A Few Minutes Remembering Andy Rooney -- by Margaret Hart

I was sad to hear of the death of "60 Minutes" commentator, Andy Rooney, who passed away on Friday, November 4th. Some people didn't like his style or what he had to say, but many did. I was a fan. I had listened to his closing essays for years, and even tried to emulate his style in college when I was a journalism student.

What I also liked about Mr. Rooney's writing was that he was true to himself. He spoke his mind and he didn't flip flop. He was a "what you see is what you get" kind of individual, and I've always been attracted to that type of person.  But moreover, I liked his wit, and his everyman approach to life. He could make sharpening a pencil interesting. Or at least make us think twice about it. He could make us think twice about almost anything. That was his gift.

It's not easy to put into words the thoughts that are in your head. Some people are good at telling jokes and stories, but try writing them down, or performing to groups of  people and having an impact.  Mr. Rooney's words and thoughts were not so much sophisticated or unique, and he never won a Nobel Prize -- though he did win numerous awards honoring his work -- but he had the gift of storytelling. Most of the time he talked about average things that "we the people" often think about, wonder about, and might write about if we had the right tools -- or the guts. He had all the right tools and didn't appear to care much about what other people thought.

I feel like I grew up on Andy Rooney. I listened to him when I was in my 20s just as much as I did in my 30s and 40s. I don't know what that says about me, but maybe it's my foundation as a journalist, my curiosity about the world and what makes it and people tick, and my need to write my thoughts down. Perhaps that's the link that kept my attention all these years.  Curiosity, I think, is at the heart of what makes good writers. We like to ask questions because we are innately curious about what makes our world go round. Which is not to say I group myself in the category of writers like Mr. Rooney, but I definitely group myself in the category of the innately curious.

To write something or say something of interest doesn't necessarily take a degree in higher education or higher intellect. I think it takes a way of thinking and looking at the world. And a good imagination doesn't' hurt. Look at J.K. Rowling. I wish I could scribble a fantastical story on a coffee shop napkin and turn it into a wonderful best-selling novel...well, maybe I can.

But I digress...I was thinking that in some ways Andy Rooney was one of the best bloggers of his generation. He just did it on television. He gave us weekly anecdotes that made us think, whether we agreed  or not, and sometimes provoked controversy, which made some turn the channel. But for me, I tuned in regularly. It didn't matter what the subject. Rooney turned his thoughts into words and used those words to illustrate his views on whatever he felt like talking about at the time--and he was good at it.

I read that Mr. Rooney really loved his job.  He must have. How else could he have worked until shortly before his death, at age 92. I read he spent more than 60 years at CBS, and 30 of those years as a writer and producer having written over 1,000 essays.  That's a passion for writing. But I think that's also a passion for living. And he certainly lived a long life. Rest in peace Mr. Rooney.  And thanks for the inspiration.

GUEST BLOG POST: Personally Crafting Creative Bedtime Stories for Your Child by M.J. Rusaw

Child-rearing is challenging. Crafting creative bedtime stories for your child is a rewarding way for both you and them to overcome some of those challenges.

There are many advantages to writing and telling bedtime stories. Bedtime stories have happy endings, bring joy, and prepare children for sleep. Importantly, bedtime stories allow a parent to take their child’s hand and with a soothing voice, lead them onto the “magic ground” where they can, through character identification, psychologically process life lessons in a safe and satisfying way. The carefully crafted bedtime story is an excellent tool for moms or dads to convey the views, beliefs and values—the moral of the story—they wish to impart, which goes a long way in pre-empting later conflict (the child acquires ownership of the lesson by prior right), and through narrative dramatization of the lesson, allow their child to experience and retain the lesson emotionally.

Every mom, especially midlife moms with more life experience, have at their pen tips this marvelous device for nurturing and training their children. Why rely on classic folk and fairy tales when you, who know and understand your child better than anyone, can craft specific bedtime stories to entertain, inspire and emotionally satisfy your family? It’s not as hard as you may believe.

Here's some tips:

• Create a central character your child can identify with. The spark of the Divine lives in each of us; a hero lives in every heart. When we connect our hearts we connect our heroes. Create a central character your child can connect with from the heart—hero to hero. Pay particular attention to the central character’s “Cardinal Quality”, or the quality we see when we first meet the character which defines the character throughout the story—Cinderella’s graciousness, for example.

• Select a theme—the moral of the story—you wish to dramatize in the story, being careful to write “the moral in the story”, rather than writing the moral of the story in an obvious way.

• Select a location. This is the “magic ground” of the story which governs its operation on a conscious level. This is the world in which theme and central character work. Like character identification, location, though it may be fantastic, should be crafted with familiar features to foster identification and deepen your child’s emotional experience.

• Craft your narrative around your central character, theme and location. The narrative element of the story is the dramatization of the whole story which transforms it into an emotional experience for your child, ultimately bringing him or her to “the sudden turn”, which brings the happy ending. Through narrative, we unfold the moral in the story.

• Write the ending of your story first, paying particular attention to “the sudden turn”, the moment when the story turns in the favor of the central character—after suffering difficulties and overcoming them through his or her own efforts (with maybe a little supernatural help from fairy godmother). Next, write the beginning, introducing the central character, the location and central conflict. Lastly, write the middle, dramatizing the central character’s struggle to overcome the conflict and achieve his or her story goal. With each failure show first the character’s emotional reaction followed by their intellectual reaction and recommitment to the goal.

• Finally, from introduction, through difficulties, to the happy ending, show how the central character changes. The central character must change (possess the moral of the story) and “return with transcendent truth” to live happily ever after. As a Mom, you don’t need to be a Hemingway or a J. K. Rowling to craft a compelling, joyful bedtime story for your child, simply connect your heroes and connect your hearts. The rewards are priceless.

M. J. Rusaw is the author of the fantasy epic The Tides of Eternity. He wrote the epic for his daughter, Rheannon, over a nine year period while she was growing up. He endeavored to inspire her to the heroic virtues of faith, hope and love. Rheannon was richly satisfied by her story—a hero lives in her heart. M. J. loves Deborah, his bride. They also have two sons and two grandchildren. The Tides of Eternity is available at Amazon.com in paperback and on kindle. For more information visit http://thetidesofeternity.com/.