Last weekend I attended the San Francisco Writers Conference. I went to learn about the publishing industry, meet other writers, and get feedback on the book idea that I've been wrestling with for almost two years. The working title of my book is "New World on the Horizon: Re-Inventing the American Myth of Unlimited Potential."
All of my objectives were met, even exceeded, but I feel lousy. It's not because the feedback I received from the publishing pros, the literary agents and the independent editors, was unenthusiastic. It's why. What I heard was a lot of cynicism about Americans and what they want, or are even willing, to hear. What I heard is that a book that explains the root cause of our mad rush to gobble up every available resource and exhaust ourselves and the planet, would not be well received by the book buying public. Although the book would offer alternatives and suggest a better, richer, more soulful as well as sustainable way to live, there is no audience. Because Americans don't want to change. They would rather kill themselves and everyone else, rather fiddle while Rome burns. (I don't know how far I'd take the argument that the USA is like Rome but I like the image of the fiddling).
Is this true? I imagine it's true of some people, but mostly I think that we need a way to connect the dots, a way to bridge the gap between gigantic collective problems and personal actions and philosophies, a way of thinking about our situation that helps us to avoid cynicism and fatalism on the one hand, and a heartless and naive optimism on the other. I need this. It's the fruits of my search thus far that I want to share.
I guess I could be the naive optimistic idealist. The debate about human nature, about whether or not we're born good and empathic or selfish and bad, whether we have instincts in either direction or learn to be good from other people, is very old and very far from resolution. But it occurs to me that one's opinion on the matter might be more important now then it ever has been before.
I'm going to keep doing what I feel called to do. To talk about the role myths and myth making play in our lives. To offer the mythological perspective as an antidote to the literalism that turns so easily into fundamentalism. To use mythology to think. To think about our beliefs and assumptions. To think about alternatives. To think about what it is to be human and find models for the aspects of human being and the moments in life for which we have few accepted patterns. (This, by the way, is the motivation behind the exploration of lunar mythologies and moon-based poetry and philosophy that you will find here over the next few months. And why I shared Inanna's descent with you).
Re-Inventing the American Myth of Unlimited Potential. That's what I'm up to, what I'm trying to figure out. I'm going to do more of that work here, less obliquely, on-line, with you. I know that you're out there. I meet you all of the time, the people who know that we're reaching the limits of the unlimited--- and know that's the good news.
