SEPTEMBER 2020 FEATURE FOCUS:
"A HARVEST OF WISDOM"

Now, perhaps more than ever, wisdom is crucial to navigate any number of the challenges we face, individually and collectively. The following six Nautilus Award-winning books from our 2019 season offer deep food for thought — on topics from finding optimism, protecting democracy, engaging truth-speaking, and fostering active wonder and awe from childhood education through our very last breath — an abundance of sweet manna to feed your Mind, Body and Soul.

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The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age
Author: Bina Venkataraman
Publisher: Riverhead Books (Penguin RH) - Large publisher
Gold Award: Science & Cosmology (cat. 25)

(Front flap)
Instant gratification is the norm today—in our lives, our culture, our economy, and our politics. Many of us have forgotten (if we ever learned) how to make smart decisions for the long run. Whether it comes to our finances, our health, our communities, or our planet, it’s easy to avoid thinking ahead.

Bina Venkataraman sees the way forward. A former journalist and adviser in the Obama administration, she helped communities and businesses prepare for climate change, and she learned first hand why people don’t think ahead— and what can be done to change that. In The Optimist’s Telescope, she draws from stories she has reported around the world and new research in biology, psychology, and economics to explain how we can make decisions that benefit us over time. With examples from ancient Pompeii to modern-day Fukushima, she dispels the myth that human nature is impossibly reckless,  and highlights the surprising practices each of us can adopt in our own lives— and the ones we must fight for as a society. The result is a book brimming with ideas and insights all of us need in order to forge a better future.

(Pages 271-274)
To paint the future in new ways, however, will not be enough to secure a better future. We also need to know how to make decisions in light of uncertain threats and opportunities that lie ahead.

Here we can draw on the insights of those who have exercised foresight against the odds to post the path forward. …

1. Look Beyond the New-Term Targets. We can  avoid being distracted by short-term noise and cultivate patience by measuring more than immediate results. As individuals, we can avoid single data points as measures of our progress of success in life or work, and instead adopt rituals of reflection on long-range goals.
2. Stoke the Imagination. We can boost our ability to envision the range of possibilities that lie ahead. As individuals, we can create more anchors to the future that allow us to imagine it.
3. Create Immediate Rewards for Future Goals. We can find ways to make what’s best for us over time pay off in the present. 
4. Direct Attention Away from Immediate Urges. We can reengineer cultural and environmental cues that condition us for urgency and instant gratification. 
5. Demand and Design Better Institutions. We can create practices, laws, and institutions that foster foresight. As individuals, we can vote and advocate for rules and policies that encourage looking ahead rather than reckless decisions.

While we can take some of these actions today in our personal lives without much trouble, others will require us to exercise our power as investors, voters, business leaders, teachers, consumers, community members, and beyond. Not all of it, of course, will be easy. But none of it is beyond our reach.

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The DNA of Democracy
Author: Richard C. Lyons
Publisher: Lylea Creative Resources - Self published
Silver Award: World Cultures' Conscious Growth & Development (cat. 28)

(Pages 8-10)
Preface
What a rare jewel exists in our midst: one that we see before our eyes, that we hold in our hands, that we sense in our very souls! Our democracy is as singular as the Earth itself: to our knowledge, the sole inhabitable life-bearing sphere throughout the dark of countless light-years. Our democracy, since its beginnings, has been a light for all to see. It is the most self-consciously created form of government in human history, its rights and freedoms founded so as to produce living fountains of creativity in all the arts, the sciences, the crafts and trades and industries that together comprise the pathways of human aspiration and achievement.

Our American history is a chronicle worthy of celebration. Our nation’s fruits, in their kind and number, are unprecedented— and they proceed, each and all, from our system of individual liberties. Our liberties have indeed earned the characterization of sacred and are supremely worthy of saving.

Democracy need not fall visibly, noisily and dramatically; it may crumble, by imperceptible degrees, before disappearing. Democracy need not be crushed by foreign foes; it may collapse under many slight assaults, given and received by its own citizens, whose acts serve an end of societal implosion.

Democracy can end. Liberty can be lost. The most remarkable system of government that this most remarkable world has ever wrought—this jewel—may return to dust.

If you are as interested as I in exploring the brilliance and assuring the continued vigor of democracy, I invite you to join me in a not-overlong literary journey.

Come along as we travel the currents of history, examining the seeds and roots of our democracy in ancient Israel and Athens, observing their flower in the republican era of Rome and watching their powerful pull “toward explicit liberty under England’s monarchy.” And then we travel to a novel world, where established European perceptions were turned upside down by the witness of councils governing the Iroquois and Cherokee tribes. In this moment of history we will sample the writings of philosophers and poets on both sides of the Atlantic who found echoes in these Amerindian councils of the glory of Athens. Then we will visit the greatest, most rebellious generation of Americans who ever drew breath in defiance; who devoted their lands and their liberties, their fortunes and their labors, their honor and their lives, to fight for and forge a new system of governance, founded on individual liberty for the welfare of all, which they intended to survive for the benefit of all future generations on this continent, and to form an example for the benefit of the world.

