Afarin Rava: Reflections

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Reflections

Reflections
May 29, 2018
11:52 p.m.

Every time I read Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott’s “wire hood” reminds me of the center hub in a DVD case. I didn’t know what the thing in the middle of the case that holds the disc in place was called, just as she didn’t know the name of “that wire thing that covers all champagne corks.”

It makes me think about all the things I see but can’t name, and that’s just concrete nouns, words referring to things that can be identified through one of the five senses. Abstract nouns are more challenging in every way. Every person has their own idea of them, depending on their culture, their background, their ideology, and their experience. People communicate with each other using abstract nouns, but the speaker or writer uses a word meaning it one way and the listener or reader possibly perceives it an entirely different way. How do we humans communicate with all these discrepancies in our mental dictionaries?

(taken from Reflections: A Journey of Transformation, available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/reflections-journey-transformation-Afarin-Rava-ebook/dp/B0B33RN2Z4)

Dearest Devised Darling

Dearest Devised Darling: Anthology is a dedication to the brave heroes and enchanting heroines who have touched our hearts and taught us valuable lessons through their struggles and adventures — and to the authors who created these cherished characters. The contributors to this anthology, who wrote letters to their favorite fictional figures, are — in alphabetical order : Jay Armstrong, Wendy Bayne, S. S. Bazinet, Gail Boenning, Jane Cornwell, Holly Dobbie, Humzah Farrukh, Umiemah Farrukh, Marni Graff, H. C. Helfand, Ewan Lawrie, Trish MacEnulty, J. G. MacLeod, Sallie Moffitt, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Afarin Rava, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Carolyn Ruffles, Edward Selender, Denis Shaughnessy, Wendy E. Slater, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Diana Stevan, Vicky Whedbee, Gerry Wilson, Wanda L. Worley, and George Yuhasz.

Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me

Over thirty writers hoping to make a positive change in the world have contributed their valuable life experiences and advice to children and adolescents. This book is a collection of priceless life lessons shared by random people, each of whom wished they could reach out to their twelve-year-old self and whisper their precious lessons in a way that their younger self would hear, believe, and learn. Many thanks to B.H. Arias, P.D. Austin, Jerome Berglund, Mike Bowerbank, Rocío del Mar, Holly Dobbie, Hannah Downey, Glenna Gill, Ilya Gutlin, Claude Inkwell, Althea Hogsett, Karen Hoffman, Margaret Lindsay Holton, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Heather Lynn, IA McCleery, Kelly Miller, Sallie Moffitt, Danielle Moody, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Gloria Worley Ruberry, Edward Selender, Claire Sheehy, Leif E. Slusher, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Vicky Whedbee, Peter B. Williams, Charles Dan Worley, and Wanda L. Worley, whose contributions brought this book to life.