It’s the one year anniversary of releasing my book to the world! Yes it has all kinds of wise quips and curious, humorous comments in it, of course, but it’s about being human. Wait a minute, I guess wise quips and humorous comments is being human.
“Humans have lived on this planet for 3 million years.” it begins on the first page and then takes off on it’s journey thru many cultures, countries and centuries that doesn’t end until the last page.
Yes, the humans . . . are we a scourge or a blessing upon the land? We seem to be both. We are a species (the only species) that can create heaven on earth or destroy every living thing, except maybe the microbes. What is this human being that is so powerful and so dangerous? How did we get to this situation?
This book doesn’t answer that question but it might make you more curious to find out the answer. Self-exploration is a neglected skill, questioning things and discovering your wisdom. That’s what I hope this book does.
Maybe that’s why they put it in ‘Philosophy’ at the Twig Book Shop. Yeah, it’s back in the corner on the bottom shelf but you can find it if you search.
“So how did it feel publishing your book after 8 years of working on it and dreaming of this day?” my imaginary interviewer asks me.
“I’m glad you asked that.” I responded leaning forward and taking a quick sip of my cappuccino, “It was a big thrill, my book was loose in the world. It was the culmination of so many things. I was excited. But then nobody bought it.”
“Well speaking of sales, how many books have you sold?”
“Oh, about 40 or 50 I‘d say.”
“Well that’s something.”
“Yes it is. I somehow expected that everybody in the world would want to read it, that it would be assigned in English Literature 101 classes in the University, required reading for Intro to Anthropology in the basement of the Academic Building. Somehow I felt that it was just a matter of telling people about my book and they would want to buy a copy. Book clubs and book store signings and television interviews and a seat on the author interview table at the Book Conference. Some of that actually happened.”
“Well good for you.”
“Yes.”
“So it’s been one year since you released your fabulous book to the world. What have you been trying to say in it and have you been able to communicate to people?”
“Great question. You are an excellent interviewer.”
“Thank you.”
“To condense it into a quote or a meme, ha ha, well the whole book is what I’m trying to say so go read it, ha ha, but the message is simply this: We are human, it’s fantastic, don’t forget about being human. We have a responsibility along with our great gifts of language, cognition, creativity, all those amazing things that we can do. We are uniquely blessed and uniquely cursed in equal measure. The Garden of Eden and all that. That was the cognitive revolution, when we ate from the tree of knowledge and got kicked out of the garden because we were too smart for our own pants.”
“Our pants?”
“Yeah you know, like smarty pants.”
“Ah. Ok.”
“That’s the curse. Look at all the destruction we have accomplished on planet Earth. We’ll ruin the whole place if we don’t stop. That’s the curse. But we have all the tools to fix it: brain power, technology, human fucking ingenuity, excuse my language, we can create a heaven on earth or we can destroy everything. That’s all.”
“Oh, ok. Got it. Pretty interesting. So basically you want to foment a revolution . . .”
“Yes, doesn’t everybody? I don’t know, maybe not. A revolution of humans becoming human. We’re not human yet. We haven’t got synched up with our abilities and our wisdom. We’re like an adolescent species, somewhere around 8 or 9, 10 or 11, full of vim and vigor but not very wise, full of aspiration and enterprise but not yet experienced enough to know what to do with it . . .”
“Do you think humans will survive?”
“We made it this far. I know that much. It wasn’t easy. We always managed to match up and conquer any obstacle that came in our way whether it was a saber-toothed tiger or a mountain to climb. We’re pretty good at surviving so we’ll see.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
Ha, ha. Fun to do an interview with yourself. You can get down to it. Exactly that.
And so, welcome to the anniversary celebration and 20% off super sale for the next two weeks! I’m having lots of fun with my book.
The Ancient Book of Magic Secrets is available online or at the Twig Book Shop back in the corner in the Philosophy Department. Bottom shelf.
music from 44:08 - 46:17
thank you Tomoko and Koku https://koku-music.bandcamp.com/
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