In product management, Moshe started his career on the engineering side, specifically within the enterprise real-time B2B software space. He fell in love with product management after seeing the gap that existed between what customers wanted and what engineering produced. Moshe enjoys applying his lean iterative approach to develop products that exceed users’ expectations.
Being a creative person, Moshe paints and write, and lives to bring from his Hewish heritage into all his creative endeavors.
Living in Toronto, he can’t stand the cold winters but loves his Canadian home and the maple trees all over.
Creator Institute at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. program at New Degree Press
Agatha Christie, famous mystery author
Pauline Gedge, author of, Child of the Morning: A Novel (Rediscovered Classics, with Michelle Moran), The Twelfth Transforming (Rediscovered Classics) and more.
Steven Saylor, author of Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome Book 1, Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome, Book 2, Dominos: A Novel of the Roman Empire, Book 3
Ellis Peters, Cadfael series
Nora Roberts, romance and mystery author as J. D. Robb
“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist
“When you feel sad, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Everyone has those days when you doubt yourself, and when you feel like everything you do sucks, but then there’s those days when you feel like Superman. It’s just the balance of the world. I just write to feel better.” ~ Mac Miller
“No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.” ~ Louise L. Hay
I teach my dramatic structure students that there are two kinds of conflict in a story, internal and external. This week has been one with lots of external conflict for me, but really when I examine all the stressful things that happened, mostly on Tuesday, I realize that all the stress I was feeling was caused by MY REACTION to the external events. I stressed myself out.
I’ve written here before that I want to quit teaching. But just when I was ready to quit, I met my friend Dave, a theatre professional. I felt like he was the perfect person to take over all my classes. He and I have been team teaching acting class for several semesters now and the students blossom from his encouragement and great tips on how to connect with their characters. The thing is, he didn’t have his Masters which is required to teach at the community college level. I think this is silly given the fact that Dave has over 40 years experience in theatre in general and 25 years as a professional.
But put that aside for a moment. This week it became extremely clear to me that I chose to sacrifice what I wanted and needed for my own well being, so I could leave the small, but growing theatre program at my college in good hands.
In religious terms a sacrifice is often given for the greater good of the collective. People who sacrifice themselves for a cause are considered holy or at the very least the best of humanity. I think we’ve been hoodwinked by theologies that teach those views. It’s one thing if a person feels a calling to be in the spotlight and do big things for the greater good of humanity. It’s another to go against your calling and obligate yourself because you think you should. In reality, every person who fulfills their purpose IS working for the greater good of all. Their role may be small, but that’s how things are built, one small step at a time.
I’ve been going against my calling for the last year and a half. This week I had a melt down, which I rarely do anymore. It was one of those days when almost everything that could go wrong did. The next morning I woke up and I was furious that I found myself in a situation that I have wanted to shed for a long time.
You know, I believe that self-examination is one of the most sacred things we can do. I’ve been forced by this week’s circumstances into actually noticing how I feel about all the work I’ve been doing to manipulate a situation that I don’t even want to be a part of anymore.
As I wrote in my journal, I realized that my parents and even the church in which I grew up, taught that self-sacrifice was what God wanted of me. But I remembered what Neale Donald Walsch wrote in the first Conversations with God book, “God doesn’t want anything from you.” He had asked God what he wanted from us and that was His response. But man, when I read that all those years ago, that statement resonated in my soul. I’m good enough as I am and God doesn’t need anything from me because She already has everything, or can create everything She needs.
It’s hard to acknowledge that I chose to sacrifice these two years so Dave and the college could benefit. However, balancing what I feel is my purpose, with helping someone else fulfill theirs, is starting to wear on me and I have some decisions to make.
First, I handed over some tasks having to do with the theatre club that Dave and I started, to the students.
Second, I’ve asked for some Divine help in striking a better balance with growing my business, and being the place holder at the college until Dave is ready to take over.
Third, I’m going to take little bits of time off to regain my equilibrium. My soul is exhausted. The melt down is telling me that I’ve also invested too much time in worrying about all that’s going on right now. I mean if you watch the news, it looks pretty grim. And yet, I believe that we’ve been saved so many times throughout the ages because we, humanity, has a huge divine purpose. I don’t know what that purpose is, but I feel that we wouldn’t be here going through all this EXPLETIVE, for no reason. I don’t believe in a random, chaotic universe even though it looks like that’s what’s happening sometimes. I believe everything that happens, and what we decide to go through, has a purpose.
