Motivating Others by Sharing

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Apr 19, 2024

C. 2024, L:inda Moran. From an art installation called “Ant-gasm” at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, by Zachary Gordon

Day 14:

An important observation for our Crone population - we women who are older, wiser, abundant life experiences to share, and are reclaiming the word “crone”. Did you know science fiction author Ray Bradbury wrote about us many years ago and never realized what he was saying?

I said if you see anything interesting, share it…this photo is from an art exhibit called “Ant-gasm,” by Zach Gordon. Imagine watching a colony of ants and then creating a 100 of them and assigning an emotion to each one as part of a pottery exhibition. Not only is the artistic ceramic work incredible, but the thought of every living creature, large, small, or microscopic having an emotion plays with your mind.

And that is why we are Crones…we see things others don’t because of our shared, lived stories and histories. A lot of us review in our minds alternate realities in history with our favorite question, “What if?”

So ants and Bradbury……

First connection - a thought about colonies of ants all having different emotions and trying to function together…somewhat like human communities.
Second connection - creating a link to the literature of science fiction and fantasy, with world-building galore.

I came to science fiction in my teens - I tried The Hobbit and couldn’t get past the furry feet. Eventually the next book I read (in my 20s) was by Robert Heinlein about “grokking.” To say I didn’t get it is an understatement. Now I find the new science writing absolutely wonderful for its ease of understanding and in-depth explorations of what’s new in real-world science, as well as science in fiction and fantasy

As I did more writing and understanding of writers and ideas, I picked up Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing (c. 1994). Absolutely love his essays…but I didn’t really absorb all he had to share with the first reading. I revisited it with a friend and stumbled upon one of the best ideas and thoughts ever - the importance of youth in creating massive change.

I’m sharing this for its lessons about our potential futures and tasks as Crones. Read the whole essay: “Dusk in the Robot Museums: The Rebirth of Imagination.” Here’s a snippet:

“Along the way, the boy might well ask a question which hovered in all our minds the past few decades:

“How come the United States, the country of Ideas on the March, for so long neglected fantasy and science fiction? Why is it that only during the past thirty years attention its being paid?

“Another question from the boy (or girl…added by me) might well be:

“Who is responsible for the change?

“Who has taught the teachers and the librarians to pull up their socks, sit straight, and take notice?

“Simultaneously, which group in our country has backed off from abstraction and moved art back in the direction of pure abstraction?

“…the answer is: the students. The young people. The children.

“They have led the revolution in reading and painting.” (pgs. 99-100)

Here we are as Crones trying to change the world. Here comes our surprise….

Bradbury continues:

“…after all, back in the twenties and thirties, there were no science fiction books in the curricula of schools anywhere. There were few in the libraries….In 1958 or 1962 you would have found no Asimov, no Heinlein, no Van Vogt, and, er, no Bradbury…

“…comes the Evolution: the arrival of that species called Child. The children, dying of starvation, hungry for ideas which lay all about in this fabulous land, locked into machines and architecture, struck out on their own. What did they do?

“They walked into classrooms…and put a gentle bomb on teacher’s desk. Instead of an apple it was Asimov.

“…’Try it,’ said the students. ‘Read the first page. If you don’t like it, stop.’ And the clever students turned and walked away.

“The teachers (and the librarians, later) put off reading, kept the book around the house for a few weeks and then, late one night, tried the first paragraph.

“And the bomb exploded.

“They not only read the first but the second paragraph, the second and third pages, the fourth and fifth chapters.

“‘My God,’ they cried, almost in unison, ‘these damned books are about something.’

“‘Good Lord,’ they cried, reading a second book, ‘there are Ideas here!’” (pgs. 100-102)

Third connection:

You should realize what happened here…we Crones are the children of the 40s, 50s, 60s who discovered these ideas, these genres. We read, absorbed, wrote, and thought about everything - some of us a little later to the fold than others.

But we Crones and Crone allies (our male friends who support us) have been in the forefront of change without realizing it. It took my second reading of Bradbury to stumble on this, a third reading to say OMG how amazing, and a fourth reading to say “This is us!” I encourage you to read the whole essay (at least this essay, if not the whole book) and ponder its implications for our years ahead.

We Crones need to protect our futures for all our upcoming Crones who are facing unprecedented restrictions on all their rights and privileges. We can’t let this happen.

We Crones will find ourselves within the next year (if not sooner) considered destructive influences in our neighborhoods, churches, states, and even the government, if we can still participate.

One more reason why we need to get our young people registered to vote. They will see and speak and fight to make the changes we need, to preserve ideas that will serve all of us. Our children have always led the way.

Listen to Whitney Houston’s song “I Believe” about our children’s futures.

We have important work ahead of us.

Motivating Others by Sharing

Find Something Interesting? Share it....

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