Six Doors Down: A Journey Through Synchronicity

By Dr. Donna Clovis

In this sequel, award-winning journalist Dr. Donna Clovis recounts the stories of Princeton,
New Jersey, from the 1960s to the present, through the eyes of its oldest citizens by means of
interviews, diaries, and articles. The synchronicity of being at the right place at the right time
for the interviews, locations, and journals plays a major role in the construction of the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Feb 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781504373739

Dr. Donna Clovis

Dr. Donna Clovis is an adjunct professor at Rider University with a doctorate from Columbia University.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 Dr. Donna Clovis.

Author Credits: Award winning journalist

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-7372-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7371-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7373-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017901072

Balboa Press rev. date: 02/01/2017

Contents

Foreword Life as a Synchronicity

Preface Writing Stories from the Realm of Possibilities

1 Dr. John Nash

2 Hill Market

3 It’s All About Her

4 A Personal Heaven

5 Steam Tunnels

6 The Ground on Which We Stand

7 The House Beckons

8 Haunting Memories

9 Twenty-Three Days

10 September 1¹Th

11 Healing the World One Blanket at a Time

12 Across the Tracks

13 Being Black and Orange in the Ivy League

14 The Closer

15 A Little Taste of Cuba

16 Step Down, Mr. Wilson

17 Profiling the System

18 With Grace and Wit

19 Away From the Gates

20 Princeton Cemetery Whispers Stories

21 This Hallowed Ground

22 Every Twenty-Eight Hours

23 We Lean Upon two Pillars

Afterword Synchronicity’s Call to Write

End Note Stepping Through the Looking-Glass the Science of Synchronicity

Bibliography

About The Author

Dedicated to my family

who always support and inspire my endeavors as I write …

and thank you to Gabriella Oldham, my editor.

FOREWORD

LIFE AS A SYNCHRONICITY

It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards …

Carl Jung’s favorite quote about synchronicity from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

M y story begins with a wake-up call. I was a healthy and active working mother of three. I had a mini-stroke at a young age. I lost my ability to speak. I knew something was wrong. And I signaled my husband to take me to the hospital. But I was very fortunate. The stroke lasted two hours with no damage. That’s the day I decided to change my life. I put in my resignation from my over-stressed job. I slew one of my biggest dragons by making this change. I did not know how I would make an income. But I realized that I wanted to write and help others through my writing. This was the day I realized there was so much more to life. Life was a precious gift to use in a positive way. I started writing again and studied the work of Carl Jung.

The work and research of Carl Jung helps us to understand the writing journey we take through life in the archetypes or patterns of universal human experience. He shows us that we must first have a dream or goal, then pursue a quest to fulfill that dream, which involves conquering the monsters outside or within ourselves before attaining victory or success. This archetype of the hero can be applied to our storytelling and writing life.

I always knew I was a writer. That was my childhood dream and purpose in life. I learned to read at three years old and wrote my first short stories at the age of eight. I was published at ages eleven and seventeen in several magazines by teens. At the end of high school, I pursued an English and Spanish degree to improve my writing skills with high honors. But upon graduation, I encountered the first monster that must be slain during my life quest. I was married to a man who was abusive and found myself homeless when I pursued a divorce within the first five years.

After several years of trying to get my life together, I remarried a supportive man and had three children. I felt I needed to practice writing again and wanted to go back to school to do this. My husband said there was no money in the family budget to go back to school, but I looked for any funding that would help. I applied to Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York. They were offering four fellowships with full funding for all classes and a $31,000 stipend for the Master’s Program. I put my application together and sent it off. A few months later, I received a thin letter back. Of course, I assumed it was a rejection. My odds were so great that I would not get in. Only four spots were available, with so many applications coming in from all over the United States. I assumed my dreams were dashed and put the letter away for three days without opening it.

When I gained the courage to open the letter, I learned that I was accepted! Everything I needed would be taken care of. I learned that one must take risks and follow one’s own intuition or gut feeling. Synchronicity would be the key to open the doors. A huge portion of my dream was being fulfilled. Not only did I learn to write from the best journalists in the world, but I landed a full