Nurture — Day 2
Day 2 prompt: “Tell the story of a person who has had a significant impact on your life. How did they change you for the better?”
The creator of this challenge certainly isn’t pulling any punches. I’d expected this challenge to slowly guide me towards sharing pivotal stories of my life. Nope…Day 1 was about overcoming obstacles, and Day 2 is about significant impact(s). Alrighty then…
I could lie and write that there have been too many persons that have had this effect on my life; that would be a huge lie. There have actually been very few truly impactful persons in my life; I’ve always tended towards having a small “friend-group”, so even persons on the periphery of that group has also been a small number. There have, however, been two handfuls of truly impactful persons that had positive influences: inc. two therapists (of many), one chosen sister, one chosen nephew, and Marm. Marm is the only member of my family-of-origin (FOO) included in this list; both “chosen” persons have become members of my family-of-choice. Not a lot to draw from. There’s also the issue that I’m not quite ready to share the stories of how I met these persons or how they are currently involved in my life.
However, there have also been a choice few authors that have dramatically affected how I view the world. I hope you’ll indulge me while I introduce you to one that I discovered when I was a teen.
From the wiki on Frank Herbert:
“The DUNE saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time,[3] and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.”
I discovered Frank Herbert when I was 15. I had been an avid reader from an early age, although “avid” might not be the right descriptor. I devoured just about any book that I could get my hands on. Reading had—long before even then—become the one activity that wasn’t considered a “waste of time” by FOO members, granted me momentary peace from the outside world, and expanded my internal landscape in a way that was completely unlike other “hobbies” I had. One often hears that reading allows one to escape their surroundings; this couldn’t have been more true in my case. Any time spent reading was time away from the chaos (that I referenced in my Day 1 entry). As long as I had reading, my piano practice, and could create art, I knew that I could escape into other worlds. My teens were a period of exploring many new aspects of who I was becoming.
Prior to reading DUNE, I had avoided the sci-fi genre completely. While the details are more than I’m willing to go into at this time, suffice it to say that I had been subject to various “purity tests” about what was / wasn’t deemed worthy of being sci-fi. I had absolutely zero interest (at the time, since changed) in reading Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells. or Perry Rhodan. Instead, I read Anne McCaffrey, Ursula Le Guin, and Mercedes Lackey, who all wrote in the adjacent genre of sci-fan. I was ready for a new author that didn’t rely on magic, dragons, and quasi-medieval settings for their stories. Frank Herbert looked interesting, as the back cover blurb promised the unveiling of a galactic society some 10 millenia in the future. I was immediately intrigued to discover how someone would narrate and populate those missing years. Would he narrate something akin to Wells’ Time Machine (set in the far future) or would it be more like Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children: Clan of the Cave Bear (set in the prehistoric past)? I approached his first DUNE novel with the same slightly-distant-yet-open-to-exploration mindset that I approach any new creative.
I was hooked from the very first page of the first chapter. Rather than naming each chapter (a standard practice), Herbert made the choice to treat each one as it’s own tableau that was prefaced with internally consistent observations on that chapter’s content. I’ll include the first such preface below:
A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad’Dib, then, take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Muad’Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.
[from Manual of Muad’Dib by Princess Irulan]
The questions I had!! Who are Muad’Dib, these “sisters”, this Emperor, and Irulan? What is this talk of balances? Why are Arrakis / Dune and Caladan so different that the former would negate the experiences of the “first fifteen years” of this Muad’Dib’s life? I had never had so many questions flood my mind less than 100 words into a novel.
Little did I know that illustrating and investigating the complex relationship between question and answer would become one of the central themes in this novel, and the greater series. I had no idea. What Herbert had done was…remarkable. With his very first words on the page, he introduced a considerable cast of characters, and at least two settings, referenced some (to be told) tension in an Empire, and indicated that balances between something—people, forces, events(?)—needed to be handled with extreme care. He seemed to approach the question / answer, cause / effect, action / reaction dynamic in much the same way that I did; that is to say that emotional connections had to be supported by logical elements (“Do not be deceived…” is a powerful warning).
That first purchase was over 40 years ago. Four decades of my life have passed with all of its ups and downs. Throughout that time I have often been guided by that warning.
DO NOT BE DECIEVED….
Since then, way back in 1980, I have (re)read various novels in the wider DUNE collection, other works by Herbert, and related authors each and every year. Not a single year has passed without me revisiting this vast Universe and others like it. “Do not be deceived…” has become somewhat of a mantra for me as I navigate my daily life. Along the way, I’ve learned (and continue to learn) much about these “sisters of the Bene Gesserit”, the life and lessons of Muad’Dib (and those that followed him), a wider understanding of how “civilization” is often judged after it has passed rather than while events are happening, and that living in the moment is the most powerful force of Change one can participate in. Each year, as I revisit the DUNE Universe, I discover something new about the world, interactions between various characters, and myself. I (re)learn how to integrate the many lessons of this saga into my daily life. I reinforce my daily quest to stay in the moment—respecting the Past for what it has taught me, and trusting the Future to play out exactly as it will. I am not the teen I was in 1980; nor, am I the man I may become in 2080 (I made a “deal” with the Powers four years ago that I would live an additional century if they gave Marm a few more years…more on that some time in the future).
The impacts on my life from Frank Herbert (and other authors) has been immeasurable. Some of the highlights are below:
Time, the Universe, and the Powers have their own motivations, agendas, and ways of working. As I cannot control, and barely understand the most basic explanations for, those aspects, I must trust that interaction with Them does not interfere with their goals.
Worrying about exactly describing those Forces, thereby quantifying them in a “human” way, is a fruitless endeavour. We, humanity, exist as a consequence of some Design. My “purpose” is to work within that Design in a way that is beneficial more than it is harmful.
One thing that I know / believe is that these Forces are driven by “creation”. Anything that serves that drive is beneficial. They appreciate and are attracted to, newness in pattern, form, function, and “spirit”, while holding a deep reverence for former creations that have been transformed.
In the opposite, these Forces reject “non-creation”, which is different from what humanity perceives as “destruction”. Most of what we term destruction can also be seen as new patterns emerging. Non-Creation is that drive which encourages some humans (and only humans) to erase the very existence of whatever they don’t approve of. It is based in fear. It is, ultimately, fruitless, as these Forces will simply find another way to produce new patterns.
While general patterns may repeat over the long term, the specifics of new patterns fundamentally change them. Therefore, solutions that worked with those patterns in the past must be revised to account for the new specifics.
History may be “written by the victors”, but it must also include the voices of the vanquished, the un(der)privileged, and the powerless ones. As “history” is how we judge our past, we must ensure that those that were not “victors” also have their voices carried into the future. Victors may write history, but it is the voices of Others that narrate it.
My own history doesn’t define me; rather, it informs myself and other persons as to the man I’ve become. The difference is subtle, but it must be understood.
I could, and have, speak or write for an almost endless time period about the lessons I’ve learned from Frank Herbert, and those that followed him. His Universes, his words, his choices…have impacted me in ways that I continue to discover in my daily life. He gifted me with a joy for discussion, a (struggling) passion for writing my thoughts, a deep reverence for the Other, and an always-growing Path for how to navigate my life. His effect on my life is simply invaluable. I discovered Herbert during a difficult time in my life, he has stayed with me through the many struggles and rare successes, his words will continue to give me advice as I continue to live my life.
Now…I’d really like to know if you, Gentle Reader, have been impacted by an author, artist, musician, or other creative. Who are / were they? What did they teach you? Would you consider them a “friend”? Please let me know in the comments (below).
As always, be well.
Gryph
