Il y a quelques jours, je marchais au bord de la mer à Stockholm, lorsqu’un jeune irlandais m’a interpellé par mon nom. Ce n’est pas le genre de chose qui m’arrive souvent –il semblerait qu’il fasse partie du petit nombre de personnes qui ont lu mon livre – et j’ai donc vu cette coïncidence comme un signe de m’arrêter pour converser.
cynicism
Brushes with the Mainstream
We have to let go of war thinking with its accompanying dehumanization, and enter the question that defines compassion: What is it like to be you?
2013: Hope or Despair?
Was the year 2013 a cause for hope or a cause for despair? Were the positive developments signs that the world is turning the corner? Or were they delusionary exceptions to the downward spiral into tyranny and ecocide?
2013: A Year that Pierced Me
What pierced you in 2013? What spoke to you in a language older than words? What connected you with a knowing that defies logic? What gave you the experience of being in the presence of the real? What motivated the best in you, and what confirmed beyond a doubt, at least for a moment, “It is all worth it”? Let us hold that 2014 pierces us all the more.
The Cynic and the Boatbuilder
How can we overcome cynicism (either inner or outer)? We cannot overcome it. We can, however, address the wound that generates it. Cynicism guards a wound of idealism dashed and hope betrayed. Anything that reawakens our childlike (naïve) knowledge that a more beautiful world is possible generates, alongside the uplifting feeling of hope, an upwelling of fear, grief, and pain.
Naivete, and the Light in their Eyes
Naivete is more realistic than cynicism simply because it reflects the truth — a more beautiful world IS possible