Writing a Memoir - Maureen Murdock

Maureen Murdock

As a young adolescent I've always been drawn to writing. Yes I was one of those girls who kept one of those little diaries carefully guarded with the small key. I felt very precious about it. But truthfully I think it was something I felt a certain desire to share it, but at the same time would have been mortified if anyone actually had read my inner most secrets.

My desire to share what I wrote increased in time, as my writing improved, but of course I never thought of myself as a writer, nor even a great reader for that matter, because I had a rather short attention span. But there certainly were books I loved to read. Reading just like writing is a discipline. And within that discipline there is freedom to simply be myself, and to learn how to be the best person I can be.

In my young adulthood while attending University, I learned more about writing out of necessity, having to write papers. Left to my own devices had I not learned to write, I was on the road to failure, in spite of my good intentions but lacking in the skills to succeed in University, that required me to write papers.

I'll certainly be forever grateful for having done so, because learning to write has been so rewarding and a form of self-expression that has greatly enriched and changed my life.

One of my very favourite writers is Maureen Murdock because after reading The Heroine's Journey, that was generously given to me by a good friend. This book was a life changer and affected my way of thinking about who I am as a woman, and opened up my spiritual beliefs surrounding the God of my understanding and the Sacred Feminine.

I believe humans are natural born story tellers, and we all have important stories to tell. Story telling helps to define who we are as humans.

Although I do have three blogs and I get great pleasure out of creating them, my first and foremost way of writing is through long hand cursive writing. I think I could say some of my blog posts are memoir like, but mostly my blogs are tools for learning about creativity and life in all it's forms.

I subscribe to a site about women writers and found this article written by Maureen Murdock about tips for writing a memoir.

1. Memoir is not an autobiography but rather a selected aspect of a life. No event in your life is too small, but the details are important.
2. There is a universality to memoirs.
   
3. Honesty and Sincerity: Is the narrator authentic? When you are talking about yourself, you are talking about all of us to a certain degree; that’s the universal element. The struggle for emotional truth is central to memoir.
   
4. Intimacy: The hallmark of memoir is its intimacy with its audience.
   
5. Language in memoir is conversational, everyday, direct.
   
6. Humor: Be willing to laugh at yourself, reveal your foibles. We all have them.
   
7. Self-Reflection: The essence of memoir is the track of the writer’s thoughts struggling to understand some event in her life. What have you learned from this event?
   
8. Character: In writing memoir, you have to make yourself into a believable character. What do you want to know about the people you write about, including yourself?
   
9. Scenes: Vignettes, episodes, slices of reality are the building blocks of memoir. Get the reader into the scene with you. What’s happening? Who’s there? What’s the interaction?
   
10. Voice and Tense: Start with the personal I (1^st-person narrative). Start in the past tense. You are writing about the past in the present. This is what happened then; this is what I know now. You can write in the present tense later!
    
11. Purpose: What’s the purpose in writing memoir? Self-discovery, understanding another, healing a relationship, finding a broader perspective, telling a story that must be told?
    
12. Have fun!

Tarana Burke - Me Too

Tarana Burke

Not the easiest post to write and think about, but I'm compelled to do so, considering all the ongoing media attention and outpouring of "Me Too" posts on social media in light of film producer Harvey Weinstein, and the allegations of abuse and sexual harassment made against him by women in the film industry.

I also posted "Me Too", having had experiences of being sexually harassed, and subject to abusive relationships at different points throughout my life.

I don't believe many women were at all surprised all of this came to light. It's what women have been experiencing from time immemorial, systemic, cultural and insidious abuse and sexual harassment, threats and rape. As I thought about this today, I made the historical connection of past cultures, when there once was the fundamental belief in the Goddess, when a woman's body was considered sacred, because her womb was the vessel that held the miracle of life itself. I'm so often acutely and painfully aware this spiritual theology of the sacred feminine, is not held in high regard today. It has been replaced and defined in masculine terms, within religious, cultural and societal institutions. The consequences being, everyone continues to experience the fall out from this abuse of destructive power and control in one way or another.

