I used to sign off by saying, “one love”. Bob Marley said it first, let that be known, if it wasn’t before now. I’ve also heard individuals say, “one”. Used to be “one hundred”, then I started to hear, “one”. I love that. One humanity. One human condition. The hero with a thousand faces. One hero. One villain. That’s how I’m wiring these fictional works, that I’ve yet to share with the public.

I want to hold off the inevitable response from whoever reads. I’m afraid I’ll be called a hack. Told that I’m not a decent writer or storyteller. That I should pack up my writing tools and walk away from the game of storytelling. If that’s the worst, and I said it about myself right now, the primary force is how I respond. Maybe that’s true about my skills as a writer and storyteller, but I don’t care about that. If I write more, read more, attend workshops, etcetera etcetera. Surely this will help me grow as both writer and storyteller.

May this be the same for you. I once said reviewers were silly. I retract that statement (which was an opinion to begin with) and say, reviewers are awesome too. Doing something for the love of doing it should be why any of us move forward in certain endeavors. If we have one focus, that one thing, we will accomplish.

A friend gives wisdom. Patience, give things time. Persistence. Consistent. I await this friend to give good stuff for me to ponder. To wonder how a change of my attitude can make all the difference. I’ll always kind of be sad. That’s not going away. What I can also count on is gratitude. For the people who care about me, want to see the best for me. About the house I live in. The food I eat. That I can walk, see, talk, think. So much to be absolutely grateful for. With this gratitude comes a renewed sense of humility. That I’m no more deserving than the homeless, yet here we are- me in a house, and those souls sleeping on concrete in tents. It’s not fair. So, if it’s not fair to the homeless, I better use what I’ve been given to be a beacon of good stuff. To help the homeless, when that time comes. To help. Plain and simple charity. To give back. To give others a fighting chance at actual success.

Of course you can lead a horse to the water, but you sure as shit can’t make the horse actually drink the got dang water. It’s true! Maybe, instead of a horse, try to make your dog or cat drink water when your dog or cat doesn’t yearn for water. It’s silly, isn’t it? Ya need water! No, I don’t. Yes you do! Whatever, maybe later. Isn’t that funny? Who’s really to say when the horse needs to drink. I don’t know, I’m not the got dang horse in question, in theory.

The last paragraph got super wizard-like. Dunno what to make of it myself. Pulling it all back to the main point, one. One love. One peace. One smile. All love. All peace. All smiles.

Alexandre Dumas wrote this once: “one for all, and all for one!”. It was about the Musketeers, and D’Artagnon (spelled wrong, so what). Love that book, a classic because there’s so much going on. Such depth. Romance, action, villainy, deceit, other timeless stuff.

I am one, who is for all. May I prove that. So when the time comes, if I face The Devil and say fuck off, all will be one with me. Together, we can stomp out evil. Evil is real, and it’s not cool at all. I’m here to stop evil, cut off the advances. To have a boundary set up against evil. No evil, no more. Enough said.

One for all. All for one!