Sometimes art imitates life. For this reason I struggle with completing a book that is, for the most part, complete. Life sneaks in while I am editing and demands to be visible. I don’t want it to be visible in this way, pushing itself in where it doesn’t belong. I want the writing to be pure and true to itself and its own story without hints of the terrors we face today.
Sometimes I think I sound arrogant or self righteous in my writing, like I know what’s next. Sometimes I know I sound overconfident. The truth is I am just as troubled as the next person of the state of our world and our race. I see the genuine threat of a third world war on the horizon. I see nations and families divided. I see so much suffering I must turn my face away. These thing push in through every crack. I don’t want it. I want peace.
Peace drives me these days, if war is a possibility then so is peace. It will take work, more work that war, war is always easier to make. Peace is not easy; it requires ongoing dedication, naked reassessment of the human condition, and more recruitment than any war. Peace demands global education, governmental restructuring, and individual enlightenment. I may be crazy to think all this is achievable but I actually do. I do, I have a lot of faith in ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Starting today the world can begin because anyone who sees war can see peace. Starting today because today is the benchmark for all our tomorrows.
Soon, maybe tomorrow, I will be back at my book putting the finishing touches on a project I believe in. I love the work, the process, the promise of what will become. I imagine most of us have something similar, a pass time or passion we love to dedicate our time to, music or art or the sunday morning crossword. Something. Whatever drives us may we also be driven by the attainable prospect of peace and find our own way to put our personal stamp on peace and make it our own. The harmful alternative doesn’t have to be the end outcome. Sometimes, if we are dedicated, life imitates art and art is beautiful.
Peace
Christine
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