Literal Literacy.

It has definitely been the summer of books - both reading and writing. I've consumed over 100 books since leaving pseudo-corporate firm life in early May, as part of my commitment to 'stopping the madness'. I'm hoping that many in the world take this unique time in history to think a bit more than doing, although my acquaintance Arash claims that most are just trying to get back to where we were a couple years ago. C'est la vie, I feel there is no time to ponder such things. My literary selections have been all over the map, from existential philosophy of Kierkegaard, deconstructionism of Derrida, space making politics of Lefebvre and the contemporary landscape urbanism of Corner/Waldheim to the poverty eradication economics of Bono and Sachs, I've been a consumer of words, which are not unlike spaces. They both form places where we reside, interpret, and evolve.

A couple disturbing/enlightening reads were 'The World Without Us' by Alan Weisman and 'Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems' by the founder of Whole Foods, Michael Strong. It's been nice, and fulfilling, and much needed after a couple years of do do do at relatively high speed with scant critical reading other than graphics standards and charts about bituminous characteristics.

One such read of the summer was suggested by a dear friend and colleague who I've never before mentioned in these writings, the lovely Myles; Joseph Campbell culminated a trend of recurrent theories of individual narrative such as Maslow, Spiral Dynamics, and finally, what may be my fave read of 2009: 'The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World'. This book was published almost a decade ago but was like reading my own biography, although I'm skeptical about it's stereotyping. Here is an interesting excerpt:

"As we traveled across the country and sat in living rooms and offices and churches listening to stories like these, we found ourselves thinking of women meticulously patching calico and velvet into quilts, and fisherman patiently mending their nets at the end of the day. Cultural Creatives are like this. As they step away from the mainstream assumptions and values of modern culture, they are piecing together a life they passionately care about. If you ask them, they'll probably tell you that it's a slow and awkward process. In the midst of a society with compartmentalized values, they are doing what they can to weave a coherent and integrated life. They don't claim to have all the answers. Picking and choosing what matters most to them, each one is trying to create a new system of value and meaning.

The educator Parker Palmer says that movements begin when people refuse to live divided lives. This is what is happening with Cultural Creatives. Many of them are going through major life transitions as they look for ways to live the values they have come to believe in. Some stay stuck. Others appear to be stuck in unpromising situations for a long while but then come out shining, to the amazement of their friends and colleagues. What Cultural Creatives have in common is not their success in navigating the cultural crossover, nor their personalities, intelligence, religion, or ethnic origin. They are simply ordinary people who share a culture of values and worldview and, to some extent, a lifestyle."

And another I found particularly enchanting:

"The kind of learning that Cultural Creatives like is intimate, engaged knowledge that is imbued with the rich, visceral, sensory stuff of life. The kind of action that especially appeals to them is what Margaret Mead called "whole process" where they can be part of creating something from the beginning, middle, end, and through to the new beginning. They would agree with educator Jean Houston, one of the early Cultural Creatives, that the world is too complex for linear analytic thinking now. To be smart in the global village means thinking with your stomach, thinking rhythmically, thinking organically, thinking in terms of yourself as an interwoven piece of nature."

And finally, my favorite:

"It's not an easy choice. many Cultural Creatives go back and forth, trying to convince themselves that they shouldn't care as much as they do, imploring themselves to please just fit in and not be so difficult. If they're lucky, they lose this battle. In time, they learn to seek their own counsel, to abide by what they believe to be most important and act on that.

So whatever subculture you come from, whether you are a Modern or Traditional or a Cultural Creative, as you meet the Cultural Creatives, you probably will feel some of the fascination and discomfort of a stranger in a strange land. In order to meet them, you'll need time and a variety of vantage points. To understand why the Cultural Creatives are emerging now, you'll need a long view, one reaching back to the 60's. And to understand them, you'll need to get close enough to hear their stories, or there will be nothing to connect your heart to theirs. Finally, you'll need to take some wide-angle views, or you won't fathom how many of them are already gathering together to create new social solutions and build intricate networks in the United States and around the world."

Needless to say, these 'Cultural Creatives' sound like the folks I must, desperately find to work, live, and play for/with. I would like to personally know every single one of the 50 million. I do wonder if each of these 50 million are living without health insurance, much like myself, as a sacrifice in modern America, to live a life that we passionately care about.