Little Women Love

Civil War Woman

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” ~ Emily Dickinson

“I have decided to stick with love . Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

In this turbulent time, you might be looking for a book, or other entertainment, that makes you feel good. I have a recommendation for you. I recently finished reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Somehow I missed reading it in school. I’ve seen three movie versions of the story and loved them all, so I want to see this latest version too. I missed it in the theater but being the story nerd that I am, I will watch it and make comparisons to all previous versions and the book.

The thing I’ve always loved about this story is the close family relationships. The way the March family looks for ways to help others, even though they are poor. They spread love wherever they go. That’s not to say they’re perfect. They make plenty of mistakes but their practice of helping those in need demonstrates that they are unique among their acquaintances. Their philanthropy rubs off on their surly neighbor Mr. Laurence and his grandson Teddy. Mr. Brooke, Teddy’s tutor also becomes part of the March family. It’s almost as if the March family are magnets for dejected, lonely, and wounded people. Something about the love they feel for each other bubbles over washing people to their shore where they are welcomed whole heartedly.

Some time last year, I listened to Anne Bogel’s new podcast “One Great Book”. This particular one was about the book Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos. Anne quoted Marisa as saying, I’m paraphrasing here, that she writes books that she hopes will make people feel good when they’ve finished reading. I love that philosophy. Those are the kinds of books I want to write and for the most part the ones I like to read. Because life is hard enough and it’s good to envision a world with lots of love in it. Little Women is a great example of that kind of book.

Some critics don’t like the book or the movies because the story is centered on the March sisters and their mother. But some of the most iconic books ever written were by and about women. I don’t want to make too much of the differences between male and female oriented books, though I do want to point out that in stories written by women, their protagonists have tremendous power over the men in their lives. Their power is subtle and non coercive, but highly effective.

The last chapter of Little Women, affected me the most. It’s Marmee’s 60th birthday. Jo and Friedrich have opened a school for boys in the house Aunt March left to Jo. The boys and the entire March/Brooke/Bhaer families have gathered for a lovely day of apple harvesting and feasting. The school is unique because the boys are treated with respect. They are encouraged to be themselves but always to think of others first. The celebration is full of warmth and love. Everyone is happy and fulfilled. They all honor Marmee and acknowledge that she is the heart of their family. The way Alcott wrote the scene, I couldn’t help but be affected by the shared affections of the characters. This is one of those rare books that made me want to savor the feeling it left instead of beginning another book right away.

There was one thing, however, that disappointed me at first. Jo was determined to open a school just for boys and not include girls. I didn’t understand that. Granted, the school took boys in need as well as boys who’s families could afford to pay, But previous to the last chapter, the book had been focused on the lives of the sisters, their dreams, their affection for each other and their choices to be the best women they could be. But then it occurred to me that Jo was performing a great act of feminism. What better way to change the world than to teach boys to respect and honor themselves and all people? The family already advocated for women. It was as if Jo saw where she could do the most good. I’m not sure Alcott even thought about this aspect of Jo’s decision to open a school for boys, but I’d like to think she did.

I highly recommend not only reading Little Women, but watching any or all of the versions as well to see how the story has evolved through the years. It’s a hopeful story and most of us can use a big dose of good feelings right now.

Thanks for reading, liking and commenting on my posts. If you like what you read, please share this site with your friends.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a little bit like Outlander in that it’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, novel. Except that Jenna’s life is shattered and she must find a way to put it back together. When she finds old journals, she joins consciousness with her three-times great-grandmother, Morgan, rather than traveling physically. She is able to come back at intervals and apply what she’s learned to her own life situations.

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. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.

Let the Characters Make the Mistakes

Marco Polo Sings A Solo

“People of the future may suffer not from an absence of choice but from a paralyzing surfeit of it. They may turn out to be victims of that peculiarly super-industrial dilemma: overchoice.” ~ Alvin Toffler author of Future Shock

“A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension.” ~ Oliver Wendell Homes

Do you yell at the characters on the TV, or in your books? I do all the time. I want my favorite character to be protected and to make the best moral choices even in the most dire of circumstances. And if they don’t I want to see why they followed a path that I naïvely think I would not choose.

