Posts Tagged With ‘ @LIFEPULSE ’

I was sitting at my desk the other day with a characteristically blank look on my face. Anne walked by and asked, “What are you doing?” I said, “Nothing.” “You’re actually doing absolutely nothing?” she asked. “Is that even possible?” “Well, since you seem to be rather insistent about it, I’m drifting,” I said. “Drifting?” “Yes,” I said. “Did you see where that last thought went?” “No.” “Neither did I,” I replied. “And that’s exactly the point. I had the thought. It went somewhere. Now I have to find it.” “What’ll you do with it?” “I don’t... Continue Reading

When I visit schools to share my children’s books, the students always ask, “How do you know anyone will like them?” I say, “I don’t. But if I don’t write and publish them, I’ll never know.” When I write fiction for adults, the adults who read it always ask, “How do you know anyone will like it?” I say, “I don’t. But if I don’t write and publish it, I’ll never know.” When I tell people I’m taking a podcasting workshop because I want to do a podcast of my own, the people I tell always ask, “How do you know anyone will like it?” I say, “I don’t. But if I don’t... Continue Reading

In 1999, I was working at a small public-relations firm in Avon, Connecticut. My dentist was in the next town east, which, oddly enough, is West Hartford. (Everything is relative.) Exiting I-84 on Prospect Street, I drove north on Prospect, intending to turn left onto Farmington Avenue, the street on which my dentist’s office was located. At the intersection of Prospect and Farmington, I was the first to reach the traffic light. It was red. I stopped. I saw a woman step off the curb to my right, intending to cross Prospect Street. Appearing to have some physical and cognitive disabilities,... Continue Reading

Author’s Note: This story is an elaboration on a comment I posted in a thread initiated by my friend, Tammy Eldredge. It’s also a faithful recounting of an actual event and a very valuable lesson. In 1974, I was playing in a band with some guys who rented a house on West Street in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. We rehearsed in that house. The band was your garden-variety, blues-rock cover band. My bandmates and I were your garden-variety, blues-rock amateurs, for which playing in a band was an attempt to do something constructive while we were otherwise getting drunk, high, and myriad other forms... Continue Reading

As readers of my ravings likely know by now, my father was a U.S. Marine. To him — and, so, to us — time was an adversarial construct. There was no later. There was no gradually. There was no patience. There were just two things: (1) Now. (2) Now, God damn it! Growing up in an environment like that makes it rather difficult to come to any sort of peace with time. I’ve come to think that getting bored only means you’ve failed to master the fine art of doing nothing when there’s nothing to be done: a skill you can learn from any house cat. (John Gierach, Fool’s Paradise). I never knew... Continue Reading

The little girl sat quietly with her hands crossed at her wrists. She smoothed out her dress with the frills on the skirt nervously.  Her guardian had told her she needed to be on her best behavior because a lady was coming to meet her. At five years old Donna was what her teachers described as a “very smart child” and she knew what it meant when Mrs. Coombs told her that a lady was coming to meet her.  She knew it meant that if “the lady” liked her, she may take her home on a trial basis. If she was happy with her, then she might consider adopting her. She did not reveal any of this... Continue Reading

I did not grow up with cell phones, social media, or electronics as my main source of communication. It was a different world in the ’60s, ’70s, and even the ’80s. Today, there is information overload, communication via text/email, and a culture that has practically eliminated the art of conversation. If you are of the older generation, I will bet when you attempt to talk to someone today it can be much more difficult than it was in the past. I believe we all know the WHY. What I observe is a lack of true connection, a conversation that is an exchange of thoughts, ideas, perceptions, and... Continue Reading

As a girl of the 1950s and growing up in a small town in Jamaica, I was constantly reminded of the need to be conscious of other people’s opinions. “What will people say?” “What will people think?” “You know, people don’t appreciate that.” Who were these ‘people’ my mother was concerned about and why? It was ingrained in me to be concerned about what people think and avoid offending them. In my story of The Red Dress (below), the opinions of the matrons of our town clearly mattered to my mother. It was only my love for my beloved Cousin Vie at the age of 12, that gave me the... Continue Reading

Shara Lewis-Campbell is the co-founder of Beauty & the Beast Publishing, a book publishing and media company. In the spirit of Nadine Gordimer, Shara believes all writers have a social responsibility in all arenas.  Shara’s speciality involves publishing aspiring writers atypically from the industry, providing them with a voice and opportunity as social beings, creatively through independently published works, using their writings as a formula to demonstrate various aspects within society. It is her mission to create a concrete collective of authors into the industry who write from a place... Continue Reading