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| Lord Ganesha image found on Google images www.astrogems.com |
Ganesha The Remover of All Obastacles
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Author's Note:
I chose this reading because I love this guy, Ganesha! This is a very new experience for me, as I am not familiar with reading comic books at all, much less one from another culture. So, I am going to move out of my comfort zone of doing the same thing and do something brand new! I will be drawing from two comic books to tell this one story about star-crossed lovers who get a little help from the remover of all obstacles.
In the comic book version of Ganesha the remover of all obstacles, the story involves the creation of Ganesha by his mother and the drama it causes for his parents and how he gets an elephant's head. The comic book version of the Star-Crossed Lovers is about a young man who goes to study with a Guru to learn the art of being brought back to life after death. He falls in love with the Guru's daughter and they have an affair. But once the young man learns the art he leaves and breaks the young lady's heart, but she gets over it.
I am choosing to create the setting of the story to be in a city I used to live in Sedona, Arizona, and I used to work at the Center for the New Age store. I also know a famous bronze artist there. I have changed most of the names to protect the actual people. I am including many photos in echo of a comic book theme that uses so many illustrations to fill in the ideas that words do not express.
In the comic book version of Ganesha the remover of all obstacles, the story involves the creation of Ganesha by his mother and the drama it causes for his parents and how he gets an elephant's head. The comic book version of the Star-Crossed Lovers is about a young man who goes to study with a Guru to learn the art of being brought back to life after death. He falls in love with the Guru's daughter and they have an affair. But once the young man learns the art he leaves and breaks the young lady's heart, but she gets over it.
I am choosing to create the setting of the story to be in a city I used to live in Sedona, Arizona, and I used to work at the Center for the New Age store. I also know a famous bronze artist there. I have changed most of the names to protect the actual people. I am including many photos in echo of a comic book theme that uses so many illustrations to fill in the ideas that words do not express.
Summer Love
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| Sedona, Arizona www.visitarizona.com |
Jay loved his job at the local farmer's market in the colorful little desert southwest town of Sedona. He had recently moved to Sedona, Arizona to work with John, a master artisan of bronze sculptures as a student aiming to learn from the best. Jay had to work at the farmer's market to support himself while he was in town.
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| Jay at the farmer's market image found |
He worked by day and practiced sculpting at night at John's studio.
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| Sedona, Arizona Studio/Gallery at HozHo Plaza www.jamesmuir.comwww.jamesmuir.com |
He first met Elisse while at work at the farmer's market. Jay was working at the booth selling fresh organic prickly pear cactus jelly and raw desert honey. Elisse was out running errands and stopped at the market to grab a quick wheatgrass to get a boost of energy.
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| Wheatgrass image bjpersonalsolutions.com |
Elisse felt a shock of energy that had nothing at all to do with the wheat grass. When her eyes locked with Jay's at the market it was as if the fates had brought together the binary set of magnets. She felt her cheeks flush and she smiled and then went on her way to getting her list of chores done.
Jay could not shake the feeling he got from the beautiful stranger he exchanged a special smile and moment with. He felt rather smitten, but who knows if they would even see each other again. Sedona is a resort town where people come and go.
Jay was sure his face was betraying him and showing his lack of knowledge and in addition, a bit of skepticism. "Wow, this is new. Okay, thank you." Jay took the bowl and set it down in front of the bronze of the deity.
Jay could not shake the feeling he got from the beautiful stranger he exchanged a special smile and moment with. He felt rather smitten, but who knows if they would even see each other again. Sedona is a resort town where people come and go.
Later that evening after his shift at the market and before the night session at the studio Jay had to go grab some dinner. He enjoyed a salad on the patio at the trendy Oak Creek Brewery at Tlaquapaque and then began his leisurely walk to the studio. On his way he stopped at a store. The bright colors of the mural caught his attention, so he decided to go in.
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| Center for the New Age image found on Pinterest |
Jay went into the store and in the entryway stood a six foot tall statue of the Hindu god Ganesha. The statue was made of bronze. It was strange for Jay to see an elephant's head on a human body as he was unfamiliar with the backstory.
Jay was greeted by a store employee welcoming him to the store and he took the opportunity to ask about the statue.
The beautiful young lady named Carla answered," The elephant-headed deity is the son of Parvati, who is the wife of god Shiva. His name is Ganesha and he is the remover of all obstacles. Something tells me that you could use some of his help." She smiled and laughed her blue eyes twinkled.
