Can creativity save the world?
The True Protest is Beauty; Write a nonfiction book in 3 months; Write a short story in a weekend; From Bitter Searching of the Heart
The true protest is beauty
It is Christmas time, and I am celebrating by giving thanks for the fact that, despite all the geopolitical stuff that has been happening lately, our world is still standing and we still have the possibility to make it a lighter and more beautiful place, each in our own way.
I have been giving this a lot of thought lately: How can we, as normal people, contribute to the preservation, and even blooming, of our world? Even if we are not politicians or billionaires? After all, every one of us has an interest in the survival and thriving of ourselves, our family members and friends.
There is an idea that has gained a lot of traction that says that there is nothing we can do to remedy the situation because we have no power. According to this idea, we just have to keep our heads down and hope for the best.
Deep in my soul I believe that this idea is untrue. Every human soul has the agency to move the world more in the direction of love, creativity, truth and beauty.
“You must protest
It is your diamond duty…
Ah but in such an ugly time the true protest is beauty.”
Phil Ochs
That is why when I heard Phil Ochs’ saying, that “The true protest is beauty” the first time, it resonated with me on a deep level.
If we think about it, what is the antidote to destruction? It has to be creation. It has to be. The drive to create is what can save the world.
What do you feel driven to create, deep inside?
Write a nonfiction book in 3 months
In this spirit, I will run a nonfiction book writing course from Tuesday, 4 February. In this course, the participants and I will write a nonfiction book in three months, in the language of their choice. The emphasis of the course will be on each of us writing and completing our book. Think of this course as a way to get your book finally done, as well as learning some technique. My vision is that we will all as a minimum have a completed first draft of our book, and that we will each end up with a hardcopy book. The course will run on a weekly basis online every Tuesday, and will end with a weekend camp in May, in the Transylvanian mountains. The purpose of the camp will be to meet each other in person and to hammer out the final pages of our manuscripts and take action on the next steps in the publishing process. Please get in touch with me if you are interested, including if Tuesday is not a good day for you.
Write a short story in a weekend
A new edition of my long-running course on writing a short story. Each participant will write a short story in the course of the long weekend. The course will take place in March at a beautiful cabin in beautiful Voroneț, Romania. On the final day of the camp we will publish an anthology of the stories written during the course. The exact weekend of the camp has not yet been chosen. Please get in touch with me if you are interested in participating.
From Bitter Searching of the Heart
These days as I was thinking of what is going on in the world, I happened to listen to Leonard Cohen’s album Dear Heather. I have known this album since it came out, but this time I was struck by the words of “Villanelle For Our Time”, a poem by Frank Scott, set to music by Leonard Cohen. Here is the short poem:
From bitter searching of the heart,
Quickened with passion and with pain
We rise to play a greater part.
This is the faith from which we start:
Men shall know commonwealth again
From bitter searching of the heart.
We loved the easy and the smart,
But now, with keener hand and brain,
We rise to play a greater part.
The lesser loyalties depart
And neither race nor creed remain
From bitter searching of the heart.
Not steering by the venal chart
That tricked the mass for private gain,
We rise to play a greater part.
Reshaping narrow law and art
Whose symbols are the millions slain,
From bitter searching of the heart
We rise to play a greater part.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas with peace, love, warmth and health together with your loved ones.
Thank you, Robin, for the news and mainly for the villanelle. I pray in my own way that we get past the bitter searching of our hearts which seems to go on and on around the world and get to the part where we rise to play a greater part. I'm not sure that it will happen in my lifetime, but I do hope that we can rely on each other and on our creativity as well to help us all get there.
On a more practical note, I decided that I will after all join your non-fiction book writing course. I need the time frame and the structure that your course provides and, believe it or not, I'm working on a book on creativity. So, it all fits together.
I'd love to join the Voroneț weekend as well - if the logistics are not too complicated.
Very exciting beginnings in 2025. Let's have faith!