
It is the same ugly fear, pain, loss. What is our responsibility to these suffering people?
The forceful gift of a natural disaster is how it shakes the core of our common humanity and emotional desire to somehow make it better for these people who've suffered. Unnatural disasters are created by individuals, civilian and military, everyday. It's time we feel ourselves at one with those facing that force - and say 'no more.' "
The Hunt Called Off?
Today it was announced that the U.S. administration's hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq was officially called ended 1/11/05 -- without finding any. You'll recall that the original U.N. inspectors said there weren't any, that the Iraqi's said they didn't have any, that Saddam Hussein said they'd stopped their efforts years ago as a result of the orders. You'll also recall that the present U.S. administration launched a war in Iraq, killed and injured thousands of civilians, destroyed the country's infrastructure, leveled buildings, caused a backlash of massive hostility against the U.S. with massive "guerilla" fighting (now known as insurgent attacks), and caused the deaths and injuries to thousands of U.S. and coalition soldiers.
It behooves us to ask the question which my forthcoming book, Living A Radical Peace: Creating Life Anew urges: "To whom do we really owe our allegiance?" let us unite in a "call to arms" -- that is, arms uniting us together with others near and far to follow a Higher Authority.
AshootingstarZ Production - Editing, Promotions, and Consulting
I formed AshootingstarZ Production a couple of years ago based on a quote from Booker T. Washington: "Lay hold of something you do well, then use it to help someone else." Services I offer writers include editing, manuscript consulting, researching information for manuscripts and researching likely agents or publishers for your books. My promotional services also benefit business owners .
You'll find information about AshootingstarZ Production offerings on my website (www.clairekrulikowski.com), or contact me at claire@clairekrulikowski.com.
Southern Oregon University Writer Class
I'll be teaching a two-part class on "Writing Your Non-Fiction Book Proposal" in March 2005 through SOU's Community Education program. Pre-registration through SOU is required. For additional information and registration, go to: www.sou.edu/takeaclass or call 541-552-6331.
Question: Do you (or would you like to) read e-books?
Please email your answer and thoughts about this increasingly popular technology to: claire@clairekrulikowski.com .
ORDERING RAPTURE
To order your copy of Rapture, mail a check for $13.95($12.95 for the book plus $1.00 shipping), made out to Claire Krulikowski, to the following address:
P.O. Box 865
Talent, OR 97540
Quote by Albert Einstein
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us "universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
Wishing you peace,
Claire
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