[Stephen Gerringer]

Mary Ann writes:

For a long time, I have felt that on Facebook I am expected to put my best most positive face forward even when I don’t want to and don’t feel like it.

Heck yeah – though I have a tendency to overshare on social media, it’s a far cry from journaling. There is no soul satisfaction in the cyber Etch-a-Sketch that is Facebook (so ephemeral – even the most profound thoughts scroll off the screen after an hour or two, a day or two at most).

I often go days, even weeks without journaling. But the longer I do, the more disconnected I feel (the same applies to meditation, Tarot spreads, dream work, and other tools I use for plumbing soul – when life is in disarray they all fall by the wayside … until I am so overwhelmed that I hit the re-set button).

And then a happy by-product of journaling is that it helps me discover – or uncover – my personal myth.

I thought to recommend a book by a friend – Dennis Patrick Slattery, who co-edited Correspondence, the collection of Joseph Campbell’s letters (served two years  with him on the committee planning the Study of Myth Symposium held on the Pacifica Graduate Institute campus eight years ago this coming weekend; at the last minute he couldn’t attend due to unexpected health issues, so Pacifica put me up in the spacious secret apartment on campus [kitchen, bedroom, living room, office area] that Dennis used when he’d fly in from Texas to teach there). Dennis has devoted a lot of thought to writing qua writing, and collected his wisdom in Riting Myth, Mythic Writing: Plotting Your Personal Story.

Wouldn’t you know, just as I started to compose this post, an email landed from Will Linn (another friend I first met at that same symposium), sharing this event:

Synchronicity? This will happen tomorrow (Wednesday, August 26), at 5 p.m., via Zoom. Drs. Kwame Scruggs, Will Linn, John Bucher, and Dara Marks will join Dennis for a panel discussion – a presentation well worth it if you can spare the time. To register, visit this link.

I’m going to do my best to attend . . . maybe see you there!