Archive for February, 2011
Waiting for Critique
12In the memoir genre, about 70,000 words forms a standard book. As I cruised past 40,000 words on my project, I thought about the haphazard content I’d typed in double-spaced format. It was likely time for a professional review and I turned to my cousin Cindy in Los Angeles, who had mentioned she had some writing contacts if I were ever in the market for them. Cindy dutifully sent along “M”‘s name and put us in touch. As it turns out, M had an intimidating writing pedigree, schooled at a well-known college under the tutelage of a renowned American author, as well as having several published titles to her name. When I laid out my story, an amazing thing happened. M told me that she too had been burned at a young age, a casualty of trying to be cool by smoking in a closet. ”Unless I wear a short sleeve top, no one notices,” she said referencing the burns on her arm. What are the chances that I’d so quickly find a writing professional who would understand the very personal nature of burns? As luck would have it, M’s plate was full and she did not have time to serve as my critique professional. Instead, she put me in touch with her similarly pedigreed writing friend “K”. Eagerly I contacted K, who did not have a burn injury to share but rather a witty life story of life as an outsider of sorts in southern Indiana. More importantly, she had time at hand. After some hand-wringing, I looked over my project, divided it into 3 parts, packaged up Part I as ready fir review, closed my eyes and hit the “send” button. And now I wait. Wondering if my book, or at least the initial piece of it, might pass professional muster, might have story enough to be told that it has a literary life. And I wait.
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Be Careful What You Wish For
4
What's your wish?
It is frustrating to be on a search mission for old medical records. I’ve doggedly looked for various records from several doctors in a variety of nooks and crannies. But when a nondescript manilla envelope with a return address of “Green Bay Plastic Surgical Associates” arrived in my Chicago mailbox I was too terrified to open it. It sat there on my desk, seeming to taunt me with its nonchalant ability to so easily ruffle my feathers.
But a day of reckoning had to arrive and I gingerly opened the package, pulling out 25 or so pages of photocopied medical records from my plastic surgeon for 20 years, Dr. Harold Hoops. If memory served me correctly, I went to Dr. Hoops after my original surgeon Dr. Thomas E. Lynn died several years after my accident. While I still have not been able to find Dr. Lynn’s original records, I quickly discovered that I had in my hands Dr. Hoops intake records and nearly 20 years of notes on my case.
There in his chicken-scratch of a doctor’s scribble were his notes on the history of my case:
Medical Records : Chicken-scratch of doctor's scribble
Post-traumatic burn scars of the right leg and buttock; burned at home, age 2, at home stepped on lighted burner, stove, pant leg caught fire; initial care by Drs. Lynn and von Heimburg; St. Vincent Hospital, 3 months.
With just these few couple notes, I had confirmation of the stories I’d heard my whole life. I kept flipping through the pages and then I saw it — four photos of my own leg, front and back, taken at Dr. Hoops’ office when I was nine years old. It was hard to believe but I’d never seen a photo of my own leg like this. I gasped in shock at the sight of it. Then, turned the page and put the packet back in the manilla envelope. I needed more time before I would be ready to look again.
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The Angels Have More to Say
7When an email from Joanne, the Angel Lady (www.angelic-art.com), popped in to my inbox the other day, I was completely surprised. “It’s very unusual to get more info after a session but they woke me up,” she wrote about her angels. “We come to speak of Anne,” they said to her. Here, in part, is what Joanne had to tell me:
Scarf as Past Life Clue
Anne had left behind a woven wool scarf of many colors. I can’t explain it but I just knew it was no coincidence the Universe brought us together, let alone for her to leave the scarf behind accidentally. I knew the scarf she left behind was a trigger for something for me to remember how we connected from a past life. My guides reminded me that Anne and I had many lifetimes together as both of us were revered artisans from Pompei to Rome to England, even going back to Atlantis. Anne’s reading showed that she and I shared a lifetime in the English Cotswolds, where the main business was wool weaving at that time (remember the scarf!)
When I asked my guides how I knew Anne, they had me spell out RIL. I looked it up on the Internet and to my surprise RIL was the last name of an artist from the Cotswold region known for his pastoral scene paintings. I heard, “Is it any surprise you would dedicate 15 years of your lifetime this time to live in NEW England painting historic town scenes from this era?” I looked up the art of this man, John Ril and it was like looking at my own art and an instant deja vu took place.
As for Anne, the cellular memory of that lifetime, where she lost all her possessions in a fire, was very, very deep. When something is so vivid such as that horrific experience, many times it is brought forward into this lifetime to learn from and forgive anyone connected to that period. It was no coincidence that as a child of 2 in this lifetime, Anne was badly burned on her right leg. She needed closure as it was hard for her to step forward (hence the right leg which represents moving forward in her life). It is also the male side or giving side.
Some things we simply cannot understand but I always believe in keeping an open mind to see what the Universe has in store for us. Only the future will tell where all of this will take us.
In case you are interested, I’m meeting Joanne on Saturday to retrieve the colorful wool scarf.
When you are told you have had a past life with someone, does anyone know the correct protocol for greetings in this life? It’s an interesting question to ponder.
If I was more than a little concerned about the “woo woo” nature of my last post, I will confess that this story leaves me speechless. And that is half the fun of this lifetime!
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What the Angels Say
13While visiting a law firm client, I saw the most fascinating paintings on their walls. “Tell me about these,” I asked Michael, the founding partner. “Oh, those are angel paintings,” he said. “Some are portals and others are just inspired works. The angel lady does them. She sees angels and can tell you what they are saying about you.” I was intrigued and to make the long story short, that’s how I ended up having an appointment with Joanne Macko.
From the moment I entered her house, there was a pervasive energy floating about that made me tingle. Joanne gave a short tour of her art room before we went to her “healing room”. There, she had me lay down and for about 45 minutes, I took a nap while she worked her magic. Sometimes I could hear her talking, other times she seemed to be furiously scribbling down notes, and there were the occasional ringing of bells and placement of oils. All in all, it was a remarkably cool experience and I must say that am no stranger to metaphysical experiences. “I feel like I lost 10 pounds,” was the first thing I said to Joanne as we began to discuss the treatment. “Oh, you did,” she replied with a smile.
Joanne shared a number of fascinating things with me not the least of which was a past life experience that floored me. She said I had a life in the Cotswolds of England in which my village was taken over in a raid. As the invaders moved through the area, they torched as many homes as they could including mine. All my possessions went up in flames. I too was burned but escaped the house with minor injuries. More importantly, after the fire, I froze. I was afraid to move forward and rebuild my life. The right leg, where my burns from this life live, represents the ability to move forward Joanne told me. During my “nap” on her table, she saw the cellular memory from the past life had rested in my right leg and she and the angels released it. “Move forward now,” she said.
You may or may not believe in angels or any person’s ability to work with them. You may or may not believe in past lives. It’s edgy stuff for some. For Joanne, the angels changed her life. She had a near death experience and heard from them directly, then saw them guide her life. She was a top-ranked USTA doubles champion and quit. She painted sweet tableaux of New England charm. She quit that too. Now, she sees her life’s work as helping people hear from the angels and painting the scenes they show her (www.angelic-art.com). Joanne also doesn’t advertise and sees all her clients by referral, just as I came to see her. In the past 10 years, thousands of people have visited her Naperville home. And that’s what the angels said.
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