This article (cited below) poses an interesting question: Why do some people feel unfulfilled even when they have happy (“feeling good”) and meaningful (“doing good”) lives?
Continue reading The Good Life – more than happy & meaningful
[Featured image: welcome mat in a trash can]
[Draft 8-23-2025, 8-25-2025, 8-27-2025, 9-2-2025 new scenes]
Copyright © 2025 John P. Healy
(e)scape for free from reality
What’s it all about
When you sort it out, Alfie
Are we meant to take more than we give
Or are we meant to be kind?
– from the 1966 song ‘Alfie’ by Burt Bacharach & Hal David
[Image: A wagon train with tag: Oregon or bust]
Introducing Tarry World [1]
[Image: rusted hulk of a courtesy van with faded “Welcome Wagon” on the sides]
[Image: a stasis pod with a cracked cover]
[Scene: interior of terminal @ off-world spaceport] Revival
The first thing he heard … was some tapping on alumiglas. A masked face stared down at him, a muffled voice said, “Mr Smith? Ident ending in 0823?” He tried to speak, but coughed; then tried to nod ‘yes.’ But his head was cradled and did not move.
The voice said, “Stay calm, it will take a minute. Try again. Are you Mr Joe Smith, ident ending in 0823?”
With some urgency, he replied, this time loudly, “Yes, my name is Joe Smith, 0823!”
The voice replied, “Thanks, your pod will now open.” Smith heard a loud click, his ‘bed’ vibrated, and then the cover rose to the heavens, revealing a fully garbed humanoid figure.
“You may call me Alphie, Mr Smith. … Let me help you sit up. … Great. You may feel a bit lightheaded, but that will pass quickly.” Looking at a data pad, Alphie continued, “Your biosignals look okay, the meds will help stablize your mood for a while.”
Alphie stretched out a hand and asked, “Please shake my hand, firmly.” Smith did so. “Thanks, Mr Smith. As soon as you feel able, you may get up. Just follow the blue line to the shower area.”
Continue reading Shadowscape – Episode 6
Copyright © 2025 John P. Healy
(e)scape for free from reality
now the fast which be first
will find that does not last,
now the slow nearly last
will later become first,
for now turns into past,
songs of glory fade fast– Remembrances of Energy Lords
And Time, a maniac scattering dust,
And Life, a Fury slinging flame.
– “In Memoriam A. H. H.” Canto 50 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
[Draft 7-26-2025, more notes 8-2-2025. Added scene on 8-5-2025, 8-9-2025.]
[Scene description]
[The series host “Rod” walks into the scene, faces the camera, and makes a brief monolog.]
“Witness …
[Dramatic montage with music fades in and spins out to black.]
Continue reading Shadowscape Episode 5, Part 2
Copyright © 2025 John P. Healy
(e)scape for free from reality
whether heaven or haven
will ever erase our blight,
our myths impel us even
further on a cosmic flight
– the gods need not take our sight …
[Draft 7-20-2025, 7-21-2025, 7-22-2025 added notes, 7-24-2025 added sketches of scenes, 7-26-2025 more notes]
[Scene description]
[draft 7-12-2025, more notes 7-15-2025]
(e)scape for free from reality
when simplification equals clarity,
there always is something wiped away, erased.
some pieces near & dear or socially displaced,
whether existing far in time, other space.
hanging your hat there, linger long in that place,
will exact a price for putting doubt aside –
the ever deeper darkness you must abide– Remembrances of Energy Lords
Continue reading THE SHADOWSCAPE – Episode 4
[draft 7-7-2025, additional notes 7-10-2025]
(e)scape for free from reality
the AI app matches us so artfully,
its add-in's charm so beautifully.
is it time for us to really see
whether we're a couple, possibly,
without smiling artificially?[SoCal. Midday. Large interior work area on floor of a dated office building. A casually dressed man works in his cubicle. The far side of the work area is bright, lit by a section of windows. But the worker’s cubicle is mostly in shadow, lit by task lights and computer screens.]
[Scene “Is this a match?”]
Continue reading THE SHADOWSCAPE – Episode 3
[draft 7-3-2025, added more notes. 7-15-2025 added another scene sketch.]
(e)scape for free from reality
in moving from low to high,
we see our pathway as true,
and that we are in the right.
yet forever left nearby,
as if they are out of view,
still the shadows of the night
– the gods need not take our sight …
Here’s a rough sketch of a possible screenplay: The Shadowscape – Episode 1. A dark comedy. Homages to The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror. No peak of eternal light.
[draft 6-18-2025]
(e)scape for free from reality
“you’re welcome to pass,
but step quickly inside,
you’re letting out the darkness
which i hope you can abide”
– step quickly inside …
[Home office, interior, partial daylight – SoCal “June gloom”]
Sitting at a desk, an aspiring screenwriter is working on his laptop computer, struggling with writing on the screen. (In clunkier days, he might be on a typewriter and repeatedly tearing out the page, crumpling & tossing it away, eh.) Nearby on top of the desk is a printed document. Clearly visible on its title page is printed:
Continue reading THE SHADOWSCAPE – Episode 1
I like the use of the word alignment in this article for bridging meaning & purpose via storytelling.
But, without compassion & insight, might such reframing & narrative produce dark purpose? – e.g., vindictiveness [1].
• Psychology Today > “The Story You Tell Yourself” by Jordan Grumet M.D., The Regret-Free Life (May 8, 2025) – We are “narrative beings.”
Continue reading The stories we tell ourselves – anchoring purposeHappiness isn’t a destination; it’s a synthesis.
[updated 5-19-2025]
we scale ourselves …
in moving from low to high,
we see our pathway as true,
and that we are in the right.
yet forever left nearby,
as if they are out of view,
still the shadows of the night
whether heaven or haven
will ever erase our blight,
our myths impel us even
further on a cosmic flight
[refrain]
contemplate views from the site
the infinite in your sight
a temporary delight
the peak of eternal light
like Sisyphus for his wrongs,
while the summit’s view rivets,
we cannot stay at such height,
it’s not where our soul belongs,
just for brief tourist visits
the peak of eternal light
Copyright © 2025 John P. Healy
Continue reading the gods need not take our sight … (peak of eternal light)