“How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity, that his intentions were good.” — Mark Twain

Since I am, as yet, unpublished as a novelist, I have yet to be exposed to having to write to editorial demand. But I’ve read a lot of treatises by authors, and editors, as a class, are considered right down there with Satan and Voldemort, when it comes to naming the universe’s most dangerous villain. They (editors) are rumored to have no heart; they are reputed to be clueless and indifferent as to the artistic process, and make impossible demands on authors on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. According to authors, they are rude, overbearing, impatient, greedy, jealous of real talent, and are probably mean to babies, and their own mothers. And any author will gleefully relate how editors have been known to speed up when they spot an old lady stepping off the curb into a crosswalk. If there is a boy scout helping her, it’s worth bonus points, triple the usual if the scout is under 16; they’re really fast at that age.

Where did this bellicose animosity come from? “How did it arise?”, you may ask. And you can go right on asking, because not only do I not know, I don’t really give a rat’s patooty. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell; knowing why something happens sometimes just makes it worse. (How, I couldn’t say; I’m just writing to editorial demand here, so back off with all the questions, eh?) Nevertheless, it exists, and what with the constant verification that up and coming editors supply every time they open their mouths, this internecine warfare between authors and editors will eventually put the Hundred Year War out of its position at the top of the war heap as the longest-running conflict. Who knows, it probably has a chance of toppling marital discord off its perch as most common form of conflict….. why not go for the whole banana, and a dual championship?….. it certainly can’t make things worse, and might be considered as making the best of a bad situation….

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I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly;
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee.
— Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1816-1841) — Life a Duty

Sheesh, this is like pulling my own teeth today! But, so be it. When I stop to think, a habit I’ve cultivated for years, I am always pulled first back to Duty; Duty is a choice we make, and as such is first priority, before even self-needs. Living with that as my rule is the only method I’ve found that allows me to deal with the outrageous and often malicious demands that everyday life presents us with, in steady, unending procession, and still be able to sleep at night…. and, in hindsight, I can add that the solutions I come up with using that standard are much more salient and effective in reaching positive outcomes than are those that arise from need or desire alone. It’s nice to know that what I do for myself, and my own self-respect, is also the most effective and efficient way to approach everyday life…..
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“What about these commandments then?”
“You again?  All right…  There shall be TWO commandments, and this shall be the first of them: “Keep the noise down.”
“Just that?  `Keep the noise down’?”
“You got it.”
“Hmmm.  And the second of Your commandments, Lord?”
“Do what thou wilst,” (sayeth the Lord), “just go away and don’t bother Me now.  For behold, some of Us are trying to get some sleep around here.”  — Seven Deadly Sins

No point here, really, or any intended (or unintended) offense to anybody…. I just thought it was funny…. well, it made ME smile….
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“Sex is a sacrament, not a prison. While monogamy can be a beautiful, even sacred bond, it might not be the agreement that best suits everyone. Our thinking that monogamy is inherently a nobler arrangement than any other has created a nation of hypocrites.” — Marianne Williamson

One facet of this statement’s relevance will be overlooked by many, who may see in it another attack on conventional marriage, and attempt to turn it into a religious issue. That facet lies in the fact that the statement is made by a woman, when one might assume that wanting to justify non-monogamist behavior would typically be a male characteristic. Women are assumed to be the ones who profess to want monogamy, to possess the monopoly on relationships, and this puts the lie to that misconception.

As many women as men chafe under the strict paradigm of monogamous marriages, apparently, and those women feel as their male counterparts do, that monogamy is fine for those who desire it, but is a poor choice for others who don’t share their particular views on life and morality. The men and women who acknowledge that there are alternatives to monogamy aren’t the ones creating the issue in society; it’s the fundamentalists and conservatives who cannot fathom anything outside their own narrow beliefs as having any validity, and are deathly afraid that someone, somewhere is having a good time……

Now these narrow-minded bigots are trying to make the issue a political one, rather than a societal one; they seek to place the power of the law behind their own particular set of delusions, and put all the “heretics” into the criminal category, merely for having the temerity to reject the soulless mandates of an outdated social contract, one that has no particular advantage over any other potential contract between two people, not in a truly diverse culture. It’s a sad state indeed, when we have come to this, that brother and sister should come to schism over the issue of whose imaginary friend is the most real…..
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“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

I first came across this quote when I was in my teens, and was immediately added to my personal list of the Basic Laws of Life on Planet Earth. I believe this with my entire soul; it hopefully guides my every thought, and every action. I can’t think of a better way of stating the concept, either; this is just so perfectly constructed and clearly stated that it leaves no room for contradiction, if one has any heart at all.

Note I didn’t say intelligence; I know a lot of intelligent people who are basically clueless in terms of morality, or even in terms of introspection. I said heart, which is what it takes to be fully human; without it, one can never achieve even the slightest part of their own possible growth as a human being. A lot of potential is wasted for this very reason, that people are so afraid of taking responsibility for their own being, for their own existence, that they will refuse to consider any idea not already a part of the learned-by-rote dogma they have memorized in order to parrot, without any demand to think about what they are saying…. or doing for that matter….. morality by default, rather than by choice….
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I’m going to have to start getting up even earlier, if this is going to take this long, and take this much effort every day. Or start eating breakfast earlier, so I have more juice, or at minimum a larger dose of caffeine…. any who, here t’is, a fait accompli for another day. I’m feeling adventurous, so I’ll decide what to do next, nap or walk, by the toss of a coin. Not completely random, I know, but since nobody else is here to do rock/paper/scissors with me, it’s the best I can come up with without breaking out a slide rule or calculator…. quicker, too….. y’all take care out there…..