E. M. Hanley Shows A Different Perspective of Life's Problems Through New Book

by Cyrus Webb

All of us have for problems. What separates us is the way we handle them. This is something that Elizabeth "E. M." Hanley learned firsthand.

A research librarian by profession, she told me that it wasn't too long ago that situations in her life forced her to reevaluate who she was and how she was living. "I ran into a lot problems which made me take a look at my life," she told me. One way she dealt with her problems was by looking for information in books. Over 200 books later she came to an important epiphany. "I was amazed to find out how much power I had over my problems, and I just wasn't using it."

Hanley realized that when it came to problems she was approaching them entirely the wrong way. "I was letting them affect me when I didn't realize how much control I had over them ," she says. "I could affect them and get the outcome I wanted in my life."

The result of this new way of thinking is the bases for the book NO PROBLEM!. When I read it, it allowed me to reinforce the fact that we don't have to be defined or held captive by what we go through. This information in itself was liberating for me as it was for Hanley. "Problems aren't linked to happiness," she explained. "It's how you allow them to affect you." In her research for the book she was able to glean amazing examples and experiences from respected individuals who had addressed the issue of problem-solving. "I felt like a victim to a lot of my problems," Elizabeth explained. "I was letting them control me. What I have learned is that I have the power to turn things around."

She explains this way: "Life might not be fair, but we can be unfair to ourselves by when a problem comes along by making things worse. We handicap ourselves by not knowing the important information that we need that says I can do this. I can handle this."

It all comes to a decision we have to make. "I don't want to live like this," Elizabeth says she told herself. "I should know better."

That decision led her on a journey to gathering information that was easy to understand, including tips on problem solving. What are the four simple tips that guide you to solutions?

1. DEFINE: See it as it is, not worse than it is
2. OWN: Take control and feel the power
3. TRUTH: Face the truth to see solutions
4. BALANCE: Check the bigger picture

In our conversation Elizabeth reminded me of a basic truth. "We're always gong to have problems.," she says. "We have to accept it, deal with it and move on." She says that we have to look at problems as a "little glitch in the road" of our journey. "We forget about the big picture of our life," she says. It's important to remember that we have gotten through difficult times before and we can do it again.

Our words also play a large part in the way our life goes. "So many times we claim things that we don't have to," she says. "It's important to change the course of our lives just by the power of words. What's helpful is to ask questions in a positive light." This means that instead of saying how bad a situation is we should ask questions like "What can I learn from this problem? "What's good with this problem?" The way you talk with yourself is important to finding solutions, and that is the ultimate goal of any trial.

Through NO PROBLEM! Hanley is able to put in our hands the wisdom that we should know but have problems thinking of when the going gets rough. Now we have no excuse. On page 132 of the book she says this: "Each problem is sending you a message about your life. What is it? Find the value of every problem. Learning from a problem will increase your personal power. Write down what you an learn about yourself or your life from this problem. Do you need to be more forgiving, to be more understanding, to be more accepting, to change your attitude to make better choices?"

By answering these questions we can get to a place where like in class problems make us better, stronger and more equipped for what can come our way next.

To find out more about Elizabeth Hanley and her useful resource NO PROBLEM! visit www.noproblembook.com.

RIZWAN SAQIB: A Light In The Darkness of Pakistan

by Cyrus Webb

One of the great things about the internet and social media in particular is that it has created a place where individuals are able to come together and network in ways that wouldn't have been possible some ten years ago. That is the case for how I met Rizwan Saqib.

While I was in Mississippi I was able to connect with him in Pakistan thanks to Facebook, and through that site I have gotten to know a man who is committed to doing good and sharing his message of hope and faith. What Rizwan has taught me is that it's not where you serve that it's important. It's who and how you serve that matters.

In this interview we talk about the importance of not judging individuals based on where they live or what they look like and how he is showing others how to make a difference in spite of challenges.

Thank you for taking out the time to talk with us, Rizwan. What made you want to make a difference where you are?

It's my pleasure. Through out my student life, I have performed at many stages which were all organized by decent educated people, who believed that theater can be and must be used for educational purpose. But today, the situation of Pakistani theatre is very bad. The theatre today is being used for non-educational purposes. Therefore people, specially educated people are moving away from theatre. 

It would be so much easier to focus on the bad things and what you don't have. You choose to think positively and to focus on what is possible. Where did that optimism come from?

Being an educated person and a student of religion, I believe in that positive thinking is the only way to succeed in our daily life and in the life after death. Secondly, I believe that it is my will and my desire that can bring a change.

