Navigating the "Troubled Twenties" of the 21st century
How to be a positive force, for yourself and for others.
Greetings on the June Full Moon, friends.
I write to you having just landed back in my current home place, western Massachusetts, from marvelous peregrinations with friends in Italy and Iceland. Next week I will be heading out again, for my summer sojourn in Nova Scotia. Suddenly, after the long lull of winter, everything is moving fast, in my life and in the world.
Once again we are in what I call a “split-screen” time, when the peacefulness and frequent moments of joy in my personal life contrast sharply with the havoc and heartbreak visible in each day’s headlines.
Once again I wonder, how can I be of service? How can I use whatever insights, talents and skills I possess to help stabilize our planetary systems and harmonize humanity?
I believe that if I sit with this question long enough and with a sincere enough intention, the answers will begin to arise—not so much from the mind as from the heart center, the third eye, the seat of intuition and connection to the more-than-human world, both material and spiritual.
Some of us will be called to the streets in these next few days, to protest the outrageous, unconstitutional actions of the rogue actors currently squatting in our nation’s halls of power.
I am praying that these necessary protests will stay peaceful and rooted in love—because as Martin Luther King Jr. told us, “Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
Love truly is the great antidote to all that ails us in these early years of the 21st century. Not the sappy romantic love of Hallmark cards, but the fierce, powerful love that sweeps away all obstacles in its unending embrace of life, growth and flourishing.
Those of us who, by great good fortune, are on the sidelines of the current struggles between Love and Hate (also known as Eros and Thanatos), can play important support roles nevertheless.
We can stand up and be visible in our affirmation of a positive vision of America, where our founding ideals of justice and democracy continue to guide our actions at home and abroad.
We can be loud and insistent in our resistance to the hostile takeover of our country by a would-be dictator and his ship of fools.
We can stand strong in our refusal to let the jangling chords of fear and hatred dominate our own psyches.
As worldwrights, we can continue to “write to right the world,” engaging in all kinds of peaceful, nourishing creative endeavors that elevate the tones of beauty and harmony in our own lives and for those around us.
I remind myself daily not to underestimate the power of small acts of kindness and whimsical flourishes of beauty.
We humans are connected as never before, and everything we do, think and say resonates out into the broader transpersonal field of collective consciousness.
Thoughts, images and ideas are contagious. Humans are herd creatures, and we tend to mimic what we see.
We all have the potential to be “influencers,” and in these uncertain times it’s important to take that role seriously—to think deeply: how do you want to show up today, for yourself and for others?
I ask myself daily: How can I add a note of harmony and beauty to the symphony of life on Earth today?
I find an answer in the famous quote by Rev. Howard Thurman: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what brings you alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”
What brings me alive?
Riding & Writing with kindred creative spirits, as I just did with such pleasure last week at Hestaland in Iceland.
Exploring the mysteries of human creativity in the beautiful hills of Tuscany and Umbria, as I did last month.
Celebrating happy occasions with my family, as I will this weekend when we gather to honor my beloved mother on her 85th birthday.
Getting my hands in the earth, walking barefoot on the beach, feeling the solid shoulders of a horse between my legs…these are a few of my favorite things, as the song goes, and I will continue to share the sweet sense of enlivenment that they bring me, knowing that as each of us puts our vibrations of joy out into the social field, we raise the harmonics for everyone.
“Make love, not war,” the Sixties generation proclaimed.
What will our slogan be, in this “troubled Twenties” period?
We can’t go wrong as long as we keep our hearts tuned to Love and our souls turned towards enlivenment.
Yours in the crucible of the present moment,
Jennifer
Two memoir writing workshops this summer in Nova Scotia!
Creating Portraits in Words of People We’ve Loved
June 26, 2025, 10 am - 3:30 pm, Lunenburg School of the Arts
Spend a relaxing day sketching portraits in words of some of the people who have been most important in your life, from childhood through the present. Learn key techniques for writing vivid descriptions of people: how they look, their typical conversational styles, gestures and habits, and the strong emotions associated with them in your memory. You’ll come away with a series of word-portraits of your loved ones, valuable in their own right or useful for further development in your memoir.
Cooking Up Memoir
July 8, 2025, 1 - 4 pm, Tatamagouche Centre
Use your memories of growing and harvesting food, recipes, good meals and happy gatherings as a seedbank for writing scenes from your life. Learn how to create vivid scenes and develop the narrative stepping stones for memorable stories in this lively, hands-on writing workshop.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
Amen, Ase, and Blessed Be!
I'm smiling this morning, because, while reading this post, so many R&B songs from my youth started playing in my head. Time to create a Spotify playlist starting with Diana Ross' "What the World Needs Now..."