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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/8172-Observations-from-Paradise.html
For Authors: March 08, 2017 Issue [#8172]

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For Authors


 This week: Observations from Paradise
  Edited by: Fyn Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.~~Saint Augustine

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.~~Marcel Proust




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Letter from the editor

Hawaii may be a part of the USA, but it is truly a different world! Thus, for the past week, we've been on Hawaii time. 'Soon' can be in fifteen minutes or two weeks. 'Just down the road' might be a mile or thirty miles. 'Aloha' means more than hello or goodbye...it is a pervasive spirit of home. We feel as if we have learned a different language...we have and can at least now pronounce place names! We've made an effort to know the culture and history and have learned so much! Of course, each person has their own perspective and take on the history here, but it has been a magnificent learning experience.

Of course, Maui time (aside from being five hours earlier than WDC time (which almost completely messed me up)) means taking things slow and easy, not stressing over the little stuff - or the big stuff. Tomorrow, we will be going to Haleakula to watch the sunset, driving the south side of Maui and probably getting totally lost! Should be amazing. So many of the things we have done are awe-inspiring, mind-blowing or emotional. There are so many notes in my notebook: snipets of history, trying 'poke' and 'poi' among other things, seeing whales, experiencing a tropical depression and seeing the aftermath and, in general, learning much more than I ever dreamed.

We've been active observers and become consummate sunset watchers. Thus far, we've taken (me mostly as I've hogged the digital camera) over five thousand pictures. When batteries died and sd cards reached maximum capacity, we kicked in the brain's magnificent capability to store additional information, sights and sounds.

Have you ever seen the movie 'UP'? In I the dogs are happily conversing until one sees a squirrel. "Squirrel!" and everything stops. Kind of like that here. People are chatting away until somone sees a whale blow or breach. Conversation stops and all eyes are scanning and voices switch from talk-mode to squeal-mode!

History is ongoing. No sense of it being history because it is a living, breathing part of now. Everything is actively connected from language and behaviors to just how simple life truly is. Maui time means slowing down, appreciating each moment and not letting anything take away from how special each moment of life is. I shall keep that alive when we get home.

Dances. We tell stories with words, they tell complicated, multi-layered tales with words and movement. Not only beautiful, but so expressive. Kind of a cool mindset to keep in mind while writing. There is a musicality to their expressions and it is amazing to float into the spell they weave!

I am in sensory overload. I am also fighting an internet connection that is iffy at best. So lest I get kicked yet again, I am wrapping this newsletter into its sarong and letting it take flight! Aloha!


Editor's Picks

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#1218169 by Not Available.


Singing By Whales Open in new Window. (ASR)
A free verse, narrative poem about the singing done by humpback whales.
#1364138 by Harry Author IconMail Icon


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#2111500 by Not Available.


 No Longer Open in new Window. (E)
I'm in the Navy, 5,000 miles away from everyone I love. The hopeless romantic is back.
#934466 by White Knight - Gradumatated! Author IconMail Icon


 Sea Muse Open in new Window. (E)
Ever sit on the beach and think, mmm...
#956555 by copygal Author IconMail Icon


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#1855186 by Not Available.

 
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Ask & Answer

werden Author IconMail Icon says: Good article

I liked the blind men and the elephant poem though I don't think I have ever seen the original until now.

I think that many of the arguments on Facebook involve people who, if they could only listen to each other, would find much more in common than they have different.

I know how important communication is to my writing. Several times I have had comments that a reader saw something in my writing that I didn't intend to be there.

Thanks for sharing


hbk16 comments: This is a crucial debating writing point.The multiculturalism is a reality that we all of us have to deal with.I completely disagree with someone who says that to be read in English language as a foreign writer, you have to write in American /English culture. Life is our common artwork to share with others.It is not a dilemma to express feelings and opinions differently according to one's culture and life experience.
Well,on the contrary; multiculturalism is the human wealth and lets us know about life subjects and human beings from different angles.A thing which add a great plus to every one and banish the uniformity which is a real monotony. As uniformity prevents humanity to evolve positively. The most important thing when writing in a language is to succeed in transmitting exactly our ideas up to the point to touch other feelings about the subject.
However I agree that when we love a language as a foreign language we have to know all about the culture that it bears.

tucknits Author IconMail Icon writes: Nice to revisit the blind men and the elephant poem again after many many years! Thanks for publishing it - a poem with a great moral. Interesting quote by Marcus Aurelius - perhaps he's the author most admired by some leaders? Enjoyed your newsletter!

Mara ♣ McBain Author IconMail Icon says: Interesting Newsletter as always! How often have I had a reader ask me what something is or something means that seems so simple and familiar to me. It never fails to surprise me how different even neighboring states here in the US can be. Thank you for sharing "The Library LadyOpen in new Window. with your readers. It made me go back and revisit the story. I love that I still cried after all these years. *Heart*


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