I am adding Fable Four here to the pieces uploaded in previous posts (see below). Called “The Salesman who Set Up for Himself,” the Fable tells of one way of sustaining creativity in adverse conditions.
Fable Four belongs in a series called “Fables and Reflections” which consists of sixteen pieces in all.
Each piece takes just a few minutes to read. I am uploading them one at a time, every three weeks or so. The idea behind this approach is that people running all day just to keep up, are more likely to read them in short doses and at intervals.
But for those who prefer them all at once, here is a link to the sixteen together.
The series is a set of essays written after a working life spent supporting people with mental health problems. It thus records the learning gained from years spent one of Society’s many fault-lines dividing Balance from Imbalance, Have from Have-not, Them from Us, I from Other. In a sense you can say that, in exploring the constituents of community here, and at this time of strain and fragmentation, materialism and desperate zealotry, the series asks and discusses what are the timelessly binding and redemptive skills of truthful human connection, the skills of love.
If anyone finds value or virtue in these Fables and Reflections, please send word of them to people you know who you think might want to read them. You could simply pass on this blog address, or, alternatively, I am happy to e-mail them individually as attachments to people who would find that easier. I am already doing that for some people. I would also be happy to send hard copy versions by surface mail. If that is your preference, just send me your address.