Some people are quick to judge based on color or even where a person lives. What would you say to our readers about the importance of getting to know people and not treating everyone the same based on what they look like or where they come from?

I believe that the heart of a person is like a mirror. It reflects the true image of a person, therefore I believe that we should not judge a person on bases of their colour, but should judge a person from his heart and values.

What do you hope people around the world know about Pakistan and the work that you are doing?

People around the world know less about our theatre; therefore I believe that we can introduce our cultural theatre around the world, in a respected manner, if we educate our people on the subject of educational theatre, especially our youth.

You and I actually met each other online using Facebook. How has that site and others like it helped you in reaching others and spreading the word about what you are doing?

Facebook is a social networking site and like others it has helped me in finding people of my interest. In this way I can convey my message to those people whom I know and whom I don't know.

How can we help and find out more information about what you are doing to make the world where you live a better place?

For more information about me or my organization, you can visit at www.gympk.org

(POETRY) "My Truth" by Kira Henderson

MY TRUTH


I wear a suit of armor
-cold, rigid, steel plates of evasiveness
forged in distance
bolted with fictitious characteristics
Protecting me from false prophets
trying to slay my spirit
and conquer my body like a fallen land

I move quickly to repair dents and punctures
after battling in love's unholy war
Ensuring that defeats
remain only surface deep
and my Queen-dome holds intact

Convinced that what lies beneath my shield of
self perserveness
is a soul frail and weak
torn up inside
fragile
and easily broken

When my journey crossed your path
and I raised my sword for battle
I was defeated so quickly
not by burning arrows of lies
or words of mass destruction
you did not launch a thousand ships
to sink my spirit
- you didn't even scratch my protective armor

You simply stripped it away

You came to me as a man
intentful
honest
and real

And all of my cold evasiveness and false characters
fell to the floor
leaving nothing for you
except the real me

Shivering in the nakedness of vulnerability
you embraced my truth
and praised it
You handled it with grace
You challenged it
and provoked it to shine

You took the bare me
and showed me my beautiful reflection
in your eyes.

Contact Kira Henderson at pinknotebook77@yahoo.com. You can enjoy more of her work at http://kirahendersonpoetry.wix.com/poetry. 

Celebrating the BEST of YOU

by Cyrus Webb

With a new year there can be the pressure to change something about yourself in order to be better. That "something" is different for everyone, but I think most agree that you don't want to go into tomorrow the same as you were yesterday.

I have been guilty in the past of trying to set resolutions for myself and my life. I'm not alone in doing it or dealing with the disappointment that comes when you fall short, but I have learned a better way.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't set goals. Goals can be very helpful in getting you to the next level in life. What I am saying is that you can't let what hasn't been attained stop you from appreciating the YOU that exists today and what can still be in the future.

In this issue of Conversations Magazine you have seen how individuals have been able to bring their best self forward. It's not always easy to do--and you might very well be your own worst critic---but being the best you is still the only way to go. Why? Because you were created to be an individual. There is really no one who can take your place, so there is no need to try to meet anyone else's standard when it comes to who you should be.

This took me some time to appreciate, but when I finally go it, my life literally changed forever. I haven't been the same. I approach each and every day thinking of why I am here and what I can do to leave an imprint on the world. That is the only thing we can do. No matter how much we try, we can never be any one but ourselves. Why not make that experience here on earth the best it can be.

Trust me, you will be a better person by doing so.

What is your own personal best? Conversations wants to hear about it! Email me at cawebb4@juno.com to share your own story of celebrating the best of who you are. We would love to celebrate with you and share your story with our readers.

Tony Lindsay Presents... Novelist Leon Forrest

There is genre fiction, and there is literary fiction. Within these two categories are groups; in part, genre fiction consists of mystery, romance, science fiction, chick-lit, street-lit, western, thriller, and the list continues to grow. The components of literary fiction are less in number but just as vast in scope: historical, magical realism, stream of consciousness, speculative, allegory, satire, and pastoral. Writers of literary fiction employ tropes or figurative devices in their work that go beyond the popular metaphors or reoccurring similes that are common genre fiction.

Magical realism, perhaps the most demanding category of literary fiction, is used by few writers successfully. One who has succeeded in being considered a magical realist is novelist Leon Forrest.

In his work, Two Wings to Veil My Face, Forrest writes the slave history of an African American family. He weaves the story through two protagonists: a grandson -Nathaniel Witherspoon and Great-Momma Sweetie Reed the grandmother. The masterful story telling begins with the stressful situation of the family at the funeral home to view the deceased grandfather.

