So, then....no pressure.

I've spent a lot of this week working on Part II of the essay "It's A Mystery", and I'll be working on it up until we publish. Most of this work is polishing & additions. A lot of it is telling myself "It's OK, you can do this."

When I wrote the first part I though, "OK, very few people will like this!. I will probably get some hate mail, but I know what I know and I'm going to tell the truth." Then, to my complete surprise, it became hugely popular, and now people are linking to it all over the net, Vox has picked it up for publication in September, and folks are writing in to say "Thank you, I thought I was the only one who thought that!" and "I can't wait for Part II."

So, then....no pressure.

Oh, Gods. I was fine until I heard all that.

It's actually easier to work when I think I'm a lone voice crying out in the wilderness. My own standards are pretty damn high for these essays, but at least that's just between me and the Goddess. When Pagan teachers start writing in and asking to copy portions of the essay for classes and discussion groups, then I start to get a little wiggy.

So. Just breath ....and get on with it. Thankfully, I have very good and wise friends. I will send the last draft to them, and they'll tell me if I've got my head in the wrong place. (They will word it in a much ruder form, though! )

Other News:

Newsletter: I think we've found a new Grammar Witch. (Since I'm dyslexic, a Copy Editor for FCE is key).

Spiral Steps: The Spiral Steps Online Support Group now has 90 members. (48 of those joined since the article on Spiral Steps came out at The Witches' Voice.

Everyone is doing very well over there. The new people keep us busy (the rule on "No Cross Talk" is fairly unique to the Internet, and it's a hard one for people to grok) but everyone currently there has been friendly, honest and open minded and they are getting it that this keeps everyone safe and the circle equal.

A number of people have written in to SS to say "Oh, thank God/dess I found you!" which is really great to hear. Also nice: Three Pagan therapists from different parts of the U.S. have also written in to say how much they like the Spiral Steps groups, and all three are sending their Pagan (and other) clients to the support groups, especially the cyber group.

The challenge is that people are now writing in to say that want to attend the real world Spiral Steps meetings. While there are literally hundreds of people who want to go to these meetings, very, very few have the time, the willingness or the time in recovery to help get these meetings started. I keep reminding myself that this part is not within our control. The Goddess will simply have to send us some of the right folks if she wants more of these real world meetings to exist.

EarthWise Ethics: : I've written to three of our senior staff and asked them for their opinion on adding a sex positive note to the EarthWise Ethics portion of Part II. I am waiting for their answer. The trick is to write this in such as way as to support both mainstream and alternative ways of loving, but not to support abuse or pedophelia.

Sia