More Space to Write

Dear Readers,

I have been accepted to another writing website, www.life123.com, and I am thrilled. If you go to the site, simply enter "Pamela Mooman" in the SEARCH box, and my first article will come up. Rest assured there will be more quite soon.

I am busy trying to get the word out, so please share with anyone you think will be interested. I profit by readers going to my articles. Thank you.

But writing and creating is not just about profit. And creating is not just about writing a book, or dancing en pointe across a stage, or making a painting that takes someone's breath away.

Creation is involved in just about every aspect of daily life. Building a creative life is the greatest act of all, for one is connected to the Light within when this happens, to the Great Creator within.

Arrange flowers in a vase, plant a garden, cook a tasty and tasteful dinner for your family--all these are acts of creation.

One creates for the sheer joy of it. That is all there is. The feeling of fingers flying across the page because of the connection to the Light inside that drives one to create is one of the best feelings in the world. Dancers, painters, sculptors, writers--they can all tell you.

Be present in the NOW. Do not focus on the past or too much on the future. When you are doing something, do that thing, wholely and completely. Be in the moment, where creativity lives. And then good things will happen, especially the Light growing brighter inside.

Until next time.

As always, yours.
...A Lady (Pamela Mooman)

Journal of a Solitude (of sorts)

Dear All,

Journal of a Solitude. What a name that is! And how I should like to use it for a book I am working on, but May Sarton already beat me to it, and did a very fine job.

So I do not know yet what I will call the journal, both here in this blog, and written, of my days here back in my hometown area. I am not in the exact town I grew up in, but in a small city just up the road a few miles.

I grew up here as an outcast. No, I am not imagining it. I was. People actually shot guns at my parents' house. That is a sign that someone truly dislikes one, when they take to shooting at them.

I still feel like an outsider here. That's because I am. I feel as if I am in a strange world, on a different planet, than where I moved from in San Antonio.

Today, I am feeling misplaced, wary, and, as part of a tiny slice of each moment, perhaps wishing that I could turn back time and make a different decision.

But I cannot, and looking back is useless. Only the lessons should carry forward. Not any longing or emotions attached to things that have been. And decisions that have been made.

So I am here for one year, and will document my experiences. Perhaps, in the timeless words of Elizabeth Gaskell, "You can't go back."

That could be my title.

Until next time.

Yours, always,
A Lady (Pamela Mooman)

ON Writing Again

Dear All,

My, my, it has been quite awhile since I posted, has it not? I have missed writing very much, as it is a natural part of me, as is breathing and my heart pumping. Almost involuntary, it drives me to sit and put words on paper (or screen, as it were).

My move to Angleton, Texas, is now complete, and I am settled in pretty well. The gardens and lawns are a mess, but I bought some plants today and will be working on that. I find that gardening, as does playing my beloved piano, also feed a strong urge that spills over into my writing.

It is as if these things spring from the same fountainhead, so closely connected are they.

One could analyse all day, but rather than doing that, I think I shall just enjoy. Enjoy the doing, rather than the talking about.

Until next time, then.

Yours, as always.

A Lady (Pamela Mooman)

Disappointment--and Handling Such

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thought I had found a literary agency ready to accept my manuscript, to work with me through the arduous process from idea to reality to finished, bound product to be marketed to readers, but it was not meant to be.

The company is one of those that preys upon writers, and it demanded a fee for a "pro critique" of my writing.

It all sounds so good on paper, but it is not real. Like everything else. It is perception and illusion. And I will continue shopping for an agent who IS real, who does want my manuscript on its own merits, and who will work with me to see it in print.

What I did in lieu of crying was write an article on the theme of disappointment in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. I tried to put my feelings to positive use and not give up, as Jane Bennet never gave up on Mr. Bingley, and in the end, was rewarded for her loyal heart with a marriage proposal.

In my case, the reward would be a legitimate writing contract. And so, until then, I bid you adieu.

Yours, always,

...A Lady (Pamela Mooman)

Wrong time, wrong place?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I hope this finds everyone well. And feeling comfortable in their skin, in their time and place.

Sometimes, especially after I have been reading or studying Jane Austen's works or letters for a particularly extended time, I begin to think that perhaps I would have been best as a Regency-era female.

But times were hard then, as they are in any period of life. If women did not have a family inheritance or family support, they had to marry or "degrade" themselves and seek work as a teacher or more usually, a governness. For men with no family inheritance, they, likewise, needed a financially-profitable marriage, or else look to the military or the clergy for a viable career.

So then I think, although I admire Jane Austen greatly, perhaps I am in the time and place I am supposed to be, if only to carry on the true, simple values that make life meaningful, as Jane did for her predecessors. I call her by her Christian name, because I feel close to her, as if we are friends.

I think we are.

That said, perhaps there is more all of us can do to give our lives more grace and meaning, each day. Offer to let someone go ahead of you in a queue. Let someone slip into the traffic lane ahead of you. Smile at someone and say "hello."

We are giving gifts not only to others when we live with grace where we are, but also to ourselves.

Yours, as always,
A Lady (P. Mooman)

Positivity vs. Negativity

Dear Friends,

It is a choice, really. Being positive vs. negative. To allow positivity to triumph, we must go below the surface, deeper than our feelings, to the truth. Feelings, feelings, feelings; there will always be feelings of anger, of fear, of jealousy, of self-doubt.

But we are NOT our feelings. Below these tricksters lies knowledge; knowledge we have inherently and discover by going within, looking into our hearts, rather than letting "monkey mind" (in some philosophies, the term for an uncontrolled mind, untrained by meditation) get the better of us.

Especially for creative persons (which really is everyone, as we all have different talents -- there is as much creativity in a meal carefully prepared with love as there is in other more flamboyant forms of art) it is important to stay positive as often as possible, for there are great creative powers to tap into from a positive spirit.

Certainly, the myth is that pain is the only thing that creates great art. Perhaps this is because pain makes us focus on details, and art is comprised of such. All of us, no matter how positive we try to be throughout life, will experience pain. Singer Sting advised going out and getting pain if one does not have any, because that is the only way to create.

Well, show me someone who has not experienced pain, and I have some desert property in Montana I would like to sell you.

Try to stay plugged in to those positive thoughts as much as possible, and when you simply cannot, try to find some time alone just to sit or lie still for awhile, listening for that "still small voice."

You will always find it, if you listen hard enough.

Yours, as always,

A Lady (P. Mooman)

Ways to Spend a Life

Today I wrote an article entitled "A Brief Biography of Jane Austen." And indeed it was that -- brief. It is hard to cover such a brief, beautiful life with my inadequate words.

Studying how much Jane Austen accomplished in her brief life, how much joy and love she brought to others, made me wonder what I have actually accomplished with my time.

I have written some non-fiction that meant something to some people, which I suppose is better than nothing. But what larger influence have I had on those whose lives I have touched?

Sadly, I have to say I am not sure. I am not sure if anyone I have ever met remembers me as soon as I am out of sight. Of course, a few do. No need to wallow in self-pity here. But I am thinking of perhaps working harder to create a larger circle of joy and love around my being.

To all those reading this, thank you, and the very best to you.

Yours, as always,

A Lady (P. Mooman)