Article: "Realism" and Its Discontents

In the meantime, I have both a political and a personal reason to put myself on the side of awakening from "realism." The political reason is obvious, I'm certain: the greatest obstacle to a social order of justice tempered by love is in our own minds, the preemptive, self-censoring, self-shrinking beliefs that keep us from acting on the glimpses of possibility we see. The personal reason is that I'm tired of banging my head against "realism" in action. I love to offer talks and workshops, I love working with students especially, but groups of all ages and conditions. Happily, I am invited to do what I love. But as a friend of mine put it, too often my work is seen as a "spice." I get tired of being called "provocative." I like to be thought-provoking, of course, but I'm starting to read that as a code-word for "I love what you say but is it 'realistic?'"

Is it realistic? Is it feasible? Is it promising? Do I by now know enough from experience to say yes to all three? Yes, without a doubt.

So to the next person who finds my proposals "unrealistic," let me say this: whether or not the self-ratifying propaganda of the powers-that-be remains the default setting for "realism," well: that's up to you. See how it stands up to these three questions:

Who are you? What do you stand for? How do you want to be remembered?

What I know of the vast possibility, the moral grandeur, the creative freedom of the human subject, I know in my bones. What I know--in real, practical terms--about how to access our best and inscribe it in our hearts, our organizations, our communities, I know from lived experience. This is real, not "realistic." I doubt I will ever be persuaded to renounce this knowledge. But I'm frustrated, I admit it. I'm searching for whatever will release that feeling, inside my own mind or out in the world. For now, not knowing will have to suffice. Joe Henry, "God Only Knows."