My friend, Tosha Michelle, is a woman of many talents. She is a gifted singer, writer, and artist. I am in awe of the skill she displays at all three. I would be happy if I could do one as well as she. In addition to her artistic talent, she is one of the kindest souls I have had the good fortune to meet. And her quirky sense of humor is the perfect finishing touch to her well-rounded personality.
She put her poetic talents on display in her book Confessions of a Reformed Southern Belle: A Poet’s Collection of Love, Loss, and Renewal. She also showed the beginnings of a penchant for long book titles, but I digress… She opened up herself to her readers with the beauty of her words and creativity.
Now Tosha Michelle is back with her own unique take on the self help book: Self
We grow and learn from every trial and test. Listen to the words of Henley. He wrote ” Invictus” in the midst of tragedy. As a child, he had tuberculosis. In his twenties, he came down with an infection that stemmed from his childhood illness. As a result, he had to have his leg amputated . However, even at such a young age, he knew he was captain of his destiny. His soul and spirit were invincible. He refused to be broken. In later years, Henley would recite his poem as a mantra whenever he felt his courage waning. We can let adversity define us, or we can as Henley did, turn our weakest moments into our greatest triumphs
The concept of time is fascinating. From physics to philosophy, the notion of time is difficult to define.
From our normal existence in the world, we often define time as ‘fleeting’ in the sense there is never enough. Frustration builds as the majority of time is spent catching up on work…work that is always running further and further away.
The more worry about time, the less there is.
This has been the script for me this year. Just as I am ready to celebrate and enjoy autumn, this great season is fading fast.
Back in September, I noticed the leaves turning color. But instead of picking up my coat and heading out, I dropped my head for a quick analysis of work and business only to look up a couple of months later to find winter staring me in the face.
Adultery is not a new theme in literature. It’s been featured in the great works of authors like Tolstoy, Fitzgerald, and Goethe to name a few. It is also been the topic of more than a few films and songs. Now contemporary Brazilian author Paulo Coelho gives us his take on the subject in his new work of fiction, adeptly titled Adultery. However, to simply say this is a story of adultery is to miss the deeper nuances of the book but more on that later.
The novel revolves around Linda, a successful Swiss journalist married to a prominent business man who loves her deeply. They seemly have an idealistic life, a happy home and children. Linda is depressed, however, and unsatisfied with her circumstances. Her life has become routine and boring. An interview leads to an affair with an old high school sweetheart. The liaison causes her to reexamine her life as she discovers the passion that had been missing, leaving her with a life altering choice to make.
Adultery is a book about sin, betrayal, self discovery and worth. It’s about reinventing one’s self but at what cost? Voyeuristic in nature, we watch Linda’s downward spiral as she wrestles with depression, monotony, and, later on, appetites that threaten to destroy everything she has. Linda is at times narcissistic and an unsympathetic character, but at other times, she is very relatable. Who among us hasn’t examined our lives at some point and found it lacking? Who hasn’t felt the need for something more; something that defines our lives and gives it worth?
The writing is flawless, the prose tight. Coelho weaves biblical references, Greek mythology and religious history into the tale in a masterful way. He will make you think about your own life, how you cope with the mundane, and how we find meaning in a world that is often banal and hard to understand. Ultimately, Coelho seems to be saying our fate is in our hands, we can choose to constructively change our lives for the better or self implode.
Confessions of a Reformed Southern Belle: A Poet’s Collection of Love, Loss, and Renewal is the first book of poems published by Tosha Michelle. In its pages, readers will find an unique voice; a voice that cries out for universal good in the form of justice, understanding, and love. Her love of books, writing, and creativity in general, come through in vivid display as well.
Join her as she explores the trio of themes from the subtitle: love, loss, and renewal. Fall under the trance of her melodic wordplay, just as I did years ago. Yes, hers is a familiar voice to me as I am fortunate to call her my friend. And I am excited for others who will be introduced to her talent by this book. A word of caution though- be careful of that narcissistic, rock star cat of hers.
Being sensitive and in tune with the world can be very painful. There’s so much suffering. It’s hard not to drown in sorrow, in both our own and others. However, the only way to be is to feel, to give, to love. The challenge is not in the feeling. No, the test, is learning how to navigate the highs and lows of life’s tide, to understand, not only our frailties, but the frailties of others; to embrace the pain, but never lose sight of hope and the healing powers of love. #balance
Wearing our hearts on our sleeves, is dangerous. We run the risk of having them knocked off and broken, but I’d rather take that chance than keep my heart closed off from the world. I just want to feel, live and BE (and eat chocolate, hang out with Jon Stewart and listen to Justin Bieber tunes while solving math problem) Okay, well, maybe not those last two.
“I can’t help it,
I love the broken ones,
The ones who
Need the most patching up.
The ones who
Never been loved,
Never been loved,
Never been loved enough.
Maybe I see a part of me in them.
The missing piece always trying to fit in.
The shattered heart
Hungry for a home.
No, you’re not alone.
I love the broken ones.”
Written eons ago for a grad class..The assignment…go to the mall..observe…write on the “Malling of America”
As I stand observing the myriad of mannequins robotically moving through the mall I can see the “Malling of America,” according to Kowinski, being choreographed. The mesmerizing mosaic visions and Mall-binding merchandising of science fiction mention in the article are paraphernalia are animated in my mind. The Mall mesmerizes me. I can see how we all as consumers are consumed, as Kowinski argues, by the ‘fortress of entertainment that is the mall.”
How can I take a critical step back from the theatre of consumerism? Is it really possible? .Starbucks is calling me and look, Gap is having a sale, and wait I really need a new handbag.. Kowinski explains that the mall has everything and from what I can tell it does. How can I escape from everything and write from an academic perspective without being consumed?
It seems though that humankind has been searching for everything forever and so if the mall gives to us zombie shoppers a sense of “everything” then maybe the mall does becomes the second opinion of the masses or the second garden of Eden. How can I critically escape from Paradise without being lost or taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, or at least purchasing those sweet Jimmy Choo shoes.
I have no doubt that I can be consumed by consuming as I watch the night of the living dead play out before me. As I watch the unfolding chaos I find a comforting hypnotic way of being and the bewitching power of consumerism casts its spell over me. I struggle to focus and become again a critical observer. Maybe the mall is a form of escapism.
Rothstein seems to argue that escape from anywhere is not possible as we have nothing to escape from because in a post modern environment we are connected to nothing. Rothstein argues that our trends come and go so fast that there is nothing we can stick to and that there is nothing traditional to shape or guide our lives. In this sense as a consumer I am become just a random shape shifter that does not remember what it was, what I was last consumed by or what it will be that consumes me next.
As I stand back and observe I can’t help but feel that as consumers we are consumed, simultaneously, by our history and by our future and mall illuminates every dimension of whom we were and who we are. The mall identifies to the critical observer that we are constantly consumed by change; changes from both the past and the presence. The Zeitgeist consumes us as we consume the Zeitgeist T S Elliot’s presence of the past is perpetually swirling around our minds as we are consumed within the fortress of entertainment.
“Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present”
Everything I Never Told You 