Les Pensees Dangereuses: Dangerous Thoughts About Life, Love, Pets, Friends and Depression

Les Pensées Dangereuses: Dangerous thoughts about life, love, pets, friends and depression

Sharon E. Cathcart

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2009, 2016, 2023 Sharon E. Cathcart

Jacket design by Sharon E. Cathcart.

Award-winning author Sharon E. Cathcart writes heart-warming romance and historical fiction with a twist!

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Contents

Author’s Note

Thoughts About Writing

Thoughts About Theatre

Thoughts About Animals

Thoughts About Education

Thoughts About Bullying

Thoughts About Loss

Thoughts About Women’s Issues

Thoughts About Marriage Equality

Thoughts About Spirituality

Thoughts About Depression

About the Author

Other Books From This Author

Author’s Note

I started this project with something else entirely in mind. I wanted to write about my experience with depression, but it turned out to be, well, depressing. The last chapter contains that unfinished piece, so you’ll see what I wrote. However, I realized that what I really wanted to do was share a number of essays I have written over the past few years. Some of them come from my blog, some of them from writings I did for the Metropolitan Community Church, still others from college papers ... in other words, they come from all over the place.

The title, Les Pensées Dangereuses, came from the idea that ideas can be dangerous or threatening to people who disagree with one’s perspective. It also pays homage to one of my favorite epistolary novels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The concept that ideas can be just as dangerous as people intrigues me: I like it. In V for Vendetta, V tells Evie that ideas are bulletproof. Indeed, they are. It is my pleasure and delight to share my ideas with you. Perhaps you will agree with my positions, perhaps not. In any event, I hope that you will think about them.

Any author will tell you that no book is truly a solo project. I have so many people to thank; please accept my apologies in advance, for I suspect I’ll forget to include someone along the way. That said, my unfailing gratitude to: my friends at Livejournal, Facebook, GB.Net and GoodReads; the classmates who grew into marvelous adults; Sondra Zentner, MD; Fiona, Heidi and Maisey from the first riding academy; Nic and Sundance (RIP, buddy) from the second riding academy; the fans who read and enjoyed my first novel; Rev. Michael Patrick Ellard and the entire Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose; the school teachers who encouraged me (you’ll read about some of them) my mom and dad; my husband, Jeff.

As is always the case with these sorts of books, there will be some names changed to protect the innocent (or guilty).

Thoughts About Writing

For as far back as I can remember, I wrote. Stories, essays, poetry ... the words came flowing out of my pen. I will be the first to admit that some of it was not very good at all. However, I kept at it. For a time, I made my living as a journalist and, eventually, a newspaper editor. I co-authored a nonfiction military history book, and published a novel. Now, I share my thoughts about this, and many other matters, with you.

The Work of Being a Writer (Blog, 6/10/09)

I should be drying my hair, but I just need to get this out.

Being a writer is hard work. Sure, there's the actual writing ... but then what?

I was thinking about so many things this morning, and trying not to be overwhelmed.

-- Every submission requirement is different. I'm in the midst of prepping yet another version of In The Eye of The Beholder, this time for a UK publisher who is interested in receiving my manuscript for consideration. After that, yet another submission version to prep for Authonomy.

-- Publicity is hard, and sometimes you make a misstep. I did already. I submitted my book to a reviewer who belatedly (and I mean belatedly ... this had never been stated previously) announced that he expects authors to query him before sending him works. I sent a note of apology; there's nothing more I could do.

-- I am sometimes frustrated by the publicity process, to tell you the truth. We are all taught not to be boastful and self-serving. I used to work in public affairs for the Army, and I wrote press releases and promotional news information all the time. Marketing myself, though, is a challenge. My new marketing postcards have arrived; the next step is getting them out to people.

-- I have the additional burden of dealing with medically resistant depression. That makes getting out of the house to go to my day job (and every author of my acquaintance has a day job) difficult, so adding this additional shift, if you will, makes things just a little tougher. Thrown in that my house is a disaster ... which just feeds the depression. I'm working on the house, but sometimes it's all I can do to pitch out the recycling. Those who cope with depression will understand; those who have never been through it cannot possibly relate -- it's not something you can just snap out of.

-- At the same time, I theorize that my depression may be a gift. Many artists and authors throughout history have been prone to bouts of melancholia. I even gave my main character, Claire, a tendency toward melancholia in an attempt to get across what it's like to live in that state. I don't know how well I succeeded in that regard: only a reader could tell me.

I really needed to get this off of my chest. I am trying not to get frustrated or depressed this early in the game ... some minutes are better than others.

Thoughts on Being a Writer (Blog, 5/24/09)

I did a little more editing work on In The Eye of the Beholder today, both before I went to church and a little bit this afternoon after I re-watched PS I Love You. After services, Rev. Mike gave me my chocolate bar (a prize for correctly identifying the language into which one of MCC's weekly reflections had been translated -- Polish) and the reprint of my first entry in the Weekly Reflection series. My article was picked up by another MCC for their newsletter.

So, I'm watching PS I Love You this afternoon, and one of the letters Gerry sends to Holly talks about how he remembers her talking about creating something. Holly talks about how creating things shows the world something about you -- something that you didn't even perhaps know about yourself.

It seemed like all of these experiences today conspired to make me realize something: I had stopped thinking about myself as a writer. I guess I felt as though I no longer had that right after getting that rejection letter last year from the publisher. I thought I was deluding myself, you know? I had a novel -- 55K plus words, with a plot and everything -- but I had stopped thinking of myself as a writer.

I don't know quite why. I started the book four years ago, during an especially dark time in my life. It took me three years to finish it. I am so proud of it -- even as I go through this final batch of edits and tighten things up once and for all so that it can go up on the eBook site. But other than this blog, I had pretty much stopped writing until Rev. Mike asked me to write a weekly reflection. I used to write for a living, folks. But I stopped thinking about myself as an artist of words -- I wasn't kind enough to myself to think I had any business doing so.

The overarching theme of In The Eye of the Beholder is the importance of compassion. I also realize that it's the overarching theme of my two favorite books of all time (The Man Who Fell to Earth, by Walter Tevis, and Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux). Yet, I did not have enough compassion toward myself to recognize that I was shutting down the