The park near here is dominated by large trees and a meadow where kids play soccer and people throw balls for their dogs to retrieve. I sit on a bench and nod at people when they pass by. Sometimes they stop to chat.
At the far side of the meadow, two paths diverge -- one up and out of the woods, one down into a darker, thicker forest. One of these days I'm going to take the latter path with a friend.
It's common for people to talk about the choices they are facing these days; many are thinking of changing careers or other aspects of their lives. It's easy, when I'm at the park, to think of their choices as similar to the juncture of those two paths.
There are three large rocks at that juncture, perfect for stopping and considering which way to go. Up and out? Or down and in?
I can't give anyone advice about which path to take, but I do have two thoughts that might prove useful. "Think about where you want to be 20 years from now, and choose the path you think will get you there."
And the other thing: "Making a choice now matters. Otherwise you risk looking back 20 years from now and thinking, 'What if?' Besides, not making choice is a choice. It's choosing to stick with the status quo."
I'm comfortable being in this position, advising people, because I'm in transition myself -- physically, mentally and emotionally. In my case, I'm choosing the harder path.
Some of my friends are trying to write memoirs. They tell me they have a hard time getting going, something always seems to get in the way.
I get that, but I'm not buying it. The only way to write is to write -- every single day. You'll slowly get better and it will surprise you how much progress you can make.
Say you write what used to be called a sheet of paper's worth per day and you do that faithfully like physical exercise. In a year you will have written 100,000 words!
The problem is not quite that simple, I know, as there are major psychological issues involved here. There is a voice inside most people's heads telling them that their writing is not good enough. And that is where a good teacher comes in handy.
You get better with practice. Besides, you can start over from the beginning every day, editing what you wrote the day before until it sings. In this way you'll become a better editor as well.
Both writing and editing are as much about what is not said as what is said. Try not to overdo things, avoid adverbs like the plague (especially these days). Unfortunately they haven't invented a vaccine to protect us against adverbs.
Adjectives present similar problems, use them sparingly, try choosing only the most precise to match the meaning you wish to convey.
***
Today is a mental health day for me when it comes to writing about Afghanistan. The situation is too intense to focus on exclusively and it will dominate the news cycle for days, maybe weeks to come.
Then the media will move on, probably to fires and hurricanes and the other calamities screaming at us to wake up and get serious about climate change.
For today, however, I am thinking about diverging paths, writing stories and exchanging stories with others. Among the comments I get on Facebook, some of the most endearing are when readers share their own stories in response to something I've posted.
Perhaps because my identity is as a writer and editor that I believe telling each other our stories is one of the most intimate things we humans can do. Maybe it's even more intimate than sex.
Of course without sex we would not be able to carry on as a species, at least until the maddest of mad scientists take over that matter in the future.
But stories carry on our species as well. What we tell each other as we fall in love involves an emotional intimacy that connects our souls.
And today rather than grieving all that is wrong, I'm celebrating the possibility that friends can become soulmates.
That is a special kind of love.
***
THE HEADLINES:
* U.S. War in Afghanistan Ends as Final Evacuation Flights Depart (NYT)
* Taliban Vow to Enforce Islamic Rule After U.S. Exit (Reuters)
* Fear and anticipation on the streets of Kabul as Afghans adapt to Taliban rule (WP)
* Taliban Bans Mixed-Gender University Classes In Afghanistan (HuffPost)
* In Afghanistan, an Unceremonious End, and a Shrouded Beginning -- The last American flight from Afghanistan left behind a host of unfulfilled promises and anxious questions about the country’s fate. (NYT)
* 10 civilians, including small children, killed by U.S. drone strike in Kabul on Sunday, family says (WP)
* Afghan folk singer Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the Taliban in a restive mountain province north of Kabul on Friday, a local journalist told CNN, raising fears of a return to the militant group's harsh rule of 20 years ago -- including a clampdown on music. (CNN)
* Artists and cultural workers face life under Taliban 2.0 (WP)
* For Biden, ‘forever war’ isn’t over — just entering a new, perilous phase (WP)
* Evacuations Ordered Near Lake Tahoe as the Caldor Fire Chokes Region -- The fire had spread to more than 186,000 acres and was 15 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. (NYT)
* The U.S. Forest Service is closing 20 million acres of California’s national forests to public access for two weeks beginning on Tuesday because of extreme fire conditions and strained firefighting resources, according to (Sacramento Bee)
* In hardest slam since Katrina, New Orleans’s levees stand firm (WP)
* Is This the Coldest Summer of the Rest of Our Lives? (California Today)
* California’s wildfires are bigger, faster and higher (SF Chronicle)
* VIDEO: Tropical Storm Nora Causes Flash Flooding in Mexico (Reuters)
* An unvaccinated, unmasked teacher in Marin County infected 12 of the 24 students in her elementary school classroomwith the coronavirus, revealing how easily the virus can spread inside schools when people don’t wear masks. (California Today)
* Immunity To COVID-19 Could Last Longer Than You'd Think New studies look at how the mRNA vaccines affect the cells in your body in the short run and the long run. The findings are a counterpoint to concerns about waning immunity. (NPR)
* With Democrats holding supermajorities in both houses of the State Legislature, any Republican who may beat Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election would be parachuting into politically hostile territory. Newsom’s successor could find that winning the race proves easier than governing a state that’s become the cornerstone of America’s liberal agenda. (Politico)
* The mystery of 9/11 first responders and dementia (WP)
* California wants to become the first state to pay people with addictions to stay sober, a program that the federal government has already shown to be effective for military veterans. (NPR)
* Big Tech wants to build the ‘metaverse.’ What on Earth does that mean? (WP)
Worried I lost my car keys or that I've said something wrong
Worried about the mess that's in my house, that's in my heart
Worried that I'll go crazy every time that we're apart
Pessimistic as it seems, sleep will never come that easy
We will always have bad dreams
We will always have bad dreams
We will always have bad dreams
Falling in love and into credit debt much too deep too fast
I envy the futures of all my friends and I get jealous about your past
If it gets too close, if it gets too much, I'm scared I'll disappear
Well babe I might step back but if I go to far
Promise you'll wait for me right here!
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