Nonfiction
Follow the Red Dirt Road: Some Thoughts on Being a Southern Writer
My friend, colleague, and fellow native Alabamian, Gary Walker, wrote an excellent USR essay reflecting on being a writer who just happens to be from the South. Despite others’ expectations that he write about red dirt, hunting, fishing, football, the land, and the people, Gary confessed that he doesn’t really feel motivated to write about
Flutes in History
Flutes are the oldest instrument in the world. Hollowed bird bones, with holes cut for tone changes, have been found in archaeological sites as old as 40,000 years. Early man may have heard wind whistling across the tops of reeds and designed an instrument that produced the same sound. Early flutes were played vertically, with
Ten Reasons to Pay It Forward
To pay it forward means that instead of paying someone back for a good deed, you do a good deed for someone else. Maybe you’ll surrender your first-place position in a long line at the 7-Eleven when someone behind you is in a hurry. On a rainy day, you might hand an umbrella to someone
Everything Does Not Happen for a Reason
Everything does not happen for a reason. The notion that it does is a self-centered human fantasy based on limited, exclusionary knowledge. It helps people deal with immense uncertainties beyond their powers of perception. They’re staggering through life blind to their actual nature. The concept of “a reason” only exists for humans. When you remove
Vacant Lots: A Butterfly Hunter Considers the Sacred
The simplest definition of “sacred” in the Oxford English Dictionary has always seemed to me to be “set apart,” and that’s probably why I’ve never felt very happy with the word. I’ve never much liked the idea of things being “set apart.” Somehow, in my staunchly Republican family, I acquired a stubborn egalitarianism. But I
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Novels and Collected Works
Ode to the Great Black Swamp
The classroom rug was a little crusty, stamped with squared-off primary colors. At its far end, the beautiful Miss Chantry sat cross-legged in white stockings and a plaid wool miniskirt, while the rest of us sat “Indian style” upon the rug before her. From a stack of old favorites, she selected a crisp, clean book
Coping with Untreated Mental Illness in the Colorado Springs Homeless Community
People with mental illnesses can often manage their symptoms through treatment, but many never receive it. Social stigma and the United States’ psychiatrist shortage are root causes of the problem. Those who don’t get treatment see their symptoms grow progressively worse, which means they have substantially higher odds of becoming homeless. Colorado Springs can fight
Ten Reasons to Study Your Dreams
In Book 19 of The Odyssey, Penelope recounts to a disguised Odysseus one of her dreams. In it, a great eagle swoops out of the sky and kills twenty geese she tends to, leaving her brokenhearted. The eagle tells her to be happy since he symbolizes the husband who will wreak vengeance on her suitors.
Ten Reasons to Avoid Taking Yourself Too Seriously
Oscar Wilde wrote, “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.” He was right on the money in at least one sense–unwarranted self-importance is an aggravating distraction that poisons our personal interactions. Here are ten reasons to avoid taking yourself too seriously. Taking yourself too seriously means you’re dwelling on fear
Ten Reasons to Meditate
Whether through the need to take a step back from life or to simply mediate one’s own mental upsets, meditation can be a great technique to help us all deal with the stresses of 21st century stress-triggers. We live in a world where social media and the Internet allows our minds to meet and interact without physical