Such an epidemic within society and throughout the world has reached a pivotal crisis by way of a perpetuated shaming silence, keeping women and men imprisoned in shame, through guilt and all to often, blaming the victim.

Of course it's essential that we stand up and speak out against abuse. Everyone and especially men must take a very proactive and significant role in speaking out against this behaviour.

Today I'd heard Quentin Tarantino make a statement he was aware of  Weinstein's behaviour. He said he was heartbroken and regrets he'd been complicit by never speaking out. We can only hope that in the future those like Tarantino will no longer choose to keep silent.

Women need men to be speaking out against predatory, monstrous and deplorable  behaviours, and those responsible need to held accountable legally and socially. Women also need to be believed, supported and men need to proactively promote change. We're all in this together, and we need to help one another make a better world for the following generations.

Power and control must be replaced with compassion, justice and peace in order to preserve, protect, reclaim and honour the very soul of culture.

The Soul of a Culture

"When the body of a woman was equivalent of the body of the Goddess, a woman was the container for the miracle of life.

"The soul of a culture cannot evolve if the body is not reclaimed and honoured."
                                                             - Maureen Murdock The Heroine's Journey

This quote is from the most important life changing book I've ever read in relation to my own creativity as a woman.

I'd come to understand how my mind and spirit are influential to my overall well being, personal health and happiness. And yet I could never make the connection with my body, that I now understand, is the glue and the grounding tie that brings mind and spirit together in order to be a happy, creative person I was born to be, fully alive.

I've struggled for many years to understand this deep spiritual interconnection, until I read Maureen Murdock's book, The Heroine's Journey.

In my 20s and as I got older my weight became an issue, and I then went to extremes in my physical activities. I wasn't able to find a balance. It was all or nothing. I either involved myself in a lot of exercise that realistically I couldn't maintain over the long run, or I did next to nothing, and then watched as my weight increased, my health declined, as did my happiness and self-esteem.

At 24 years of age I was at an ideal weight, perhaps thinner than I should have been, but regardless, I felt fat. Several years later, I saw pictures of myself back then. Suddenly my thoughts came flooding back and I remembered those the feelings I had in relation to my body, and how it didn't match up with the image I had in my mind's eye, or how I really felt about myself. The image didn't connect with what I thought about my body. I came to the conclusion that my thinking was distorted and after some intensive therapy I could see my thoughts were the beginning precursors of anorexic thinking.

It's taken me many years to finally begin to develop my own spirituality and to comprehend just what it means to see myself as the 'container for the miracle of life', and to understand the sacredness of my creativity, body and soul and to know the role I play in evolving 'the soul of culture'.

Today, I can finally say I reclaim and honour my body and I now know the balance and connection between mind, spirit and body and understand just what this truly means.

Twin Peaks - Mark Frost

I know Twin Peaks has a cult following and I confess I'm a full fledged member. When the show was on several years back for a very short period of time, I faithfully watched every single episode. I was fascinated, entertained, mesmerized by Twin Peaks and was so disappointed when it ended. I felt like so many, I was left hanging and Twin Peaks was never to be seen again. Not so!

I'm absolutely thrilled it's returning in the new year, and I'll pick up just where I left off, never missing an episode. I can hardly wait!
When I think about what it was that I found so compelling about Twin Peaks, there are several aspects of the show that captured my attention. David Lynch for one, and all the actors appeared to be carefully hand picked, and I loved them all. But Mark Frost? Honestly? Never heard of him until this past month. What an interesting guy. Now I have my Kobo on the go, I'll be reading his books!

All these years later, I now understand what it was about Twin Peaks that completely captured my imagination. The power of story and mystery.