"It is that obvious, huh?" Jay chuckled and smiled. He was of course thinking again of the lady he had an exchange with earlier that day. Jay thought to himself, "Ganesha, help a guy out to find his girl. That is the obstacle I face today."
Carla brought Jay a fresh bowl of milk to offer to the statue. "Here, this is what Ganesha likes to drink. If you want him to help you, offer him some milk."
Jay was sure his face was betraying him and showing his lack of knowledge and in addition, a bit of skepticism. "Wow, this is new. Okay, thank you." Jay took the bowl and set it down in front of the bronze of the deity.
Bowl of coconut milk for Ganesha
image found
Jay looked for a bit around the store. It was interesting. There were books, jewelry, crystals, clothing, candles, psychic readers and aura photos. It was not really his thing, but he was glad he stopped in and he went on his way to the studio up the road a ways.
When Jay arrived at the studio he was astounded to see Elisse. The girl from the farmer's market earlier. 'Man, that Hindu deity Ganesha really works fast," Jay thought to himself. As it turns out, Elisse was John's daughter. John was the master artisan of the bronze sculpting and owned the studio. Elisse had been gone on a business trip and had returned just the day before.
Jay and Elisse worked together over a summer creating the wax statue that is made before pouring the bronze cast. It was a small piece of art, but it was a symbol of perfection to the star-crossed lovers. Jay and Elisse fell passionately in love that summer. With art, with each other, with life.
The Arizona desert heat dancing on the red sandstone rock can really bring out the primal forces in people. It starts with a buzzing in your soul. You want to hike to the tallest red butte and meditate under a full moon in a drum circle. You want to drink wheatgrass and have your fortune told. You begin to believe in soul mates, destiny, and the magic of the gods. Every day is like a day in paradise.
But alas, all good things must end, right? It would appear to be the case for the young star-crossed lovers. The thing about being star-crossed is that it doesn't last. It always ends in tragedy. The summer drew to a close and so did the love affair for the two young artists. Jay had to return home. He really had a great time that summer. He grew in so many ways as a human in so many new directions.
When he thought about his future, Elisse was just not in the picture. Jay had a psychic reader tell him all about how their souls unite in each lifetime to teach each other lessons but it is not a relationship meant for mundane life. So he said his goodbyes to John and Elisse. They were sad to see him go. But that is Sedona for you- people come and go.
John, Elisse's father, was glad to see his daughter so happy and accomplished. He was also very impressed with the young apprentice's work. Jay showed amazing talent and great progress in such short time.
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Osho Zen Tarot Deck
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www.bluelightlady.com
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word count 986 note 269
Hi LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteThat was such a bittersweet story! I am happy Jay found Elise and they had the opportunity to spend the summer together, but it was pretty sad how they were unable to stay together after the summer. I have to check out these comic books! They seem really cool. Also, the only thing that was noticeable was how the font size changes about half way down the page. It makes it a bit hard to read. Otherwise, I think you did a wonderful job!
I thought the story was written rather well, flowed nicely. I’m not sure if you did it intentionally, but mid-way through the text size gets a little wonky (smaller actually). I do like the idea of doing a story based off a comic book, I just wish there had been more photos (that’s just a personal preference). I was a tad confused by story, with the psychic reader it started off as a torrid romance and then I was thrown in the world of mysticism, which is fine. I’m just having trouble finding a connection to the beginning (considering how tired I’m at the moment that’s not a big feat).
ReplyDeleteHey, LaDawn! I’m from the other side of town... the Myth and Folklore class. I’m looking forward to reading your story! I’m going to make my comments as I go down below.
ReplyDeleteI like how you decided to make your own story based on your own experiences and those that you know!
Jay seems pretty cool, and like he’s adjusting well to his new home.
Jay was working at the booth selling fresh organic prickly pear cactus jelly and raw desert honey.
~~Gee-wiz.. That jelly sounds like it could either be yummy or not so much. I’m good all the way up until the cactus part. I’d totally be down to try it though!
When her eyes locked with Jays at the market it was as if the fates had brought together the binary set of magnets.
~~ Awe! Love at first sight! How presh!
(I REALLY love how you have links to real places! That’s dope! I should try that out in some of my stories.)