Recently my husband and I binge watched three shows on TV that have good characters faced with moral dilemmas that I hope I never have to deal with. These shows were the last season of The Man in the High Castle, the last season of Poldark, and season two of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Each one, in it’s own way, is suspenseful has plenty of twists and turns, and points when the characters have to make moral decisions. That gives me opportunities to think about how I’d react to the given circumstances in which they find themselves. As you can imagine, I do a lot of cringing and giving them advice.

The Man in the High Castle is the show I want to write about because it’s the one I have been thinking about the most. It’s chock full of moral dilemmas. And as I wrote above, I find myself wondering what I’d do in those circumstances.

The story is based on the dystopian novel of the same name by Phillip K. Dick, a famous pioneer of the the sci-fi genre. It takes place in the mid-60s. The Axis Powers won WW II. Germany has control of the eastern part of what was the United States, as well of all of Europe, and Japan has control of the western part as well as most of Asia. There is a neutral zone in the Rockies where Jews, people of color, and those who want to resist these powers attempt to escape to so they can eek out a living. This is also the headquarters of the resistance movement which grows stronger as the series moves through the four seasons.

The key plot point that moves the story forward is the existence of films distributed by the mysterious “Man in the High Castle.” No one knows who he is or how he got these films that show the history familiar to us where the Allies won the war. As more and more people see the news reels they begin to hope that the oppressive governments can be defeated.

One of the things I love about the series is that the pivotal character is a woman by the name of Juliana Crain. From the moment she sees the first film that happens to feature people she knows in her world, in the other world, she’s on a mission to not only find the man in the high castle, but to bring about the destruction of the Nazi and Japanese empires. Her nemesis is John Smith, an American, who rises to be the leader of the American Reich.

The series forces the watcher to ask themselves how could any Americans throw in the with Nazis, especially military men who were fighting for freedom? They are the more dominant empire on the continent, though we do see how American’s are treated as second class citizens by the Japanese. It’s bad enough for whites, but Jews and people of color are in extreme danger.

One of the brilliant choices the film makers made was to wait to show the moment when John Smith and his wife decide to save themselves and their family by joining the Nazi party. Their decision is portrayed in one of the last episodes of the final season. It’s titled “Mauvaise Foi,” which is a French term originating from existentialist philosophy. It’s the concept that human beings adopt false values and act inauthentically (in bad faith) under pressure from social forces. And as we know, the Nazis were experts at setting up situations where people were forced to make bad faith decisions, or be destroyed.

In the show, after the surrender of the Allied Forces, the Nazis have starved the American people. They then “benevolently” air drop, or ship food and other necessities to all the major cities assuring the populace that they will be taken care of IF they join with the Nazis to ensure a prosperous new future.

I couldn’t help wondering what I would do if I were in that situation. When this happens in the story, we see John and his wife Helen trying to care for their infant son, who’s health is rapidly declining because of lack of food. Would I be able to let my child die for my principles? I might have made the same decision even though in my heart I knew it was wrong.

One thing that great stories do is allow us to see the consequences of character’s choices. For Juliana, her choice to learn all she can from the films, to practice the Japanese form of meditation, and to resist the oppressors, turn out to be transformative for her personally, and for the society. In the case of John and Helen, their decision to become Nazis turns out, dare I say, satisfyingly tragic.

In each of the TV shows I mentioned above, the hero characters have strong ideas about what is right and what is wrong. They sometimes make mistakes, but in the end they choose the moral high ground and win because of it. This does two things for me: One, make me pay attention to my own choices. Am I kind, do I show I care for the planet, do I stand up for what I believe? And two, gives me hope that if more and more of us on this planet choose the moral high ground, we will eventually create a better world. Am I delusional to hope for that do you think?

Thanks for reading, liking and commenting. If you like these posts, please share them with your friends.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a little bit like Outlander in that it’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, novel. Except that Jenna’s life is shattered and she must find a way to put it back together. When she finds old journals, she joins consciousness with her three-times great-grandmother, Morgan, rather than traveling physically. She is able to come back at intervals and apply what she’s learned to her own life situations.

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. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.

