thinking, transitioning, seeking
054 • 1/27/2025
Well, as it happens with most writers and photographers and other artists, the theme for this issue of the starter arrived from thin air (seemingly!), as light as a hummingbird and as heavy as that burden you have carried on your shoulders for too many years. When thinking about the theme of the journey and as I began to write this intro, I had to remove my fingers from the keyboard, pull my hands back and lean back in my chair. What does it mean for you? Where has it taken you? Is “this” where you thought you would be, in this place and at this time? I’m getting closer, every day. You? Take a moment and share your thoughts about your journey. -tba
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Please pass this along to others of like mind. We do need to spread the positivity around! Know that I will be working hard to make the starter better with each issue. It will come into your inbox at 8am, each Monday morning, free or paid. Comments are always welcomed! Enjoy!
“Learn to ask better questions. Through the process of trial and error, you can discover previously unknown solutions.” Unknown
Understanding Self: The Never Ending Journey — “I find that as I’m getting older and understanding life a little better I am also having difficulty transitioning to a better me. I often find myself fighting with myself. Part of me wants to do one thing while the other part wants to do another. Decision making is sometimes like playing tug of war with my heart and my mind. I haven’t been in a predicament like that in a while because I tend to just go with my gut feeling now, but when it does happen its like an internal storm. ” ©Zanha Armstrong, Odyssey
Finding Our Voice — Harry Owen: There comes a moment in life when the quiet murmur of unspoken truths grows too loud to ignore. It starts as a faint flicker, a fragile thought on the edge of awareness, and then builds into something undeniable — a need to give voice to what matters most. The courage to speak out can sometimes feel like a rebellion against the silence that so often surrounds us. ©Harry Owen & Refelctions
Shadow & Light Magazine Archives: Elizabeth Opalenik, A Journey Home — “In 2000 my mother was diagnosed with cancer.
As I spent those last six weeks in Western Pennsylvania with her, I found solace from the hospital by seeking the peaceful vistas of Amish land so near my childhood home. My parents raised seven children in our family farmhouse, and as I emptied it of jelly jars and material for rag rugs, I sought the similarities to my childhood found in the way the Amish live today” ©Elizabeth Opalenik
Poetics, Mary Oliver: The Journey
Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about our lives and what it took to get us where we are, individually. Each of us had experienced lives of challenges, albeit with divergent outcomes, the results of which are not of consequence for this introduction. Just realize that no matter the steps taken to be where you are today, each step mattered, each turn realized is a victory and each straight-away a road to where you might need to be.
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
‘Mend my life!’
each voice cried.
©Mary Oliver
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