On creative freedom
And the value of staying small and nimble as a worldwright, writing to right the world
Sometimes it takes a children’s story to express the truth most simply and powerfully.
In Leo Lionni’s story “The Biggest House in the World,” a snail is determined to build the biggest, most beautiful shell in the whole world—and she does. She keeps adding to her huge, gaudy shell until it’s so big that it has her pinned down, no longer able to move. That’s when she realizes her folly, and crawls away from the huge shell, back in her original humble home, happy and free.
There have been various points in my life when I’ve turned to this story for perspective on situations in which I’ve created structures that turn out to be unwieldy and unsustainable, weighing me down rather than allowing me free growth and evolution.
It’s a fable that can also apply to our capitalist growth-and-accumulation imperative, which turns out to be, as Marx prophetically foresaw, suicidal.
“Small is beautiful,” E.F. Schumacher proclaimed, and it’s true, despite the push in our culture towards more: more likes, more square feet, more readers, more income, more everything, as though we could make ourselves better by taking up more physical and psychic space in the world.
As a writer, author coach and publisher, I’m intimately aware of the push for visibility. Creators crave recognition in the form of Amazon stars, reviews, books sold and royalties earned.
Sure we do. It’s a huge popularity contest, and the author with the biggest, most elaborately decorated shell, built with the help of a team of marketers, always wins.
Yes, there is no doubt that when you have put in the years of effort it takes to write and publish a book, you want above all for people to read and respond to your offering.
And when you are writing to right the world, this is important in ways that go beyond ego and vanity. You want your book to be read because you believe you’re offering something that will, as the motto at my Green Fire Press puts it, make the world better.
Yes, and…if your motivation is truly about making the world better, then your book is just the start. It’s an important platform, giving you credibility as an author and offering a deep dive into your wisdom.
But as I am always telling authors, if you really want to change the world with your insights and creative offerings, you have to package your ideas in multiple formats. The snail story is also apt because these days, as a creative person, it’s important to be nimble and mobile.
Yes, there are huge institutional structures that rise like great mountains in our social landscapes: Amazon, Ingram, Random House, Scholastic, Harvard, Yale…giant institutions that function as great coral reefs, providing havens for brightly colored creative folks as well as legions of ordinary workers.
Yes, it’s possible to get “real jobs” in these mega-corporations and take cover under their giant shells.
But if you want creative freedom, it’s best to stay small and independent, and think about how to send your book message out into the world in various small, independent formats.
Recently in my Writing to Right the World class, we were talking about Substack as a platform for shorter-form writing, and how sometimes even that is too long. Some readers would prefer your great deep book digested for them into a series of single-sentence memes. Other readers prefer audiobooks, or short video presentations on You-Tube for example, another of those vast coral reef hosts for creatives.
If your mission as a creative person is to be a worldwright, changing the world for the better, your book is the start, allowing you to explore your ideas in depth—and then comes the essential shorter-form follow-up that will amplify your book’s message: blog posts, video presentations, conference presentations, magazine articles, social media memes and posts, online and in-person classes, etc. etc.
If it sounds exhausting well…it can be.
You can only do so much, and if your calling is to write, you can’t let all this ancillary marketing deplete you so much that you have no energy for your next book.
If you have the resources to hire marketing help, great. If not, just do what you can, realizing that you have to lead people to your ideas with lots of small provocations and offerings.
These do, over time, become a kind of “shell” or reef that you are building up, and eventually, if you keep at it, you and your work will become a gathering place for many like-minded creatives who will want to take your ideas further out into the world, adding their own insights and embellishments.
This is how human thought evolves, as a grand collective creative enterprise that is not only global but also intergenerational, as writers from the past continue to actively influence writers of the future.
Your job as a writer is to become a meaningful link in that chain of human thought evolution.
My advice: embrace and value your creative freedom. Don’t let yourself overbuild structures that will weigh you down.
Coming up in December…
A Writing to Right the World Summit hosted by Humanity Rising!
From December 9 - 13, I’ll be interviewing some of the most powerful worldwrights I know, online each day from 11 am - 12:30 pm Eastern.
We’ll be talking about how these writer-activists have used the power of creative expression to change the world for the better—and how you can do it too!
December 9—Positive psychologist Maria Sirois talks about how our appreciation for beauty, truth and excellence can make a positive difference for us—and for the world around us.
December 10—Bioneers and Everywoman’s Leadership co-founder Nina Simons shares her unique perspective on the necessity for “full-spectrum” leadership and sacred activism to bring the world back into balance.
December 11—Bestselling author, shaman and activist podcaster Manda Scott will tell us why she thinks imagination holds the key to personal and political well-being, and how ancient shamanic approaches to life and death may be just what we most need now.
December 12—Buddhist dharma teacher Cynthia Jurs joins us to talk about her Earth Treasure Vase pilgrimages and how she practices an embodied, engaged sacred activism through meditation and prayer, ceremony and ritual, pilgrimage and council.
December 13—Global climate justice activist Osprey Orielle Lake talks about her decades of activism at the United Nations and in indigenous communities throughout the world, braiding together new and ancient stories in the quest for a just, regenerative and thriving future for all life on Earth.
Register here to receive the zoom links for this pay-what-you-can Humanity Rising event!
Come cultivate your creativity with me….
Stimulate your body, mind & spirit with one of my international retreats.
My writing retreats are intended as creative recharges, a chance to learn and grow with kindred spirits in nurturing places.
We have to take care of ourselves if we want to be of service to others, and we can’t stay glued to our screens all the time!
I have three international writing retreats coming up in 2025—please join me!
Riding & Writing in the Azores: LAST CALL!
January 4 - 11, 2025
Join me for a magical week of Riding & Writing at Patio Eco-Lodge on Faial Island, Azores, an oasis of natural beauty amid ancient volcanic rocks and lush island vegetation.
Click here or the photo above to find out all the details about this affordable all-inclusive trip. Reservation deadline December 1.
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
Click here to find out more and see beautiful photos from my past Riding & Writing trips to Iceland. Come with me for my June 2025 Riding & Writing retreat at Hestaland. Reserve your spot now on this awesome creative tonic of a trip!
The Art & Craft of Purposeful Memoir: Annual Tuscan Memoir Retreat
September 27 - October 4, 2025
Write, relax, restore your creativity in good company at a dreamy private villa in Tuscany!
Click here to find out all the details and reserve your spot now!
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
Rich with wisdom, always. 💚🙌🏼🌎
"Your job as a writer is to become a meaningful link in that chain of human thought evolution."
This hits so close for me. You're spot on, and it's so comforting and confirming to hear. We writers who are writing to right the world need to hear this over and over!