I heard Mark Frost on CBC this morning. He stated that the heart of life is a mystery . Oh boy my ears perked up real good. I heard him briefly speak a few weeks ago talk about Twin Peaks, and made reference to archetype and Carl Jung, but today when I listened to this full interview I got a clearer in depth understanding about mystery and why shows like Twin Peaks have such a following.

After visiting Mark Frost's site I found this even more in depth explanation about writing, story telling, archetype, mystery and how these help us to find meaning in life. He makes reference to Joseph Campbell, and I'm certain eluding to the Hero's Journey which of course immediately makes me think about Campbell's female counterpart Maureen Murdock and her book The Heroine's Journey.

Snow White and Frida Kahlo

When I turned 10 my mother had a birthday party for me. The best present ever then, was a Snow White watch and a very special small glass figurine of Snow White, that I treasured. She was my idol. I loved her. When I look back and ask myself what was it about her that made me love her so much? I think it was because I empathized with her, I identified with her tender heart. I guess I could say that I felt sorry for her because she was so alone, except for all those dwarfs. and all her animal friends in the forest.


My dear friend shared this meme today on Facebook. When I saw my two favourite heroine's, one from my childhood and the other now as an adult, artist Frida Kahlo. I kind of chuckled to myself and of course I couldn't help but post about this on my blog, not just because it's funny but because of this meme's serious message and made me think of Maureen Murdock's The Heroine's Journey. 

In chapter 8, Healing the Mother/Daughter Split, she opens the chapter with a quote from Madonna Kolbenschlag's book, Kiss Sleeping Beauty Goodbye.

" The reality of our time in history requires that we reverse the pattern of the fairytales-we must go back, restore and integrate the suppressed masculine element."
                                       - Madonna Kolenschlag, Kiss Sleeping Beauty Goodbye


 I can speculate on why I loved Snow White so much. Maybe it was her humility, her kindness or hopeful attitude and spirit. This is really much of what I love about Frida Kahlo. But Frida had to face the reality of her death and she faced it head on, and there was no prince. I think she did this not in spite of these qualities, but she thrived because of her strength of character. This had nothing to do with a man, or did it? Regardless it changes nothing for me I still love Frida and a part of me, that little girl within my heart of hearts still loves Snow White too, and I wished I still had that special glass figurine.

Changing Woman

Navajo Sand Painting - Mother Earth - Artist,  Marie Akee

Following up on my last post Creative Restoration leads me today to share what I've been reading, studying and writing about this past month or so that is causing a big shift in my life. I have been re-reading and studying this book everyday because it is one of those books that profoundly speaks to the very core of me,  and I can't stop writing, reading or talking about it!

The Heroine's Journey was given to me by an artist friend last year. I had read Maureen Murdock's book Father's Daughters years ago. But I remember nothing about it for some reason. It wasn't due to the book itself or how it was written, but I think perhaps because I wasn't ready to absorb the topic of the book. I was trying to sort through all the issues surrounding my own Father/Daughter relationship in light of having an absentee father.

There are so many poignant statements made in The Heroine's Journey that it's difficult for me to decide which one has struck me the most.


Here are a few that I find so insightful about the creative feminine.

• "The soul of a culture cannot evolve if the body is not reclaimed and honoured.Many men and women are dreaming about the Goddess; she is a projection of the feminine principle that needs restoration in our culture. She takes many forms often embodied in the rich symbols of a person's heritage."

• " In Navajo mythology, Changing Woman is the creatix. She is earth and sky, the Lady of the Plants, and of the Sea. She goes beyond the bearer aspect of the mother; she is the feminine creator. Her cosmic cyclic movements-aging each Winter and becoming a young beautiful maiden each Spring-make Her the essence of death and rebirth signature of the continual restoration and rejuvenation of Life. It is said "where masculine creativity tends to move away forward, feminine creativity tends to turn round on itself," not circularly so much as spirally. It's constantly changing."

