5/23/15 RMB The Colorado Kid and Murder She Meowed

5/23/15 RMB The Colorado Kid and Murder She Meowed

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

I finished two mysteries this week. Murder She Meowed, the fifth Mrs. Murphy mystery authored by yourself and Sneaky Pie Brown kept me entertained. Once again there were interesting twists and the culprit was a surprise.

Next up to read on my RMB list is Riding Shotgun. It is hard to tell which of the two came first, as they both reference the publication date of 1996.

Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid was a quick read. I’m not a fan of horror, so when I was given this book, the giver promised it was “not too scary”. Indeed it was more mystery than fright.  

At the back of each mystery, there were letters from the authors, Sneaky Pie Brown and Stephen King. Mr. King elaborated on the true mystery that sparked the story. I enjoy words written by authors that reach beyond the story arc. They provide another link from writer to reader, an extra window into the workings of the mind that held my mind captive page after page.

Writer Joyce Carol Oates is quoted as saying “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.”

This week, I considered what we know and how we know it. Reading of course, is one avenue of understanding. Listening, seeing and experiencing, are more examples. The truths of our universe are numerous, and the paths to finding them are as diverse as there are souls on the quest for them.

Ever the seeker,

Loraine

5/15/15 RMB Just Add Bravery

5/15/15 RMB Just Add Bravery

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

If courage is carrying on beyond your fears, then bravery might be described as doing so with a motivating force, with more gusto than thought.

On stage at the USC commencement today, Mellody Hobson spoke eloquently to the graduating class of 2015. Of all her words, she implored that these three be remembered “Just add bravery.”

One special lady I know loves the rain. She is Rochelle Loraine, an actor and a magical being. On a rare, cool, southern California day, we sat for hours, as the sky let loose scattered showers, blessing her day.

She has entertained and amazed me, from her first staged sword fights, a four year old wielding a plastic weapon, standing on the couch to fend off the attacking older brother, or her father, or sometimes both at once, because in her imagined world, she was that good; to watching her accept her diploma from the Dean of the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

“Just add bravery.”

Every day holds a new adventure, every minute an infinity of possibilities. When we think we know what tomorrow may bring, what will happen in the next moment; that we alone control our destiny, we set ourselves up for a path of derailment.

Each life is an evolution. What we do control is our will, our perspective and our sense of being. The universe takes turns with us. We set in motion events, based on where we choose to place our next step and the attitude to which we meet whatever we find there. The universe responds, then passes the baton back, “your turn.”

Each life affects all life. Three words spoken to her, and each graduate in attendance, resonates in the choices they will make; the steps they will take. Those words, absorbed by hundreds of family and friends, will find their way to droves of people that never stepped foot on the USC campus, who did not stand, or sit in white fold-out plastic chairs, in the light rain shower on this mid-May day.

The choices she has made, she made bravely and they brought her to this day. The result of the choices I have made lead me to being with her, where we came to celebrate accomplishments, while being reminded that there are more adventures ahead, some through darkness, some in light. The point of those three words, was that, whatever the adventure, the outcome will be more fulfilling, exciting, and include more of one’s own self, if you “Just add bravery.”

Bravely onward,

Loraine

5/10/15 RMB Mother’s Day

5/10/15 RMB Mother’s Day

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Today is Mother’s Day. That is one tough job, equally challenging, whether it is a child or animal being raised. The earth itself is called Mother Earth, makes sense. The one who carries us, feeds us and is present in all our travels.

Looking around there is a subtle realization that every being has had a mother, with her influence from a past generation, and either in greater or lesser measure, there is also an influence by every other interaction, from that of fathers, relatives, friends…invisible links that connect us all, past to present to future.

Bringing light to the links that join us, there is healing and progress in that effort and its outcome. On Mother’s Day we celebrate one version of attachment. It brings good tidings to remember with gratitude, the mothers of our past and appreciate those currently in our lives.

I wonder if there could ever be a time where a reminder to appreciate someone, and the ego’s call to be appreciated, would be replaced with something more constant, a deeper, more ever present gratitude, a gratitude that carries through each day, in every link, such that one would take care of our relations with interactions of respect and kindness. That is a run on sentence, isn’t it? One can get a bit carried away with this stuff.

Mother earth tells me she looks forward to such a time. Me too. For now, all my best to all the mothers out there, from the tiny squirrels gathering breakfast for their young, to the grandmothers and great grandmothers, watching their children mother; to those past looking on from above and to those of our future who will shape the generations of their future.   

All my best,

Loraine