And since that’s the case, my decision to “sacrifice” my time to help Dave and others right now, has a divine purpose too. It brought me to the huge realization that I need never sacrifice myself or my purpose again. This week has helped me clear out some old beliefs that never were valid but I accepted as truth.
Now the clouds are clearing in my mind, I’m going back to the beliefs that I’m enough as I am. I don’t need to cling to roles in life that no longer serve me. I can live in joy even though I’ve gone against my better judgement to help my friend. I can choose to see this as the perfect time of transition from one chapter of my life to the next.
I hope you are all doing well. Are you experiencing changes in your lives? I’d be interested to read your thoughts.
Welcome new followers and thanks for reading and commenting. Feel free to share this blog or my podcasts with your friends and family.
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Dr. Brene Brown Speaking at Texas Conference for Women
“You’ll be amazed how much you have in common with Edith Wharton (who struggled to feel worthy of success), Louisa May Alcott (who badly needed money), Madeleine L’Engle (Who could have papered an entire house with her rejection letters), and other writers …” ~ Nava Atlas, The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life
“I have challenged fate to chess and am now attempting to keep all my confidence from puddling in my boots. What if I’m the only one betting on myself because everyone but me can see I am not suited to play at all?” ~ Mackenzi Lee, The Lady’s guide to Petticoats and Piracy
“Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene.” ~ A. C. Benson
I’ve done a lot of work on self-love over the years and I was feeling pretty smug. I believed that for the last chapter of my life, I didn’t have much work to do. I could just sit back and enjoy doing what I love with very little struggle. Then a few things came into my awareness and I realized that these shifts and changes I feel coming are not just happening on a global level, but for me on a personal level as well.
I might have missed them if I wasn’t someone who pays attention to every encounter, every bit of entertainment, and everything I read. One of the first indications came only a couple of days ago, when spiritual teacher, Amanda Ellis was very vulnerable in a video she posted on Instagram. She shared with us her almost debilitating bout of self-doubt. I was moved by what she said and the first little inkling that she and I had something in common jangled in my heart. I realized that I’ve been feeling unworthy of my new group of guests that I found through PodMatch. They are all so talented and seemingly confident in what they are creating, that I’ve had a little feeling of imposter syndrome. Who am I to be interviewing these amazingly talented people?
The next confirmation I got was from the TV show, Ted Lasso. Dr. Sharon Fieldstone, one of the new characters in season two, asks Ted when she first meets him, if he’s good at his job. He hesitates a moment and then says, “Yes,” to which Dr. Sharon answers, “Well, as good as you are at your job, I’m twice as good at mine.” I loved that she was so confident. I wanted to be like her. Then in a later episode when Ted goes to see her, and challenges her for charging for helping people, I felt a little uncomfortable because I feel guilty for asking people to support my work with money. But in this latest episode, Dr. Sharon admitted to Ted that he taught her that she needed to be more vulnerable with her patients in order to give them the most help. “You helped me be a better Doctor.” And that’s when it all came together in my head and heart.
As I just wrote, I’ve done so much work on loving myself throughout the years, but since I’m still here, I’m obviously not done yet. If the human race is to evolve, our personal work can never end. So another piece of my effort is to believe that what I create for others is worth financial compensation. Creators deserve to be paid for their work because a great deal of time, energy, and sometimes education goes into creating each piece.
But the biggest realization I’ve had is that, I can no longer play small. I’ve written my book(s), started this blog, and my podcast for a reason. At this point I don’t know who will be affected by them but they are important. My second book is important, but I’ve put off finishing it because I feel inadequate to the story that wants to be told. It’s kind of big. I’m not a big person. I’ve worked to stay small. And yet, it feels like those small roles I’ve played in my life are over now. I’ve even had conversations with my recent guests about this very subject. They and I have stepped into creative roles that could potentially put us in the spotlight. And we’ve talked about how we have to be okay with that.
I hope, if I become more famous, it doesn’t happen like it did to Brené Brown. She’d been a researcher, hunkered down in her lab studying how guilt and shame affect us. At some point she was asked to do a TED Talk, and feeling like she was an imposter she agreed to share some of what she’d learned. Her talk struck a chord with millions of people. It’s one of the most watched TED Talk videos of all time and she has shared how debilitating it was to become famous almost over night.