• " This ability to move with the creative impulse without trying to force it is an aspect of the feminine. There is a quality of the feminine that allows things to happen in the natural cycle of things. People who work at deep levels of the unconscious in therapy and in the creative process know that there are phases of both quietude and renewal, and these must be respected, protected and given time. One can't force birth. Trusting the mystery of manifestation is one of the deep teachings of the feminine journey.

• "The heroic quest is not about power over, about conquest and domination; it is a quest to bring balance into our lives through the marriage of both feminine and masculine aspects of our nature. The modern-day heroine has to confront her fear about reclaiming her feminine nature, her personal power, her ability to feel, heal, create, change social structures and shape her future. She brings us wisdom about the interconnectedness of all species; she teaches us how to live together in this global vessel and helps us to reclaim the feminine in our lives."

Eyland's Acre -  Water Colour - Artist www.judithjosephstudio.com

Being Is Not a Luxury

"Being is not a luxury, it is a discipline".
 I read this today, and it really made an impression on me.

Most of us are caught up in doing, more, faster, better, and acquisition of position. This is what our culture supports.

I am grateful to be an artist because I think we tend to be introspective and we can have a sense of being in the moment. Our creative process can be meditative and methodical and slow. Being in a hurry doesn't always lend itself to the creative process, and sometimes less is more when it comes to creating art., and I'm not certain being a prolific artist necessarily makes us a better artist or a better human being.

As a women I have made a conscious effort not to be defined by what it is a do, and have taken steps to be in my own body, mind and soul to be a creative human being.

My freedom and my discipline doesn't depend on something or someone outside myself. In the past I didn't comprehended  or make a connection between these two words, or see that were directly related proportionally to my daily maintenance of my own discipline. I could have ever imagined that within discipline I would find freedom, not did I believe that real freedom meant the ability to be disciplined. Art and life taught me this lesson.

Defined by the historical male model and male defined patriarchal work world, that is production orientated, power-over and dominating, reinforces the myth that if we are not busy doing important work accordingly, society perceives those who are not "doing" that something, are individuals often seen as not measuring up, not outwardly validated and valueless. Feminine values of caring and relationship took second place to achievement of goals, but this model doesn't work well for women.

Perhaps it is thought that these individuals are just hangin' around doing nothing; being families, mothers, fathers, being poor, unemployed, marginalized, uneducated, being addicted, and being mentally and/or physically ill. I say this because I see how many women and people are undervalued for what they do. Monetarily they are not remunerated with equal pay, for work of equal value. Instead, they are discriminated against simply for being who they are. Those who are stigmatized and marginalized are not given nearly enough help, with a woeful lack of support and assistance within our institutions and services that are supposed to be available to help, by extending a hand up.

Learning to be, truly is not a luxury, but a discipline. 

The Moon and the Virgin

I've been spending the past month immersing myself in what I'll simply describe as being an ongoing, life long journey of spiritual creativity that Maureen Murdock speaks of in her book The Heroine's Journey, and learning how to actualize this in my life as an artist. It all very exciting and rather daunting at the same time. But I have never felt more proactively engaged in, and connected to, the creative process.

In practical terms, it translates into knowing and connecting the dots with these four things that Ann Rea from Artists Who Thrive has taught me.

• Why -  Knowing who I am and what at I stand for, and what I stand against and Why, my Purpose.
• What - Knowing my Why determines my What, my Mission, the one problem that I believe is really worth solving.
• How  -  Knowing How I can help to solve that problem, through a particular process of creating value above and beyond my art.
• Who - Knowing Who has the problem worth solving.

As mentioned I am re-reading The Heroine's Journey written by family therapist, educational consultant, and writer Maureen Murdock.
Below is a poignant quote out of the book by Nor Hall.