In this section of the text, Forrest displays through painstaking imagery the complex relationship between the father-Arthur Witherspoon, the son/grandson, and a self reliant - spirit talking to Great-Momma Sweetie who refuses to attend the grandfather’s, her one hundred and seventeen year old husband, funeral.
Through this couples marriage, which starts when Great-Momma Sweetie is fifteen and Jericho Witherspoon is fifty-five, the reader witnesses slavery after the Civil War, the interdependent relationship of post slavery master and slave, the harsh truth of freedom bringing Union Soldiers, and the fragile lives of women of the era.
What Forrest does through magical realism . . . is make unbearable human situations bearable in the pages of Two Wings to Veil My Face. Relationships between the characters in this novel, in actual life, would have mind shattering repercussions. Only a magical realist can have an abused daughter visit an abuser father on his deathbed seeking solace and understanding. Only a magical realist can cause a reader to accept a barren wife of forty years raising a husband’s child from an adulterous affair. Only a magical realist could cause a reader to believe that a slave broke his master’s back for sleeping with his woman, and another slave healed the master and brought him back to life.

What is unacceptable in reality, through Leon Forrest’s literary craft becomes real in Two Wings to Veil My Face - one Leon Forrest’s five novels.
 There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden (Random House, 1973)
 The Bloodworth Orphans (Random House, 1977)
 Two Wings to Veil My Face (Asphodel, 1984)
 Divine Days (Another Chicago Press, 1992)
 Meteor in the Madhouse (Northwestern University, 2001)

Tony Lindsay is a writer and adjunct professor at Chicago State University. His latest book ONE DEAD DOCTOR was chosen as one of Conversations Top 100 Books of 2012. Lindsay was also voted Conversations Author of the Year 2012-13. He can be reached at tonylindsay7045@sbcglobal.net or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tony.linssay2.

Recording Artist Jinsu Gives Critics A Reason to Be Mad

by Cyrus Webb

Recording artist Jinsu has a reason to celebrate. The young artist is beginning 2013 with a new single ("Let'em Be Mad" featuring Ne-Yo) and a buzz surrounding him that is sure to keep him going through the year.

"I've been doing music a long time," he told Cyrus Webb during an interview on Conversations LIVE radio show. "It's great to see people respond to it the way they are. Makes me feel good."

Adding to that feeling is the message of the music he is showing. Knowing the trappings that come with life in the spotlight, Jinsu is staying focused on what matters. "I use the naysayers as motivation for my career," he told Webb. "We all are going to have people who talk. We just can't let them stop us."

This is a message that the artist is sharing with his fans as well via social media. "It's great to be able to connect with the fans who I see as my friends. I wouldn't be able to do this without them."

Where Jinsu seems to really come alive is on the stage, and Webb asked him about that experience. "It's something you really can't put into words," he said. "I love the energy and I feed off that. It makes everything else worthwhile."

Look for more great music from Jinsu this year. You can stay in contact with him at www.twitter.com/sqjinsu or on Youtube at www.youtube.com/youngjinsutv.

To You, From Me: Enjoying TODAY

There are so many things in life that we could spend time stressing over: making ends meet, family, our jobs and even just the cares of the day. No matter who we are or where we might live there are so many things that are vying for our time. We can be so concerned with tomorrow that the time we have right now goes by without much consideration.

I'm here to tell you that if that is your life right now it doesn't have to be that way. 

The great thing about the way we were created is that we have the gift of free will. This means we can decide where we want to spend our time and energy. Though you might seem to have the world crumbling around you, I want to challenge you to take out time right now to enjoy the day.

It can be a little thing like going outside, closing your eyes and inhaling. For others it might be just stealing away a moment or two for yourself in a quiet place, thinking about the many things you have to be thankful for. 

The truth is that no matter how bad things might seem we have so many blessings that are bestowed on us each and every day. Our challenge is to not allow the cares of the world to distract us from that which we have right now. 

In this issue of Conversations Magazine we spotlight those taking full advantage of NOW. It's a new year, and a new opportunity to do something amazing. You can change the course of your life just by changing what you choose to think about. That is my challenge to you.

I want to hear what you are doing to enjoy the moment. Email me at cawebb4@juno.com or call me at 601.896.5616 to share your thoughts. They might end up in a future issue or on our sister site www.feedingyourloveoflife.com. 

Until next time happy reading!

Cyrus Webb, Editor-In-Chief

Conversations Magazine