What's for Real?
It's your choice: Untamed Utopia or Disposable Dystopia. Some end-of-year thoughts, musings, naval-gazing, thanks-yous, and wishes.
I started this project on 12/30/2020 by calling it Red Neck, White Skin, Blue Collar. I conceived it clever and cute. It rolled off the tongue for sure. With a challenge to all. It was a lightening bolt whose energy I harnessed for a moment, then realized that it had more power than I could control. It would burn things easier than it could illuminate them.
That title held more belief-baggage than my literary-lorry could carry. I retired that flag and unfurled the Compass Star Wordsmith banner that now flies proudly over this project. A project that looks to the future by learning from the past. A project that honors the present by living in the here and now. A project about us. For the now normal.
We’ll spend the rest of the year looking back at the past three years of work. We’ll feature friends of Compass Star, those fellow Substackers that believe in and support a free mind, an independent spirit, and and an indefatigable will. These creators have supported me, featured me, or inspired me.
We say thank you to this community, this fellowship of readers supporting my efforts. I’ve had ups and downs over the last three years and shared many of those with all of you. Your support translates into my obligation. So many elements of my life have been altered, removed, or inserted over this time. There has been one constant force - writing a weekly post over 200 times.
The changes “in my situation” to use a phrase of the season, have resulted in profound growth - in all phases of life. I’m not a different man. I’m not a perfect man. But I am the best man I’ve ever been. Much of that betterness is a result of writing for this community. Your readership has given me the garden to grow in and your support has watered my words so that they’ve blossomed into thoughtful expressions.
As a crafter of words, I find none that truly convey the deep sense of absolute gratitude I hold in my heart for your participation in this endeavor. My quest for word brevity ceases as I contemplate the sheer volume of rhetoric needed to conjure up the appropriate amount of word praise. So I will not attempt to do so.
Instead, I will harken back to a Latin phrase that became a code-word of sorts for our cabal of juvenile delinquents on a mission to embarrass Mr. Hunter, 10th-grade English teacher.
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Granted, there’s a million and one things to subscribe to, and I do. Like Tunnel2Towers, Wounded Warriors, or Disabled American Veterans. If you have any extra jingle-jangle in your pockets at the end of the month, won’t you consider upgrading from free to paid? If my words made you laugh or cry, think hard or dream free, or even if I pissed you off or you’re 100% on-board, decide if that reaction was worth a financial reward. If so, click blue below. And receive my undying appreciation. If no, tell me why. I’d love to know.
Click thru on the video below - a classic reading of the scene.
It’s always critical to carry humility when consuming history. It’s human nature to keep ourselves at the center of the universe. Nothing is as bad as it is now, and nobody has ever had it harder. I know it’s in our nature because I have felt this way before. So I know that others have experienced that perception as well.
So why do we all have that feeling that our times and our situation are worse than it’s ever been for anyone in the history of time. Ok maybe that’s a bit much, but it’s a credible question that creates a curiosity of conscience within me.
When I question myself about the inner workings of my psyche, ego, and id, I’m mostly stumped if Dr. Spencer Reid didn’t cover the topic in an episode of Criminal Minds. I then turn to my grey-matter guru and totally street-smart psychologist, Valentina Petrova.
She validates most of Dr. Reid, or visa-versa, which I’m sure is cold-comfort knowing the years of sacrifice and study she brings to the table. For instance, the lesson in the episode highlighted in the post below concerns identity creation, which usually happens around the time an adolescent begins making their own musical choices.
Please explore Life Intelligence because it will really be an exploration of yourself. Consider Valentina your tour guide when you want to book that safari of shame or survive the rapids of relationship ruminations. Seriously, her sharp wit with her genuine kindness are the cliched iron fist, velvet glove. Her prose writes the prescription and her sensitivity delivers the serum. Her intelligence is infectious and and her latest post is very well-received.
Let’s go back to the beginning. Why did I start this thing and what the hell was I thinking? If you click on the post above, you’ll see the complete image. Seeing just the top half of it leaves some things out. But it also changes the focus of the image. Kinda like how propaganda works.
The object of interest that captures those cowboys contemplation is cloistered. Highlighted but hidden away. Out of reach but within your grasp. What can it be, that which you cannot see? It’s everything for me, but nothing for thee.
That is how this started. It’s my declaration of independence and my mission statement and my guiding principle, all wrapped up into a prologue. The beauty of this project (at least in my own mind) is that I leverage words to carry concepts.
It allows mind-pictures without brush strokes. It assents to mental-music without G-clef knowledge. It assuages past umbrages as it assumes new imbroglios. It creates as much as it tears down. The work is satisfying but never done.
As much as words are my trade in kind, I stop, breathe, and ponder others that seem so opposite in medium but so familiar in sentiment.
One such artist/creator/inspirationalist is this dude. He blows me away in the scope of his dedication to this craft. It’s all in for him. He has over 20,000 faithful. He brings joy by leaving it in place for all to see. And experience. And take home and remember. His tiny pictures pack big impact and deep resonance. Follow for sure.
This dude is an animal. He posts on time, on task, and on topic. His regularity is regimented and the results are rewarding. If you don’t know what you’re listening to, shame on you. Music is a personal building block of a functioning human being. Kevin is your Musical Maître d' - melodiously and mellifluously moving you to euphonious elations. I wish I had his song recall - check him out.
Okay, this lady is nuts in such an amazing, adorable way. She posts things like I would, if I could! She finds things that nobody knows but everyone remembers. She writes about things that no-one remembers but everybody knows. Jolene brings to the table lost recipes, forgotten ornaments, and, most importantly, treasured traditions. Totally worth your time and effort.
Focus on yourself for change this season. Just for a little while. But that little Christmas knick-knack or chachkis and display it where you can see it and where it will bring you joy. Then when your emotional gas tank is topped off, you’ll be able to spread the holiday cheer.
Be well and be happy,
Ric
Oh, cool! Thanks for the mention. What a journey this has been for you! Keep that pencil sharp. Best wishes.
Thank you for the kind words! They truly mean a lot, and made my day. That was a gift.