How does the condition of mind affect our life journey?

My Substack newsletter George MacDonald and the Condition of Mind, engages with the work of George MacDonald as a springboard for ideas and reflections, with this question particularly in mind.

George MacDonald was an influential 19th century Scots writer of fantasy, realistic fiction and sermons. There is a Christian basis, but his ideas and stories are widely applicable to the human condition as a whole, whatever religious tradition is espoused, or none.

MacDonald was from Huntly, Aberdeenshire (1824-1905), but in adulthood was variously based in Arundel, Manchester, London and Italy, and gave lecture tours that included the USA and elsewhere. He wrote fantasy and realistic fiction, including in Scots dialect, theological works and poetry. MacDonald influenced many later writers, including Chesterton, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He was a friend of Ruskin, Lewis Carroll, Lady Byron and Octavia Hill, among others, many of whose names are well-known today. C.S. Lewis said of MacDonald,

“I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master.”

See Introductory remarks: Thought-eggs for further details.