the banks & building a civilization
The Radiant Rebellion book tour is over, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to all of you who have purchased a book, showed up at a book event, and sent me lovely messages about how much you’re enjoying the book. Writing a book might be a solitary undertaking, but promoting one? Well, thanks to you, it has been a profoundly connecting experience. I’m truly indebted to you all.
I’m not quite done with traveling: today I leave for Chicago to speak at a conference, and I have a couple more speaking engagements coming. But excitement is winding down, allowing me some space to look around and breathe. And my word, the world is hard, isn’t it?
The world is hard.
I keep thinking about a quote that a friend sent me a few years ago — one that stays with me, especially now, especially when the news is full of war, violence and hatred:
“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record; while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks of the river.”
I mean, I keep thinking about this. Over and over.
Do I want to be a part of history, or do I want to help build a civilization?
As the year starts to draw to a close, it occurs to me that one of the biggest lessons I learned when writing Radiant Rebellion (and The Lightmaker’s Manifesto, for that matter), is how much agency we have in creating and curating our lives. I believe in fate, but I feel like fate is just one part of the story: the other part is what we make of it. Life is about how we deal with the challenges of fate, but also the gifts. And while this is pretty simplistic, I feel like when we tend toward love, joy, courage and self-compassion, we’re headed in the right direction.
Anyway, take heart, friends. The world is a terrifying, brutal place. And, and, and. And I hope you’ll join me on the banks, tending toward love, joy, courage and self-compassion. Because despite it all, I think together we can build a civilization we can be proud of.
