Dear Tom,
I received an email from a mutual dear friend wondering if I was okay. Apparently my letters seemed way to depressing. I told her I was in Santa Barbara where nothing is depressing, and she was relieved. Actually the homeless situation here is depressing, but that’s another story. I hope other readers don’t find our discussion a downer. I’ll try to be more upbeat.
As we have discussed, my writing novels has made me so happy, but it has taken me off the American Merry Go Round of always seeking more and needing more, worried that I am always one step away from falling off a cliff. This way of life turns out not to be helpful in the search for our true place on earth. Interestingly, falling, failing, and crashing and burning often help a lot. I never recommend that someone fail in business, marriage, or obeying the law, but there a lot of examples of people who needed that kind of shove to discover what they were born to be.
It is with that observation I have come to believe that just about every one worth their salt at one time or the other has been exposed to the world as being flawed. We need to look at those who are spending time in the wilderness as a great opportunity for character development, empathy for others, and growth in spirit. Anne Lamott says periods in the wilderness are not lost time, but time to find life, wildflowers, fossils, and sources of life giving water.
Till next time friend, Webb
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