Struggling to Break Free

A subject that fuels my writing is the universal struggle for spiritual and emotional freedom.

The struggle for freedom also inspires Zenos Frudakis's work. 

In a statement about his bronze sculpture, "Freedom," located at the GSK World Headquarters in Philadelphia, Zenos says:

"I wanted to create a sculpture almost anyone, regardless of their background, could look at and instantly recognize that it is about the idea of struggling to break free. This sculpture is about the struggle for achievement of freedom through the creative process."

Freedom: by Zenos Frudakis

Although for me this feeling sprang from a particular personal situation, I was conscious that it was a universal desire with almost everyone; that need to escape from some situation – be it an internal struggle or an adversarial circumstance, and to be free from it."

Who knows how long it took Zenos to create this magnificent sculpture, maybe as long as it takes me to write a novel.  Yet with just a glance, an observer can get the big picture, whereas it takes an 80,000 word reading to get mine. 

Then again...

On closer examination, there is much more to "Freedom" than meets the eye.  As with a novel, there are underlying themes that take a keen eye to uncover.  There's more the the story. 

We're two artists coming at freedom from different angles using different mediums.

I hope that someday my novels inspire others as Zenos Frudakis's work inspires me.

Thursday Two Questions/The Between

Welcome to Thursday Two Questions.

On Monday, I wrote a post called A Writer's Journey/Rethinking of a Subtitle, in which I wrote about why I feel the need to change the SUBTITLE of my blog.

When I started this blog as part of my journey to publication, The Between represented the deep chasm I perceived between the writing of my four novels and their eventual launch into the world.

It would be a place of rejection and disappointment, with occasional joys and victories along the way--a journey through the dark forest.

Now, after writing over one hundred posts related to my journey as a writer, I have a different take on The Between.  I see it as a bridge that connects, rather than a chasm that separates.

Photo Credit:  Giorgos


It's a place where one's creative and spiritual lives overlap, a place of fearlessness to tackle difficult matters of the soul, a place where one's true self dwells.

As my definition of The Between morphed from one meaning to another, my SUBTITLE, A Writer's Journey, no longer represented what I was trying to communicate with this blog.

My message is not so much about my journey as a writer anymore, but about spiritual freedom, inspiration, and empowerment, which also happens to be the message of my four novels.

The following comment by poet, Mary Oliver, during an interview with Maria Shriver for Oprah magazine, struck me as just right for expressing how I feel:

"You have to be in the world to understand what the spiritual is about, and you have to be in the spiritual in order to truly be able to accept what the world is about."

 

In my mind, The Between now stands for a place of freedom, a place where as David de Rothchild so nicely put it, you

 "listen to your goose bumps."

In Monday's post, I share some of my ideas for a new subtitle, but that's another story.

My Thursday Two Questions to you are:

1. What do you call the dimension outside of the normal five senses where your earthly and spiritual lives overlap?
2. What inspiration or understanding do you find (or seek) there?

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Thanks for stopping by,














Photo Credit:  h.koppdelaney

A Writer's Journey/Rethinking of a Subtitle




 When I started this blog as a part of my journey to publication, The Between represented the deep chasm I perceived between the writing of my four novels and their eventual launch into the world.

It would be a place of rejection and disappointment, with occasional joys and victories along the way--a journey through the dark forest.

Now, after writing over one hundred posts related to my journey as a writer, I have a different take on The Between.

I see it as a bridge that connects, rather than a chasm that separates. 

It's a place (Behind the scenes, between the lines) where one's creative and spiritual lives overlap, a place of fearlessness to tackle difficult matters of the soul, a place where one's true self dwells.

In fact, The Between now symbolizes so many things to me that I've run into a quandary. 

"A Writer's Journey," no longer represents what I'm trying to communicate with this blog.

My message is not so much about my journey as a writer anymore, but about spiritual freedom, inspiration, and empowerment, which also happens to be the message of my four novels. 

So "A Writer's Journey" must change to...

To what exactly?

Photo Credit: Giorgos

Which of the following phrases best expresses what I want to say?

Enter the Between (Behind the scenes, between the lines)...

(subtitle:) 

1. Summon the extraordinary into your life
2. Harvest the bounty
3. Remember what you already know
4. Waken to creativity, actualize your dreams
5. Cut loose, rethink, reexamine
6. Beyond the beyond
7. Be who you came here to be 
8. Uncover, Reveal, and Become
9. From Safe to Sensational
10. Where Mind Meets Spirit

I'm leaning toward #10.  What do you think?

As I was putting down my ideas for today's post, Oprah's April 2011 magazine serendipitously arrived in the mail.  In it was an interview of poet Mary Oliver by Maria Shriver.  One of Mary's comments struck me as just right for expressing what I'm feeling right now:

"You have to be in the world to understand what the spiritual is about, and you have to be in the spiritual in order to truly be able to accept what the world is about."

Aha!  Enter the Between.

I was also blown away by her poem, The Journey, another definiton of entering the between.

 

So as of now, The Between stands for a place of freedom, a place where, as David de Rothschild so nicely put it, you "listen to your goose bumps."

Soon, I'll have a new subtitle as a perfect accompaniment.

Thanks for stopping by.