Tending the precious garden of your imagination
For writers, there's no more important task in these urgent times
I am never happier than when the Full Moon finds me on a clear evening on the beach in Nova Scotia, where I can clearly perceive how, for that one day each month, the Earth is balanced between sunset and moonrise, the moon rising exactly in proportion to the sun setting.
Although this is true everywhere on the planet, here by the sea, without obstructions from mountains or forests, what I can see helps me feel into my heart connection with these steadily wheeling cosmic bodies. It's obvious that I am a sentient cell, an infinitesimal but integral part of this grand sentient universe.
These days, feeling into my profound connection with the Earth inevitably brings grief.
I have been very sad this month, learning of the inexplicable beaching of hundreds of apparently healthy dolphins and whales, on beaches in Scotland and Cape Cod.
I cringe at the news of sweltering temperatures around the world this summer, knowing that not only humans, but all life is under siege due to human-caused climate disruption.
I feel the weight, the shame and guilt of this. I am well aware that I am part of the problem, and have been my whole life.
What do I do with this awareness, poised here at this pivotal Full Moon of July 2024, when so much is crying for my attention and care?
Staying awake to the grief is essential, as is the recognition that the grief is propelled by love.
Tapping into the love at the root of my grief for myriad of troubles in our world today, I can engage in the Buddhist practice of tonglen, breathing in suffering, breathing out love and kindness, meeting the harshness and ugliness that so far characterizes so much of the zeitgeist of the 21st century with waves of love, steadily rolling over and easing the jagged angularity of our time.
And then I can reach out and encourage others to do the same. That's where "writing to right the world" comes in. For those of us who are called to use writing as our primary form of creative expression, now is the time.
Yes, I may be only a tiny cell in the flank of our huge earthly home; just a speck on a watery pebble orbiting a star in a little spiral galaxy, far, far away.
But in our fractal universe, size is immaterial. Each cell forms the center of its own universe, just as I am the gravital center of my own life.
And whether we are talking about the physical, the social or the psychic realms, the mechanism of change is the same: it starts from a central point and ripples out, gathering force as it connects with others.
These days, we can see viral transmission happening in real time, in the noosphere of our ever-growing virtual reality, the World Wide Web. One strong message, powerfully worded or memed, can spread like wildfire, affecting first hearts and minds, and then physical reality.
Our task now is see clearly what we want to cultivate in the social field; create a container of strong words and images to hold our message; and launch it into the vast sea of our hive mind, the Web, to do its work as a catalyst of positive change.
Yes, it's important to know what we don't want. But that is only the first step, and not the most important.
It's easy to rail against all that grieves and angers us in the world. It's harder, and more important, to dream up and articulate alternatives.
To do that work of imaginative, creative visioning is to begin to truly be the change we want to see in the world.
My dear creative companions, there is nothing more important you could be doing than dreaming up the world you want to live into, and sharing your dreams.
Don't get caught in technical self-censoring. Just dream big and open your heart to share your dreams with others. The technical engineering needed to make your dream a reality will follow.
When I was a child watching Lost in Space or Star Trek, so much of what I saw was absolute fantasy. Communicating with wristwatches? Big screens on which people see each other no matter where they were? What a dream! But now we take such conveniences for granted.
"The world is as you dream it," the Achuar shaman told John Perkins many years ago, issuing a warning to Western society: be careful, be intentional in what you dream.
We've arrived at this fraught moment in history because those with the most power in global society have not been wise or sufficiently forward-thinking in their dreams.
We must do better now, and each of us has a role to play.
Your imagination is a precious garden. Don't pollute it with toxic ideas and dark, nihilistic images. Tend your imagination with a light, loving touch. Feed it with beauty. Plant the seeds of the future you want to see flourish. And when your work is done for the day, open the gates and invite others in to nourish their spirits with what you have created.
Throughout history, every person who has made their mark on the world started by paying attention to their dreams and sharing their dreams with others.
Now is your time. What will you make of it?
Mark your calendars….
I have a couple of online events coming up that might interest you:
Scaffolding the Academic Writing Process
Tuesday, August 6 at 8 am Eastern, I’ll be sharing my 30+ years of experience in helping students to write academic papers. Things have changed a lot in the AI age, and the step-by-step process that we academics call “scaffolding” is more important than ever—for writers of every age and genre.
Register here for this free online event, sponsored by the Liberal Arts & Sciences Collaborative of the Bard Open Society University Network.
Exploring the Keys to Purposeful Memoir: Ancestral Archeology
Monday, September 9 at 10 am Eastern, explore how your ancestors’ lives impacted the way your own life has unfolded in a lively online workshop. What legacies are you proud to continue, and what would you prefer to jettison as you move towards a thriving future for yourself, your community and our world?
Sponsored by Berkshire Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College. Berkshire OLLI members $15, non-members $20.
Come Riding & Writing in Portugal with me!
My next Riding & Writing trip will be to Portugal, January 5 - 11, 2025, at the beautiful Monte Velho Equo-Resort in the dramatic hills and cork groves of the Alentejo region.
Get away from it all in a treat for mind, body and spirit: contemplative writing in good company, and outstanding riding instruction on magnificent, well-trained Lusitano horses, with both arena dressage lessons and trail riding into the countryside.
Space is limited—reserve your spot now to avoid disappointment!
More info (and many beautiful photos of last year’s R&W trip) here; registration form here.
COMING SOON:
Dates for my June 2025 Riding & Writing trip to Hestaland in Iceland, and October 2025 Memoir Writing Retreat in Tuscany with Il Chiostro will be finalized soon.
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.
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What a perfect message - I've been ruminating about the state of the world at times with too much worry. The importance of fertilizing our creativity is paramount. I was listening to the soundtrack from Hamilton and it struck me what a tumultuous time that probably was as the Skyler sisters sing "How lucky we are to be alive right now, in the greatest city in the world!" A shift in perspective I consider, as I ponder the world today... Thanks Jen for this thoughtful piece.