Why Stories Are Important

Little Women Illustration

“And it’s a human need to be told stories. The more we’re governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.” ~ Alan Rickman

Today is my first acting class of the semester. For the first time in eleven years of teaching at the college, I have almost as many acting II students as I have in acting I, thanks to my collaborations with Dave Dahl. We’ve always offered acting I and II concurrently because very few students continue on after they’ve taken the first semester. I can understand why. They take acting for a fun fine art credit. They are not theatre majors, but Cochise College follows the Liberal Arts model. Every student, no matter what their major, must take one or two classes of math, and/or science, English, social science, fine art, and maybe even foreign language. I like this model because, as I learned during my undergraduate career, my world expanded more by having a smattering of exposure to disciplines I normally would not study.

Because of my Liberal Arts education, I want to continue learning more about the social sciences, history, and even about scientific discoveries. But story telling has always been the thing I’m drawn to the most. That’s how I ended up involved in theatre and that’s why I became a writer.

Here is what I tell my acting students: By studying acting, even for a semester, they should become better listeners, have a better understanding of human behavior, which in turn should help them be more sympathetic and even empathetic. All of those budding skills should help them in their future lives as they communicate with family, friends, and co-workers. But the biggest benefit of acting is learning to understand who they are, because acting is all about demonstrating the emotions of the characters they play. They have to dig deep to find the ways they are like their characters.

Another thing studying stories in the various forms does for us is to help us experience life in ways we would not be able to do otherwise. Maybe that’s why I love stories that are big sweeping epics and stories about quiet inner struggles. Right now I’m reading Louisa May Alcott’s book, Little Women. I’ve seen and loved three movie versions and will see this latest one as well, but for some reason I’d never read the book. I’m so glad I waited.

I never thought of it when I watched the various versions of the movie, but Little Women is as much a feminist story as are all of Jane Austen’s works or those of the Brontë sisters. The feminism is subtle. Each of the stories show women living their lives the best way they can given the restrictions they face and in the end most of the character’s dreams come true. Another thing I love about these stories is that each character has a different dream just like men do. Yes, most of them want to become wives and mothers, but they have other aspirations as well. They want to live well rounded lives combining home life with using their talents for the good of others.

In recent years most of the books I’ve read are by women authors. It wasn’t a conscious decision. And it’s not that I don’t like books written by men, or even movies about and by men, It’s that I long to see the world through a different perspective. The male view of life has been so prevalent that when a “women’s” story comes along it gets lots of scrutiny and even criticism that I think is unfair.

With the idea of expanding my world view in mind, this year I want to read and watch stories from other countries. It’s a good way to broaden my understanding of human nature and see the world from a new perspective.

Thanks for reading, liking and commenting. If you like what you read here, please share it with a friend.

Have a blessed weekend.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a little bit like Outlander in that it’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, novel. Except that Jenna’s life is shattered and she must find a way to put it back together. When she finds old journals, she joins consciousness with her three-times great-grandmother, Morgan, rather than traveling physically. She is able to come back at intervals and apply what she’s learned to her own life situations.

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. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.

Losing Myself in a Creative Project

Lucinda’s birthday present, painted by Xo Terra

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ~ Maya Angelou

We’re back from vacation and I’m keeping the promise to myself to work on my novel before I do any other work. I know, it’s only a few days, but today when the timer went off, I didn’t want to stop working. So, I didn’t. I had forgotten how many scenes I had already written. Of course not all of them will be included in the final book, but it was nice to know I am well on my way to finishing the rough draft.

At the moment I’m interweaving Jenna and Morgan’s stories from their respective time periods. Then I’ll be able to see what needs to be added and what portions slow the story down and must be cut. Some writers love the initial work of creating their story. Not me. I love the revision process. One of my favorite things to do is to figure out the plot points of a movie I’ve watched or story I’ve read and it’s no different when I’m revising my books. I’m nerdy that way. Reading the different segments and figuring out how to put them into the modern plot outline helps me understand the shape of the story I’m trying to tell.

