“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”
― Emily Dickinson
While all writers of fiction hope to choose their words in such a fashion as to reveal their story to readers in a wonderful way - can, and do, our words do more than that? Can they, in some small way, contain the power to build a better world?
In the wake of the massacre in Roseburg, Oregon, I've found myself feeling helpless. This is not the first time. Whether it be the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the shootings at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, or the plight of the Syrian refugees, tragic events in our world cause me to wonder: What can I do to help better our world?
The only answer that echoes in my mind is: I can give the generation of tomorrow hope - through writing stories that inspire them, and hopefully, cause them to question the status quo in our world.
The famed composer, conductor, and author Leonard Bernstein once said, "The point is, art never stopped a war and never got anybody a job. That was never its function. Art cannot change events. It can affect people so that they are changed...because people are changed by art - enriched, ennobled, encouraged - they then act in a way that may affect the course of events...by the way they vote, they behave, the way they think.
Throughout history authors, poets, artists, and musicians have been the prophets; they've been the ones to raise their voices for justice.
In some small way this post is me raising my voice.
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| Photos courtesy of the Public Domain |
