Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author, speaker, PR consultant
- Location:
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near Munich, Germany
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1,707 views
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4,608 views
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3
- Web page:
- http://www.diaryofamother...
- Biography
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Christine Louise Hohlbaum, official SAHM spokesmom for ClubMom, award-winning American author of 'Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff' (2003),'SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe' (2005), 'The Author's Companion', has been published in hundreds of publications. She has a BA from Smith College in Political Science and German Literature. From the University of Constance, Germany, she obtained her combined master's degree in International Relations, German and English ...[more]
- Interests
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Exercise, reading, public speaking, practicing random acts of kindness, movies that uplift (Spiritual Cinema Circle!), frolicking with my family
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Every story carries with it a solitary truth. In Casablanca, it was letting go of love as the greatest act of courage. Or Sleepless in Seattle – no distance is too far to find The One. In The Matrix, it was nothing is as it seems (and yes, a pin in your skull does hurt). Or in Fantasia, even a mouse can conduct an orchestra. These truths are what I call the golden nugget of the story. It is the pivotal moment when all actions converge to a pinpoint of awareness. Capturing the golden nugget is not easy. It’s as elusive as your Uncle Wilbur’s legendary bass that’s escaped him going on twenty years now. The job of every writer is to wrestle out the truth and to construct a story to convey it without bludgeoning the reader with your message. Its subtle presentation can be difficult. The writer seeks to illuminate without blinding. The best stories are those of universal application. They reach the broadest scope of humanity by teaching us something about ourselves. ‘Jilian’s Vantage’, a most poignant short film first presented by Spiritual Cinema Circle, illustrates the golden nugget beautifully. It is about a man who has lost his lady love in a freak accident. Plagued with survivor’s guilt, he reluctantly agrees to meet a female friend of a friend at a restaurant. In the brief exchange between them, she teaches him to see life from a new perspective although she herself is blind. In the end, we learn he is in a wheelchair. We the viewers were blind to his disability. The golden nugget? We are all blind to something. A writer attempts to open our eyes and shrink our blind spot just a little, and if only for a moment.
'Write on the backs of envelopes," I suggested to one aspiring mom writer who emailed me recently. She was at a loss as to how to get started. She had a book in her, she knew, but she didn't know where to press the play button.
There is no play button. If you want to be a writer, write.
It's that simple.
Okay, so you have to write. A lot. You have to get out the crap before you can uncover the gold. Weeks will go by before you feel you've gotten anywhere. Self-censure can kill. Don't do it.
On many occasions, I've reread things I wrote years ago, only to ask "Hey! Who wrote that?" I was impressed with the clarity and precision. Then I realized it was me.
"I must have gotten a good night's sleep that time," I reason, certain that type of clear thinking would never visit my mind again.
And then there are moments when I reread things and I ask, "Hey! Who wrote that?" and it's the worst piece of garbage I've ever seen. Then I realize it was me.
I love those random emails people send in search of their own voices. They appear in the ethers like embryos, searching for their beginnings. Swimming in their amniotic fluid, they reach out for a helping hand. I guide them one moment on their journey, and off they go again. Mostly, I never hear from them again. But I know deep down, if they truly are writers, they will pick up that pen and chronicle their days into eternity.
The Goo Goo Dolls are hot on both the molecular and physical planes. They are a constant inspiration for me. Some musicians have that certain soul quality that lifts up your spirit and gives it a good throttle. The sound reverberates on the DNA level, as Laura Faeth discusses. I once read that music is what color sounds like, or some such.
Inspiration can come from many sources. I happen to love modern dance, so whenever I get the chance to catch a show, I soak up the energy the performers emit. A really good film can do that as well. A bad one can do more damage than good, however.
We got a new 81 cm wide screen TV yesterday. My husband, the fabulous manual-reading person that he is, had the electronic device handled in under an hour. In a rare moment of forgetfullness, a client call slipped my mind. I was delayed by 15 minutes so, without warning the kids about being quiet, I got on the horn. Typically, I look them both individually in the eye, explain they will lose a limb if they disturb me, and offer a timely activity that will keep them out of trouble.
It did not work. They cried, scrapped and got on my very last nerve. In between silent pleading, I finally blurted out to the kids that they could watch TV for the hour. Woefully, it has so many buttons that they hit the wrong one, and the screen went dark. I had to call my husband to find out how to turn it back on again.
What this mammoth has taught me is how damaging bad entertainment can be. On your typical 28 inch TV, you are less apt to feel it. But get yourself an enormous wide screen job, and it is unavoidable. It is in-your-face-smash-ups-inferno-laden-build ings-and-violence-without-end. And that brings me back to music and its effects on the soul.
Listen to poison, and you get poison. Listen to uplifting lyrics, and you get, well, uplifted. Yesterday I cruised the Goo Goo Dolls fan site (admittedly, I did NOT plunk down the 39 bucks to have 'back-stage' access to the message forums, etc.). Reznick talked about how their hit, Better Days  ,emerged from going back to his roots in Buffalo, New York.
There are better days ahead. I can sense them. They are the color of sky and rain and cumulus clouds. And they smell, and feel so good!
› See all posts in Christine Louise Hohlbaum's Amazon blog
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Quiet place of the soul, February 20, 2008
As the newness of 2008 wears off, many of us have returned to our old ways. Our to-do lists tyrannize our days, and it seems twenty-four hours simply aren't enough to `get it all done'. Enter Abby Seixas, a smart thinker who's devised a plan to help us women stay on track without falling into the...
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SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe reveals the truth about parenting, no matter where you are in the world. As an expat writer, Christine Louise Hohlbaum delves into the mundane to unearth nuggets of gold in her quest to raise her children ... › Read More and Edit at Amapedia.com 
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