Be Creating

Star Trek Star Trek, the original series starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley was a show I grew up watching with my dad.  He and I loved to sit and become absorbed in the adventure, the technology and the possibilities of other worlds.  I must admit on some level I liked it even more when I found out my mother didn’t like the show and thought it was unrealistic.  Unrealistic or futuristic I’m not sure – but the themes they dealt with were controversial and all around me.  For me, Star Trek invited people to explore their belief systems through story in a way that was acceptable for its time.  Episodes like The Enemy Within – where Kirk splits in two creating an evil and good Captain Kirk or Let That Be Your Last Battlefield – where we encounter Bele who has been pursing Lokai for over 50,000 earth years for allegedly leading a revolt of people who are black on the left side against the ruling order which is black on the right sid...

Paulo Coelho Monica Haim captures what I believe to be the essence of Paulo Coelho in these words – “Through the many spiritual ruminations of The Big C —he who has tread the paths of the hippie, the Jesuit, the occultist, the lawyer, the mental asylum inhabitant, the writer and the misunderstood son—we can come to terms with the world through the soul of a seeker and the heart of a poet.” Although I have never met Paulo and I know little about him, his influence on my thinking has been vast. I feel as if we are kindred spirits. He has inspired me as a person, as a spiritual being and as a writer. I envy his ability to wrap a spiritual lesson in a story told in the style of a fable. He is a true Dreamweaver. Like Coelho I believe, “People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” Like him, I try to build this into my writing and additionally into my teaching. Three themes flow thorough his work: live in the moment, look within and life is a s...