February 02, 2006

An Explanation, and the Pitch

At The Sacred Moment, I've posted an entry that lists many of the essays I've written based on the work of Alice Miller. As I explain, it isn't yet complete. I will continue reposting earlier pieces, and I will then add them to the summary -- and I expect there will be a number of future essays on these themes, particularly in view of national and world events. The dynamics and mechanisms that Miller discusses continue to be reenacted over and over, every day, often in tragic and horrifying ways.

Please allow me to express my immense gratitude once more to all those who have supported my writing over the last year or two. I truly cannot express my thanks sufficiently. And please accept my sincere apologies for having taken the blog down for several weeks. I would not be at all surprised if many of you were very angry about that. I can assure you of one thing: it will not happen again. I had to repost many of my essays when the data base of my first blog was corrupted in the fall of 2004. I then had to repost them again when I closed down that blog and started a new one in October 2005. And now I've had to do it again. Enough! There are too many new essays I want to write to be bothered reposting articles I've already written. So this blog and The Sacred Moment will remain available until and unless Blogger vanishes. And I will soon explain in more detail why I'm maintaining two separate blogs; a partial explanation is provided here.

That post asks for suggestions about how to market my writing. For the last two years, I have been profoundly frustrated at my inability to find a wider audience for my writing. I will set modesty aside: I am more than prepared to put a number of the essays listed in the Miller entry -- and my entire series, On Torture -- up against anything written on all the many blogs now on the internet. I think they stand up very well against the competition. And more than that: with regard to many of the issues I write about and the particular perspective I bring to them, I'm not aware of anyone who discusses these subjects with the regularity or in the depth that I do. If there is someone doing it, please let me know. I would be thrilled to know about it.

I wrote the series, On Torture, in December. It received almost no notice. I cannot express how deeply discouraging that was. I will again set modesty aside: that series is well-written, it is true, and it concerns issues of great importance. And it appeared that almost no one cared. At the same time, my health was taking a turn for the worse. I genuinely felt that I was finally at the end of the road. For that reason (plus a few additional, even more personal factors that I don't want to go into), I took the blog down. I've worked my way through that crisis now and, as I say, that particular episode will not be repeated. It would not be inaccurate to describe my taking the blog down as an act of symbolic suicide, if you will. Better that than the real thing, I think you will agree. If you want to understand more about the dynamics involved, consult the entries on suicide in the Miller summary.

In any event, here is where I am now. Because of my health problems, I still have no source of income other than the donations I receive for my writing. I am unable to pay my February rent, which is obviously already late. At this point, I also seriously need to get some medical attention. To cover those items plus a few other basic bills, I need to raise $2,000 if at all possible. If you enjoy my writing and think well of it, I would once again be very grateful for your support. I repeat that the essays here and at The Sacred Moment will remain available for the duration -- or until Bush blows us all to smithereens. More on that when I complete my series on Iran, which I hope to do within the next week. (The earlier parts of that series will be found here and here.)

As I've indicated in some recent posts -- here, for example, and in the first part of The Limits of Politics, as well as in connection with Miller's themes more generally -- there is a great deal I still plan to write about. Your contributions will allow me to do that.

I think those are the major points. I extend my deep thanks once more. I am very grateful for your consideration.

(Amazon and PayPal links are available at both blogs. If you would prefer to have my mailing address, please let me know: arthur4801 at yahoo dot com.)