…at least four important aspects of the “Star Wars” saga are much closer – both in time and space – than Lucas was letting on.
And while it’s true that we’re making progress on the scientific and technological aspects of the Star Wars universe, that’s not the reason we care so much about it.
Star Wars came to me at a difficult time, and has served as an anchor ever since. Why does the story resonate so strongly with so many people?
According to Lucas: “I became fascinated with how culture is transmitted through fairy tales and myth. Fairy tales are about how people learn about good and evil…it’s the most intimate struggle that we cope with – trying to do the right thing and what’s expected of us by society, by our peers, and in our hearts.”
These stories typically appear during times of doubt and can help viewers reclaim the goodness and innocence in themselves, reminding them they can overcome the evil they see in the world.
And while I normally ignore Episodes I, II and III (IV forever!), this quote from the script of III seems appropriate.
“In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way.”
Every so often I run across story snippets, ideas or lines or just a mood that at one point I committed to paper or pixel.
They are a form of meditation, in a sense, and while some turn into stories or poems or posts, most are just my way of thinking. It’s constructive, but sometimes I find these fragments again and wonder, “What on earth was I thinking?”
And sometimes the idea sets off a new spark and triggers fresh ideas, along a different path. Here’s one such snippet.
When Fluffernutter, our cat of sixteen years, died, we buried her in a shaded spot under the willow in the backyard, down by the creek.
That was our first mistake.
Not checking the grave was the second.
And not warning the neighbors was our third.
*Note: No kitties were harmed in the making of this post.
“Trying hard and working hard is its own reward. It feeds the soul. It affirms your will and your power. And it radiates from you, lighting the way for all those who see you.”
Getting stuck is part of the process. If you’re never stuck, you’re not doing anything thrilling, important, and/or daunting. Be patient, be kind, and rather than focus on where you’re stuck, do something to shift the stuckness.
My father grew up loving the Sherlock Holmes stories. He wasn’t the only one, of course, and Sherlock has remained a driving force in modern culture since he was first invented by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Now that the books are in the public domain, there are a lot of new Holmes stories coming out, which is great. But if you want to go back to the originals and you enjoy audiobooks, consider this collection of 19 Sherlock Holmes short stories on the BBC, narrated by actor Hugh Bonneville: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories.
His adventures have been enjoyed by audiences around the world for over a century with new generations discovering his thrilling tales through blockbuster films, television series, and even video games.
Now, the great detectives’ most famous mysteries are being brought to life in the new podcast Sherlock Holmes Short Stories hosted by Hugh Bonneville.
“Let’s put it this way: if you are a novelist, I think you start out with a 20 word idea, and you work at it and you wind up with a 200,000 word novel. We, picture-book people, or at least I, start out with 200,000 words and I reduce it to 20.”
A recent poem, the result of the dumpster fire that is currently the news and a memory of a bully with a magnifying glass on a hot summer day:
It’s so easy, yes
to break things.
Careless cruelties
Narrowed to a single focus
of concentrated power.
One ant crushed, one sneer revealed, one push over the edge…
But one and one and one divides into two
and regret comes all too soon.
I also thought it might be interesting to show my work. Here’s what a typical poem draft looks like for me. The indented lines are the alternatives tested as I wrote my way through.
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