Don't Go It Alone

Today's rambling blog post is a concatenation (I love that word--have been looking for an excuse to use it all week!) of several recent experiences that on the surface, don't seem to be related at all.

On Tuesday, a friend dragged me out to a lecture at our local library.

Yesterday, a group of writer-colleagues let me pick their brains for some story problems in the new WIP.

The lecture was by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, about his book Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World.

One of the things he touched on really moved me. That in the face of difficulties and disappointments, we don't have to go it alone. In fact, one of the ways of conquering fear is to connect with those around you.

The other day, I ran into a wall in plotting the newest novel. I spent too much time staring at a blinking cursor and getting nothing done. So I decided to see if any of my writing peeps were chatting over at Forward Motion. To my delight, several of my friends were online and they graciously helped me problem solve. Sometimes, it takes good people around you to help you formulate the right questions. And when you can get the right questions, the answers more easily appear.

So, an example of synchronicity. A valuable reminder.

It's easy to forget the value of community when the messages around us praise the 'self-made man', the iconoclast, the last one not voted off the island. (How do I hate "reality shows"? Let me count the ways. . . ) Our culture worships the individual. And that's not necessarily *bad* but it's not the only way to live.

There is another way to be; a way that's not less than or a failure. It doesn't mean we're weak or incompetent. It just reinforces that we are, in fact, interdependent. We are such social creatures. We need one another to survive.

Is that any wonder? It's a tough world. We may not have to run from toothed and clawed predators, but that doesn't mean there's no danger around.

So, we don't have to go it alone.

Remember that, when it seems like every turn in the maze leads to you a solid wall.