This realization, that I love to lose myself in writing, relates to my spiritual practice as well. Over the last few years I’ve practiced staying in the moment, rather than worrying about the future or regretting what happened in the past. Today as I read and revised, and moved segments of my story around, it felt as if time had truly stopped. I was in a kind of no man’s land of flowing creativity. It felt good. It’s a different feeling than the sense of accomplishment of ticking tasks off my to do list. Some people get great satisfaction out of doing that. I don’t feel that way. Yes, I’m happy to have accomplished lots of tasks, but it doesn’t feed my soul like becoming immersed in a creative project does.

This feeling of losing myself in working on my novel, will, I hope, keep me in the mode of putting it first day after day. I do at times feel tempted to go back on my resolve, but that’s just a matter long held habits.

What I’m coming to realize is that I must get back to compartmentalizing my tasks. When I was working on my first B.A., I soon realized that I could get overwhelmed with all the reading and homework I was required to do. I have no idea where this idea came from, but I decided that to stay sane, I had to pick one bit of work, do that, and then choose the next until all the tasks were finished. Since my life is going through a transition, and will be getting more busy, I think it’s time to revive that long forgotten practice only this time I’m giving the thing I love best the top priority.

I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if everyone put aside what they “should” do and worked on what their hearts longed to do. Barry and I had a friend long ago who said, “Should is a four letter word.” And she was right. We might have fewer people on anti-depressants and fewer grumps if everyone avoided that word “should”.

If you could do anything you wanted to do, what would that be? What’s stopping you from doing it? How does that make you feel? I’m just curious because those are questions I’ve asked myself many times over the years.

Maybe 2020 is the year for all of us to find a way to follow our passions.

Thanks for commenting and liking my posts. I appreciate the feedback.

Welcome new followers. If you like this blog, share it with a friend. Let’s create a better world together.

Have a blessed weekend.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a little bit like Outlander in that it’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, novel. Except that Jenna’s life is shattered and she must find a way to put it back together. When she finds old journals, she joins consciousness with her three-times great-grandmother, Morgan, rather than traveling physically. She is able to come back at intervals and apply what she’s learned to her own life situations.

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. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.

New Adventures for a New Year

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. ~ Seneca

Last week I wrote about the possibility of new opportunities at the college, but I brushed over an invitation to contribute to the spirituality site, Sivana. This serendipitous event happened because during meditation one day I said to the Universe, “I’d really like to have someone read my written work and offer me the chance to reach more people.” A few weeks later I got an email from someone at Sivana that read something like, “We saw an article you wrote on She Writes, (a social media site for writers) and want to invite you to submit articles to our blog.” At first I thought it was a scam. But after checking them out on both the web and Facebook, I was convinced I wanted to join their group of writers.

The thing is, I posted only four articles on She Writes, two or three years ago, yet I’ve been writing this blog since 2013. They found me by the slimmest chance. I guess nothing ever leaves the web. I didn’t think the articles were particularly spiritual, but hey, I got what I asked for!

I have no idea if writing for Sivana will turn out to be good or not. However, I’m excited because there are times when I want to do deeper spiritual explorations but this blog doesn’t seem the appropriate place for that.

So, the dream of having a full theatre program at the college took years to manifest, while this new outlet for writing came about because of an almost random thought, which I forgot almost as soon as I stated it.

Oh, and a friend that we connected with while we’re here visiting family, told me that she saw my novel, The Space Between Time, on an end cap at her local library. My work is getting noticed slowly but surely. That was a nice Christmas present.

The way the universe works is an absolute mystery to me. But then, I love a mystery and being surprised, so I’m excited to see what’s going to happen next.

We’re on the road home from our Christmas vacation which is why this post is so short. You know how it is, so many family gatherings and fun outings left me with little time to contemplate what to write.

I don’t know about you, but I find the beginning of a new year exciting. Actually, I feel the same way about the beginning of a new day. I look forward to each lesson and new chance to contribute to the wellbeing of the people around me, and those who are affected by my work.

Thank you for reading, liking and commenting. Welcome to my new followers.

Have a blessed beginning to your new year.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a little bit like Outlander in that it’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, novel. Except that Jenna’s life is shattered and she must find a way to put it back together. When she finds old journals, she joins consciousness with her three-times great-grandmother, Morgan, rather than traveling physically. She is able to come back at intervals and apply what she’s learned to her own life situations.

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. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.