DMB Digest: Turn, turn, turn Vs...

Burn, baby, burn.

I am, among other things, the Redneck Granola.

My frame of reference, my POV, grows from a fertile convergence of disparate realities. This is my schtick. It is what some would call my ‘superpower.’ I live for the integration of ideas that on the surface appear to be contradictory, or at the very least, phobic.

I was born in a rural, agricultural setting along the Texas and Mexico borders. I grew up on a beef ranch in Texas. I moved to Montana to attend University at the “Berkley of the Rockies.” I then moved from a small urban environment to a slightly larger urban environment in the form of Salt Lake City (SLC). For the last twenty-five years, I’ve lived within eight blocks of the downtown of my home city.

I’ve worked in a field and at a desk. I’ve had my head and hands covered in manure. I’ve hand-sprayed hundreds of acres of cactus with a mixture of soap, diesel, and herbicide that is most definitely still killing the earth some decades later. I’ve hugged trees all up and down the Rocky Mountain range. I walk everywhere whenever possible, and the rest of the time I drive an electric car charged via a combination of solar, wind, and hydro power.

I believe in science and faith. I believe in technology and nature. I attend a weekly church service (and serve as a leader) within a denomination founded, in part, on teetotaling. I grow, ferment, and drink my own personal vintage of wine.

I’m fine with all of this divergence because I also firmly believe human life to be complicated. As a wise person once said, there is:

a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Or to summarize: “Turn, turn, turn.”

None of us can be summarized by a single aspect of our personality, a single moment in our past, or even a single ancestor’s strain of DNA. Our nature is just as deep and varied as our nurture. Undoubtedly there are things about me that honk you off. Likewise, you me. (Some of you are honked off by how I just created a sentence from an adverb and two pronouns. Others are honked off by how I just used the word “honk” four times without even referring to a honky-tonk.)

Not only is this okay. It’s a good thing. It’s healthy to push back against the human tendency to oversimplify and stereotype. While most people don’t seek out this sort of tension (and frolic in befuddlement) to the extent I do, it is a lost art we should all embrace at least a tiny bit more. Empathy stems from a shared varied experience. And wisdom stems from empathy. (Empathy is understanding, and to understand is to have wisdom…if you follow.)

So get out there and embrace the tension. Try something new. Take a community education class. Volunteer. Hang out somewhere different. Wear a funny hat. Sit on the front porch instead of the back. Walk somewhere and nod at people along the way. Buy something through your local marketplace exchange (requiring you to go to someone’s house to inspect it and pay for it). Read a book you know you are going to have some issues with (if you can actually engage thoughtfully).

When people cease to be complicated it is a sign of a lack of humanity. The only question is whether they are the ones lacking the humanity, or if the lack is to be found in you.

From the Desk of DMB

This week I’ve been trying to really dive into the idea of frame of reference. My teenage protag is struggling with how other people see the world so much more differently than he does. Is he wrong? Is he broken? What is right? What is wrong?

In addition, I’m really motivated by the idea that our beliefs impact the world. How does the way I perceive reality actually impact reality? I’m I given over to and given into my desires? If I expect the world to be dangerous and hostile, am I breathing into the hostility of my surroundings? These are themes I’m trying to breach in my writing without being preachy. I’m having fun with it.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

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Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!