"There is a void felt these days by women and men-who suspect that their feminine nature, like Persephone, has gone to hell. Wherever there is such a void, such a gap or wound agape, healing must be sought in the blood of the wound itself. It is another of the old alchemical truths that "no solution should be made except in its own blood." So the female void cannot be cured by conjunction, by an integration of its own parts, by a remembering or a putting back together of the mother-daughter body."
                           - Nor Hall, The Moon and the Virgin: Reflections on the Archetypal Feminine


I posted my review of The Heroine's Journey on Good Reads. It was interesting to read the other reviews. This is what I wrote.

My second reading of this book, but this time intentionally studied, with much note taking. One of the most important books for any one to read, in particular, women who wish to understand what the heroine's journey is, and to learn how to heal the mother/daughter split and the feminine wound in order to "revive a spirituality of creativity."

Because this book was written in 1990, sixteen years ago, it is seen by some to be irrelevant, in a 'post feminist' society. Having lived through the second wave of feminism  myself, and historically aware of the first wave, I must disagree with that. This book is actually as relevant today, if not more so, in many ways.


It would be easy to make the assumption that circumstances have moved progressively forward for women, but my observations tell me otherwise. There still exists numerous discrepancy's between men and women, discrimination based on gender, sexuality, race, religion, poverty, and great income and socioeconomic disparity throughout the world. This reality check seriously makes me wonder why we haven't come further ahead.

Maureen Murdock states that our society is androcentric, which means seeing the world from a male perspective. I believe this to be very true, it explains a lot and still very prevalent today. You don't have to look far to see the evidence.

What Nor Hall says is true. Many of us do suspect we are like Persephone, and have gone to hell.

Art After Dark? Time To Bring Out The Nudes!

"Art After Dark"

Ok I'd held off writing about this topic long enough.

First, there is the colouring book for adults which are described by Frank Furedi the infantilisation of the therapeutic imagination.

 Now it's, about everyone making the same painting, throwing it all into one pot, and call it a great, creative, therapeutic stew. Maybe even call it "art therapy" for those of us who are out of touch with our creative selves, we'll all purchase colouring books, staying ever so careful within the lines where it's safe, but still we can still feel just a little wild and maybe imagine ourselves for however so briefly, as an artist.
I've noticed that many of those involved in both of these activities are often women. As well it is the same in art schools. The majority of Fine Art students are women, and under represented in galleries within the art establishment.

My new nemesis is what's being called Art After Dark, where you will be instructed by someone who tells you exactly how to make a painting, so that all of your 'creations' look the same, same formula, same colours same subject matter, and presumed to be an effective creative process, while perhaps gulping down copious goblets of wine.

Oh nay nay I say!

Human beings are innately creative. I believe this down, to my very bones and soul. It's my experience that women in particular have become disconnected with their naturally creative feminine nature and instinct, which emerge directly from a spiritual creative source. This creative source is where our creative power comes from, if we are courageous enough pursue this creative quest, that has absolutely nothing to do with colouring books or reproducing  formulated cookie cutter paintings.

What art and creativity it is about for women, is reclaiming the creative feminine principle, a transformation to fully embrace our feminine nature, and to value ourselves as women.

There are so many ways to connect with this creative nature and through a much more engaging creative journey, that does not involve colouring books nor being shown how to reproduce the exact same painting as everyone else.

Time to bring out the art teachers, the artists and the nudes!

It's My Way - Buffy Saint Marie

Buffy Saint Marie and her song It's My Way epitomizes for me what it means to be the Wild Woman, the Woman Who Runs with the Wolves, Wolf Woman, The Empress, Persephone, and all those who have taken, are taking ,and will be taking The Heroine's Journey.

On this International Women's Day and always  everyday I honour and thank all those beautiful strong women whose shoulders I stand on, the ones who have lived then, now and to come.


