As Kenau Reeves' character, Shane in The Replacements, put it with succinct eloquence: "I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn't be our style."  That is the me today after my self-publishing of Romance Stew, Life in the Aftermath of a Narcissist, Humanity's Reluctant Connoisseur, and Humanity's Beaming Countenance from a once Reluctant Connoisseur.

The science fiction appreciator in me so loves the drama of the novel by Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes.  Having been trounced by a psychopath - and yes, I'm quite sure that characterization fits - and his insane asylum clan, I have found a thread extant with the hubbub in the Scientology news sector.  So many critics are now standing up, facing onslaught of negativity to air their experiences.

Something happened in the '50's.  The comparison to this group works well for me because of the original doctrine of being the best hope for humanity. All of us who have come through the flames on this one sought to be a part of something bigger, greater, and meaningful. We relinquished much ego in the quest for benefiting others with a genuine benevolence.  I believe all of us who have survived the presence-of-another on the narcissism-to-psychopathy-continuum  had felt the same way, but discovered the intrinsic goodness of ourselves was twisted into a dysfunctional aberration of our soul's directive which was and is the normal state of the human psyche's link to something heady in unifying power.

We who are creating our lives and the "we" who are observing this evolutionary tapestry are connected by a "prime directive" that has been reshaped into some nebulous ether.  But, we DO remember who we are.  Surprise, surprise.  I still am working on what the damnable shift in reality truly was...and why did it take so long to "awaken."

All that might make some fascinating investigation, but that just might detour one from his path.  Just grabbing that glimmer of cognition may be the stimulus for righting one's purpose.  It's an alluring account to look at the  connection of the knowing mind to external reality.  I watched a stage hypnotist - exceptional in his expertise - work his magic on the volunteers onstage.  The amazing "feeling" within the auditorium was one of overwhelming affinity - perhaps so much so that we not only gave our agreement, but became one with the essence of the game.

Now THERE'S a great idea for one of Rod Serling's episodes of "The Twilight Zone."  I'm not at all sure by any standard of measure what I am beginning to "see."  I do hope it won't be like Stephen King's The Stand.

Here's to the next leg of this brilliantly exhilarating journey.  "Quest is at the heart of what I do - the Holy Grail, and the terror that you'll never find it, seemed a perfect metaphor for life." ~Jeanette Winterson