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| Václav Havel (left) and Thomas Merton |
I stopped. I do the same. I write (amongst
other things) about ecological overshoot. I also think that none of the
solutions (real, imaginary, or hocus pocus) will be implemented, or if they are, none will be effective.
But I had never conflated the two. I had never
thought I write knowing it will not make a danged bit of difference.
Until I read that opening sentence.
My next thought followed quickly: So why do I
do it? Why do I write knowing that it will not make the danged bit of difference?
And why do all those many other writers do the same?
Do I hold out hope for a
miracle? Do I suspect that there is a tiny (possibly less than 1%) chance that
writing will make a difference? Is my writing simply a projection of my ego into
the world? Do I want to be remembered after my death by what I leave behind?
Are we writing to support others who also write knowing it to be pointless? Or,
do I write simply because it is a creative outlet in an increasingly crazy
world that stifles creativity (in its true sense)?
The answer may be none of
these, or it may be all of them.
As I pondered my question two
quotations came to mind.
The first is from Václav
Havel, the last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the
Czech Republic (as it was known then.) Havel was also a poet, philosopher
environmentalist, and writer. In his 1990 book, Disturbing
the Peace, he wrote:
‘Hope,
in the deep and meaningful sense… is an ability to work for something because
it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.’
Twenty-four years earlier (in
1966) an anti-Vietnam War peace activist, Jim Forest, wrote to the Trappist
monk, Thomas Merton, telling Merton of his despair and complaining that, ‘…we
have become insensitive to human life, to the wonders of the world, to the
mystery within us and around us.’ In his reply Merton acknowledged Forest’s
feelings and suggested that he accept his feelings. He then went on to advise
Jim Forest with these words:
‘(Do)
not depend on the hope of results… You may have to face the fact that your work
will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps
results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea you start to
concentrate more and more not on the results, but on the value, the rightness,
the truth of the work itself. And there too a great deal has to be gone
through, as gradually you struggle less and less for an idea and more and more
for specific people… In the end…it is the reality of personal relationships
that saves everything.’
Reminding myself of these
quotations I come back to knowing my writing, and that of others, will not make
a danged bit of difference. I must ‘…face the fact that (my)
work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all.’ Indeed, my writing
may have the opposite effect to what I would wish.
None of us can predict the
future, none of us know for certain what outcomes will be in the next year, let
alone in one hundred years. As a writer I accept that.
I will continue to write. If
I may plagiarise Merton, and alter his words, then: I will ‘concentrate
more and more not on the results, but on the value, the writeness, the truth of the work itself.’
Notes:
1. The Civilizational Hospice Protocol, The Honest
Sorcerer, 2 Dec. 2024.
https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/p/the-civilizational-hospice-protocol?r=2o44x&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwY2xjawG7ayVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXKHBFzx3-W6YVpoh4nvoVh1_jOHjhyNHpwYmwOqRHdEG8kmgNyIeZRF_A_aem_zCayolOJGItQWc1OspqnxA&triedRedirect=true accessed 3 December 2024
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