It’s My Way
© Buffy Sainte-Marie
(I’m cutting my) own way
through my own day
and all I dare say is
It’s my own
(Got my) own seeds
Got my own weeds
I’ve got my own harvest
that I’ve sown
I can tell you
things I’ve done
and I can sing you
songs I’ve sung
But there’s one thing
I can’t give
for I and I alone can live
The years I’ve known,
the life I’ve grown.
Got a way I’m going,
and it’s my Way.
I’ve got my own stakes
in my own game
I’ve got my own name
and it’s my Way
I’ve got my own wrong
I’ve got my own right
I’ve got my own fight
and it’s my Way
I’ve got my own peace
I’ve got my own wrath
I’ve got my own path that only I can go
I’ve got my own sword in my own hand
I’ve got my own plan that only I can know
Don’t be crying Don’t be sighing
Your day will come; your day alone
Years you’ll know and a life you’ll grow
You got a way to go and it’s all on your own
I’ve got my own World
I’ve got my own Life
I’ve got my own Strife
and it’s my Way
I’ve got my own Kith
I’ve got my own Kin
I’ve got my own Sin
and it’s my Way
I’ve got my own Prayers
I’ve got my own Fears
I’ve got my own Tears
and it’s my Way
I’ve got my own Joy
I’ve got my own Load
I’ve got my own Road
and it’s my Way
Put down the story of what I’ve known
Your bound for glory all of your own Put down the story of what I say
You’re bound for glory
all on your own one day

Desire - Creation - Sheela-Na-Gig

This weekend I spent three glorious days with a group of wonderful women friends, I call my soul sisters.  At one point during our weekend I very enthusiastically in so many words, shared my thoughts on how historically the connection between body and soul was destroyed with the overthrow of the Mother Goddess, (Sheela-Na -Gig). The body of the woman was once the equivalent of the body of the Goddess, a container for the creative miracle of life. Then, there was a feeling of awesomeness in the truest meaning of the word. I feel very passionately about this, and I believe in the world today there is a movement of reclamation of this sense of sacredness, the deep wisdom of the female body, and the mysteries of feminine sexuality.

Finding this video I have posted, I closely watched for a second time today. It encapsulated and affirmed what I have been internalizing and processing, over a number of years.

Regena Thomashauer I'd never heard tell of, up until two weeks ago. I glean a lot from what she says. She affirms for me, what I have believed for sometime now, that many women are reclaiming the Divine Feminine, are on a quest for wholeness as Maureen Murdock talks about, and explores in her book The Heroine's Journey.

Happy Birthday Frida Kahlo

I unexpectedly was unable to post my blog today because the power went out this morning and did not come back for nine hours. I also had an very unexpected visit today from a very dear friend whom I have known so many years, and we'd both lost track of how long it has been since we have seen one another.

She is really my soul sister and we have shared many thoughts and feelings over the years.
As well would we both attend a very special and I think sacred gathering of woman that are deeply connected and these gatherings are embedded in my psyche.

After she left and I returned home. The power still being off, I decided I would go to the local country store and write her a long letter, in reply to the one she actually started  to write me in December 2014. While we were at the beach having a picnic she said she had started a letter and handed it to me before leaving today.

In my letter I shared with her about the book, The Heroine's Journey. We have both in our own way taken this journey whether we knew it or not struggling with loss, finding our direction and strength though weakness which resulted in us becoming better human beings.

Today July 6th is the late Frida Kahlo's Birthday. She is, I think, my favourite artist, because she is one of my favourite human beings, and I feel also a soul sister, so whenever I have a reason, not that I need one to write a post about her, I do.

I found the video below, of actual footage of Frida today. I may have seen it before, but it doesn't look so familiar.

More than her work I so admire Frida Kahlo the woman, for her inner strength and her humanity. If there was ever an artist I wished I could meet it would be her.

I long to some day travel to Mexico to see  The Blue House (La Casa Azul) and Museo Frida Kahlo.

I believe Frida Kahlo took The Heroine's Journey.

