Editors' Note ~

Winds of Change

Welcome to the fourth issue of Cezanne’s Carrot! This edition brings us to the end of our first volume, and we couldn’t be prouder of the journals we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to publish. Nor could we be more grateful for the talented writers and artists who trusted us with their creations and became part of the Cezanne’s Carrot family.

And of course, the ending of one cycle only means the beginning of another. In many ways, this issue seems like a transition. We’re thrilled to offer work that moves toward the farther reaches of our theme. In the fiction section, for example, Didi Wood’s “Ghosts,” Robert Ciesla’s “Children of Static,” and Cyndie Goins Hoelscher’s “Blue Period” give fascinating glimpses of the lives of people whose experiences press beyond the boundary of what is commonly accepted to be “real.” Similarly, Theresa Hicks’s creative nonfiction piece “Life with Death‘ takes us on a fresh, unexpected journey through the death/transition process with uncanny wisdom and insight. And of course, several of our poets also walk bravely into the unknown—with pieces such as R. Virgil Ellis’s “Canto 27: This Fabric Canvassing the Wind,” Jennifer Houle’s “Imagination,” and Kathe Palka’s “10^-4000.”

It’s exciting to see writers moving beyond the old writing adage that says every story has already been told, that all writers can do is tell the old stories in a new and interesting way. But all the old plots, the old stories, grew out of the world as we knew it. The world of the senses, the structures, the institutions, the belief systems we’ve accepted as reality. If writers are able to look beyond that reality, won’t they also see beyond its stories?

What if, instead of “boy meets girl” stories, we have “boy and girl explore the relationship they share in another dimension”? Or “boy and boy discover the dance of their twin flames”? This may sound like the stuff of science fiction and fantasy, but what if it isn’t? What if we can finally claim these stories as just more of our experiences of life here on earth? At Cezanne’s Carrot, we believe that this is part of our mission, especially in the new cycle just beginning, to give writers a place to publish work that explores the worlds just opening to us.

In the area of alternative spirituality, of which the New Age community is the most well-known branch, word is spreading that Earth and all her inhabitants are moving into a higher vibration, a higher dimension. And what might this mean for the realm of literature? What stories might writers create if they have all of the Universe, all time and dimension and possibility to draw from? What stories will they see beyond the horizon of what’s known?

That’s not to say the old stories don’t have value. There will always be an uplifting, special beauty in stories of love, of connection, of miracles in the context of the world we’ve known. It’s just so exciting for us to see writers courageously shattering the shell of the old stories, redefining “what is,” and moving into the planes and realities where all manner of new stories are possible.

Enjoy your time with this new issue of Cezanne’s Carrot. We hope you’ll savor each journey it takes you on.

In peace and gratitude,

Barbara Jacksha Joan Kremer Lori Romero