If I gain thousands of followers, I hope it happens gradually. That would be fantastic. I would have time to get used to the additional attention. But sometimes we’re thrust into situations and have to learn to navigate our new life the best we can. I’ve got to trust that I will be able to face whatever comes because there’s no going back now. In a way, I’m excited to see what happens.
I haven’t written this in a while, but I appreciate all of you who follow this blog and my podcast. I love it when you comment. I hope you will share both of them with your friends and family. Let’s create a supportive community. And I hope you won’t be afraid to follow your dreams. You never know who needs your message.
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Jonathan and his wife Eva make Nature Narratives together because every time they look at nature, they are always amazed. With Jonathan’s writing and audio background as a songwriter and composer and Eva’s teaching expertise as an elementary school teacher, they craft each episode of Nature Narratives to tell an amazing story about a natural phenomenon. The episodes educate, entertain, and inspire wonder.
“The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.” ~ Jim Hightower
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” ~ Steve Jobs
I am a true believer that The Universe, or The Divine, or whatever you want to call it, has our backs. Its on our side. It wants us to succeed, to grow, to leave fear, greed, and the lust for power behind so planet Earth is a more peaceful place to live. But in order to do that, we have to survive as a species.
I’m not an expert on history, but I do know there have been crucial times when humanity could have been killed off. Most of those times occurred in the 20th and 21st Centuries. For some reason we have always been saved. Maybe it’s because someone could see the consequences of the path humanity was on, that we were going to destroy ourselves unless they took action. This has happened in so many ways too numerous to recount here. I want to share one that I recently discovered in a recent movie that Barry and I watched the other day on Amazon Prime Video.
It’s The Courier, a Cold War drama based on actual events and people. In 1960, Oleg Penkovsky, a high ranking Soviet official is terrified by Khrushchev’s rhetoric of power and his desire to use his nuclear arsenal to prove it. At one point later in the movie, Penkovsky says to Emily Donovan, the CIA agent, “Khrushchev. Khrushchev frightens me. He is impulsive, chaotic – a man like that should not have nuclear commands.” He is so frightened, that he contacts officials at MI6, who then contact the CIA. They in turn recruit globe trotting British business man Grenville Wynne, to receive Penkovsky’s communiques and deliver them. This begins shortly after the first scenes in 1960 and eventually helps the U.S. get photographic proof of the nuclear arms build up on Cuba and helps President Kennedy avert a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
During this crucial time, they were betrayed by a middle ranking official in the American or British Embassy and arrested. When Penkovsky comes home to get his wife and daughter so they can escape with the help of the CIA, the KGB officers are there waiting for him. The head KGB official orders Penkovsky to tell his wife why he’s being arrested. He says, “I’m a traitor.” And Barry said, “Yes, and saved the world.” Penkovsky and Wynne saved the world from nuclear destruction because they had the courage to try to save us. Wynne is reluctant at first, naturally. He’s a business man, not a spy. But Penkovsky says to him, “Grenville, we are only two people. But this is how things change.”
To me people like Penkovsky and Wynne were being guided by something higher than themselves. There are people like them blowing whistles on wrongs being committed all over the world. Most of them are not exposing situations as dire as nuclear war. But every time someone risks losing their job, or their reputation, or their life by speaking out, the trajectory of humanity is changed. It’s been changing a lot lately. Thank heavens!
Those of us who are awake have to stand up for each other, and stand up for what’s right where we live. I’m not going to save the world by making sure we don’t blow ourselves up. But I can be a cheerleader for my students. I can help them develop their talents and gain confidence in who they are. Every person who heals, heals the world and makes it a better place to live. I can also spread the word about the good work my podcast guests are doing. Every little bit of positive progress helps us.
After watching The Courier, I felt like I needed to thank Penkovsky and Wynne for saving my life, and the lives of everyone and everything on the planet. What they did was extremely important and I’m grateful to them for risking their lives for us.
I hope you watch The Courier. It depicts a very scary time in human history. I was in third grade at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. My parents, and almost every other adult I knew, were glued to the news. Fear was like a thick blanket of clouds darkening everything happening for those few terrifying days.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand that fear is our true enemy, not each other. If we can dispel fear, that’s one of the best things we can accomplish during our lifetimes.
Have a peaceful weekend. Thanks for reading and following my poor attempts to make sense out of what’s happening in the world.
Sage Woman Chronicles 