I have to make an addendum to this post regarding the quote below that was attributed to Frida Kahlo on GoodReads. It is in fact not Frida Kahlo's quote, but from a good friend who is an artist, and a writer. She was 15 years old at the time when she posted it onto another site, postsecret.com and she found her quote being used on the GoodReads site, not attributed to her, but to Frida Kahlo. Rebecca Katherine Martin is a highly gifted, intelligent individual, and I know she is a fan of Frida Kahlo's

It some how makes this quote attributed to Frida Kahlo more meaningful, and simultaneously undermines it's meaning because it is untrue, Frida Kahlo did not say this. The statement is a powerful one that obviously  readers strongly identify with, perhaps not because it was thought to be what Frida said, but because the quote was said by someone who is a deep philosophical thinker now, and then, when it was written by that 15 year old girl, Rebecca Katherine Martin, who posted her thoughts many years ago. It's meaning  comes shining through, resonating with those whom have felt the same, like Frida, and like Rebecca.

 "I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you." - Rebecca Katherine Martin

Here is Rebecca Katherine Martin's response to this misquote attribution.

So, in one of the weirder incidents of my adult life, a short plea that I wrote on a postcard at 15 is now widely attributed to Frida Kahlo. The quote reads:
"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you"
I pasted these lines of text onto a ripped magazine clipping of Kahlo, and mailed the postcard to PostSecret (http://postsecret.com/). My little image was at the top of the blog one Sunday, and the girl that I was felt a glow of solidarity. Not so alone. The comments were so kind, I think I still have them saved to my computer.
10 years later: I have changed, the internet has changed. I am scrolling down my facebook feed when the very words I wrote as a 15 year old appear before me, attributed to Frida Kahlo . I google the quote and I come up with this:
http://www.goodreads.com/…/402640-i-used-to-think-i-was-the…
There are 1676 people on GoodReads who think that Kahlo said this. There are also memes, handmade drawings, & what looks like text in a magazine. If you search "Frida Kahlo quote" on google, this quote is one of the first items of text that appear.
A) I have always wanted a quote on GoodReads, but I wanted to actually write a book first.
B) While flattering and amusing to me, this miss-attribution speaks to a serious lack of inquiry as to where our information comes from online. And I think that this is important. I cannot pull down those memes one by one and tell each of these people - "Look, actually you have a totally WRONG idea about Ms. Kahlo. That thing that you think she said was written by a dopey teenage girl from Markham, Ontario."
This is one minor instance of something that is endemic. I can't make anyone take more care in the ways that they absorb information, take truths for granted, and then further disseminate those distortions. (Re: Vaccines)
I will take this as a reminder to be more careful myself about attribution and context.
Sorry for the little rant, I mainly meant to say:
lol
&
wtf

I Thought This Would Be A Quickie But It Wasn't

I had one of those 'I ain't got nothin' kind of writing days, when I suddenly received an email from Marie Forleo who was telling me she was having the same kind of day. The heading in the email said, "Everyone Loves a Quickie". As I read the email, I could see the message was meant to really encourage me, to simply start writing something, anything, when feeling like I had nothing to write. The next thing you know, you have something written, a post even, maybe a whole page. It was a timely email!

Well that didn't happen. I got completely diverted into watching videos up until now. Not cute kitty you tube videos, but two in particular that kind of left me feeling energized and I learned a lot.. Then I joined a webinar from Melbourne Australia about Tarot, which I enjoyed.

The first video I watched was an interview done by writer, Tanya Paluso  who wrote the bestseller Open Your Heart. Her guest was one of my very favourite writers and mentors Maureen Murdock, who wrote The Heroine's Journey, an amazing life changing book.

 I have posted this video. It's not a quickie, but very worthwhile watching in my opinion, about the ancient Sumarian myth of Inanna's descent. Pretty scary shit!

The second video I watched was by Sara Avant Stover, whom I'd never heard of until tonight. She has a powerful story she shares, and wrote a book called The Way of The Happy Woman. Sara is a kind of a pioneer that shares what she has learned through her own dark descent, along the way of the heroine's journey to reclaim feminine power, which for me, is creative power.