Jay and Elisse worked together over a summer creating the wax statue that is made before pouring the bronze cast. It was a small piece of art, but it was a symbol of perfection to the star-crossed lovers. Jay and Elisse fell passionately in love that summer. With art, with each other, with life.
~~~ Awe I love it! Love is such a beautiful thing!
When he thought about his future, Elisse was just not in the picture. Jay had a psychic reader tell him all about how their souls unite in each lifetime to teach each other lessons but it is not a relationship meant for mundane life. So he said his goodbyes to John and Elisse. They were sad to see him go. But, that is Sedona for you, people come and go.
~~ Darn, they didn’t work out! I’m glad they didn’t end on bad terms. At least it was a mutual type of ending and just the timing didn’t match up. I enjoyed this story. It made me want to visit one day! Great job, LaDawn!
I loved this story! It was chopped up into little sections, which I LOVED. As a reader it was super appealing and made it easy to read. I also like all the images, itl so added to a great reading experience!
ReplyDeleteOne issue is that halfway through the story your font changes and is really small and hard to read. Just fix that and you are golden!
You should definitly write more stories in this sort of format in the future!
LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading summer love. This is so descriptive story and the picture adds life to your story. I choose this story over the raven, the serpent and the bracelet because I found it interesting to read due to the story being divided into paragraphs and the picture you added here. However, the story of Ravenwood’s and serpent’s were interesting too. I had great fun reading that story but his story stands out. All the pictures used goes well with the title of story. I see so many colors and the whole post looks colorful. I liked the part when jay said “ Man, that Hindu deity Ganesha really works fast”. It is true that people come and go in life. I am glad that they had the best time when they were together during summer. I wonder if they met again? I wonder why did he not she Elisse in his future? What did she lack?
Hi again LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading Summer Love and I thought it was great. I usually read the author’s note to get an idea of what you read before writing this story. The one thing I noticed is how many pictures you put in your post and I thought that was very creative. Great job on the creativity and wonderful story.
Good afternoon. I enjoyed looking at your portfolio. Congratulations on being selected as one of the finalist for the semester. This is my first time reading a selection in your portfolio. I read the intros and decided to choose this one because the photos caught my attention. The first photo of Sedona was really cool. They way you broke the reading up with photos and then a brief description made it really easy to understand. I enjoyed reading the author’s note and the background history of were you use to live and work. I think reading a comic was a great choice. They way you ended the story was good it wasn’t too tragic. It seems liked all the characters had a great summer. They seemed to enjoy their passion, which was the love of art. I guess it would be interesting in future writings to see if the two meet again. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the final voting!
ReplyDeleteHello LaDawn,
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time I get to read one of your retell story. This time I am read “Ganesha The Remover of All Obstacles.” It was a great read. First of all, I really enjoyed the images that you chose. Each image helped in describing what is going on in the story. Which was a great idea when telling a story. Especially, it was great that you used the real images. I liked it how it was in the small sections with the given image. The story itself was great. It was wonderful that you showed your creativity throughout the story. Another thing I liked was that, you did a good job in ending the story. I liked it how you were descriptive in you author’s note as well because that was the best way to show the difference between the original and your retell story. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
Hi La Dawn, Congratulations again for being nominated for having one of the best portfolios for the semester! I absolutely love this story that you wrote and I feel like the pictures you used in association with it was executed beautifully. I think the idea to choose images to echo the comic book feel was a really good idea. I really enjoyed reading Jay and Elise’s first encounter. Needless to say, it was the perfect butterflies in the stomach, type feeling. Jay’s encounter with Ganesha at the store was really cute and even though he didn’t quite understand what was going on, he kept an open mind. Good thing he did, for he was able to have an unbelievable summer with Elise. I thought you really intertwined your knowledge of your home town of Sedona, Arizona and your new found understanding of the Indian culture, to create such a wonderful story.
ReplyDeleteLa Dawn, I don't read a lot of romance stories but your narrative was pretty well paced. I felt as though the progression was very natural and easy to follow. You weren't forcing anything event too much in the story. It was also a unique idea to include information on places that you have lived in as your setting. I assume that doing that allowed you to describe vividly the environment that these lovers shared.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like that you wrote a story about the mystical influence of a god in the modern era. It would be very entertaining to read stories like this one but with other gods being the ones prayed to for guidance such as Rati, the goddess of love and carnal desire (seems right up your alley if you are interested in writing more love stories). If your other stories are similar to this one then I can see why your portfolio was nominated. Good job!