Meliorism: the belief that the world can be made better by human effort. (Alternate definition: the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment.)
If you have missed it, today is the debut of my first book, Paw Prints in the Ledger. As part of my “marketing strategy” for this book, I am participating in a blog swap through Long and Short Reviews. The topic of the week is “Books that deal well with tough topics”.
The most obvious way to start this (and never let it be said I did not embrace the obvious) would be to create a (non-exhaustive) list of books that dealt with tough topics, changed my world view, and made me long to be a writer.
| Title | Author | Tough Topic | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Househusband | Ad Hudler | Gender identity / roles / construction | First time it ever occurred to me that a man might genuinely have different experiences than a man |
| Animal, Vegetable, Miracle | Barbara Kingsolver | Food, environment, political spectrum | Showed the insanity of food production as well as how food shaped environmental issues and politics. |
| Educated | Tara Westover | Ideological consequences | Some Americans are living in a different world than I am |
| Love That Dog | Sharon Creech | Pet loss, poetry | Made me appreciate poetry alongside a story about pet loss |
| The Spellman Files | Lisa Lutz | Gen X angst | First protagonist recognizable as my generation (dealing with sense of wrongness) |
| The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas | Racism | Some Americans are living in a different world than I am |
| Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation | Hannah Gadsby | Autism | Began to truly identify as neurodivergent |
| The Hilarious World of Depression | John Moe | Depression | My depression experience is recognizable and unique |
| Freakonomics | Stephen D. Levitt | Measurement of the world | Success is about what we measure, particularly in politics |
| Fifty-Four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers | Caela Carter | ADHD | I had no idea ADHD medication was such a challenge or what it felt like |
Every one of these books created a “before and after” in my life. The transformed me and made me want to behave in different ways.
But they didn’t tell me what to do.
There is an old joke: “A classic is a book everyone wants to say they have read, but no one wants to read it.” There are many books that deal with difficult topics that don’t “survive” the initial read: Milton’s Paradise Lost (original sin), The Catcher in the Rye (grief and alienation), Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (relationships, listening).
I had a professor in college who told great, somewhat off-color anecdotes about things he saw around him. One of the ones that stuck with me was about the movie Twister. He saw it and was not impressed. “We’re mammals,” he bellowed. “We like stimulation. That’s all Twister is. Stimulation. No plot. No character.” His point, and I understand this more and more as I age, is that mammals want things: food, water, shelter, but also, amusement and fun and companionship. Most of the mistakes I have made in my life have come down to “wanting” a thing that I could have been content without. My mammal instincts took over.
One of the things I believe American society has lost is the ability to talk about difficult subjects and enjoy the disagreement. Reading authors like Heather Cox Richarson (left) or Thomas Sowell (right) is educational, but their ultimate objective is to prove themselves correct, and thus arguments are ultimately binary. Entertainment, on the other hand, obviously presents a point of view. But in order to appeal to the largest group of readers, it tries to tell a compelling story.
I have read both “So You Want to Talk About Race” and “Piecing Me Together“; both books are excellent, but “Piecing Me Together” is the book that has stayed with me and encourages me to change my behavior.
I didn’t know the name for that feeling until a few days ago, but Meliorism does exist.
In Other News (The Painting Part)
Neither of my paintings (see below) were invited to attend the Watercolor Society of Oregon’s Fall Exhibition. Sigh.
I have a couple other paintings in progress, but they aren’t far enough to make them interesting viewing.
I went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium a few days ago and took a lot of reference photos as well as some sketching. I feel some aquarium-themed paintings coming up…
I hope you all have a great week!