(Page 362) 
from the Conclusion
If the works of tyranny have become familiar to the reader, so should be those elements which are the essential foundations of democracy. First among these are the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings that value each distinct life within a nation equally, where no one assumes arbitrary power over another.

As necessary is the resolve to stand up for the common good through the creation and defense of a common liberty. As necessary are all the housings of the democratic idea, as found in the various declarations and constitutions this work has presented.

As necessary is an independent judiciary that defends common laws and the common rights of all citizens who live by those laws. As necessary is a system of elections whereby a people choose those persons who make the laws for all to live by.

As necessary is a balanced system of diffused governance that maintains the freedoms of the individual at the maximum.

Last, and most necessary, is each citizen having a vivid awareness of the difference between democracy and every species of tyranny. As this work makes plain—it’s in the DNA.

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The Call of the Wild & Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your child's Education
Author: Ainsley Arment
Publisher: HarperOne  (HarperCollins)
Gold Award: Social Sciences & Education (cat. 26)

(Front flap)
There’s a growing movement of parents who are out to save childhood. Where our  culture tells kids to achieve more, these mothers whisper: Slow down. Where schools push for performance through standardized testing, these parents whisper: Chase wonder. Where entertainment beckons kids to screens, the rivers and forests whisper: Come be wild and free.

Ainsley Arment heard the whisper, and in an effort to bring back the love of learning that she saw slipping away from her son, she decided to homeschool him. Slowly, she watched him come alive again, and the experience led her to start Wild & Free, a community of mothers who are disrupting the preconceived notions of what it means to raise and educate children at home. Wild & Free focuses on cultivating a love of nature, reading great books, and nurturing kids’ sense of curiosity, joy, and awe— the essence of a positive childhood.

Using these values as her guide, The Call of the Wild & Free shows parents how to make the world their classroom and implement the Wild & Free method in their homes, creating a fertile seedbed for each kid’s uniqueness and creativity.

Let’s answer the call.

(Page 144)
Preparing for the Future
We don’t know what path our children will take. No matter how strongly we are for or against college, our children will ultimately decide what they’ll do. We can only help prepare them for whichever direction they choose. This doesn’t mean piling up work for areas in which they don’t have strengths, but giving them time and space to become experts in their own interests.

“There has never been a generation when children have so desperately needed their parents’  time, thoughtful creativity, and friendship.” —Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Susan Wise Bauer spoke at our Wild & Free conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. As a homeschool graduate and now a homeschooling parent and college professor, she talked about the gift of time her parents gave her and her siblings to explore their interests: “They let us do the bare minimum in some subjects so that we could develop our interests in other areas. And for every single one of us, this led us into the career that we now have.”

The abundance of time we give our children is a fertile seedbed for the individuals they will one day become. You can’t possible imagine how much this gift will impact them.

We all have our own set of quirks, blind spots, and weaknesses. The good news is that our children’s futures do not rise and fall on our failures. We are raising children who have intelligent minds, creative passions and limitless potential. They are resilient, amazing kids.

 

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Renewal: How Nature Awakens Our Creativity, Compassion and Joy
Author: Andres R. Edwards
Publisher: New Society Publishers (NSP)
Gold Award: Green Values & Sustainability (cat. 10)

(Page 31)
Reinstilling Awe and Beauty
How do we reinstill awe and beauty in our everyday experiences? We may begin by slowing down, by taking a moment to be still and “smell the roses.” We can encourage children and adult friends and colleagues to take a breath and reexamine the miracles that occur every day in our own neighborhoods: the intricate pattern of a robin’s nest, the daffodil sprouting in spring, the ladybug crawling on a native bunchgrass. And beyond the natural world, we can admire an act of kindness between a mother and son, a compassionate gesture between strangers or an awe-inspiring work of public art. These are the little moments that bring joy and gratitude into everyday experiences. They make us feel alive and enhance our health and well-being.

Awe opens the door to finding ingenious solutions to the problems we face. Marveling at the awe-inspiring characteristics of nature often propels our curiosity to delve deeper into the “how” rather than the “what” of situations. Investigating photosynthesis, for example, whereby plants take sunlight and convert it into chemical energy and produce oxygen, brings forth the mystery of a process that happens every minute of every day on Earth. Peeling back the layers of this ecological “onion” and understanding this process in depth allows us to imagine solutions to problems we may never have thought of. It may spur us to develop more efficient photovoltaic cells or devise a new method for storing energy from the sun or wind or tides. Staying in a state of awe fosters the conditions for creativity and solutions to emerge.

(Page 120-122)
An Integral Perspective
It’s time to reimagine our relationship with nature from the inside out, incorporating emotional, social and biological perspectives. The emotional perspective calls us to cultivate self-care by tuning in to our body, emotions, mind and spirit. By paying close attention to how we feel in a natural setting, we nourish our care for nature. We can be transformed when our senses experience the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of nature. Such experiences can help us become more caring about other species and the health of their habitats. When we realize we are not alone and that we share with other species what sustains us all, such as air, water and food, we see our impact on nature from a new holistic perspective that leads us to take action to alleviate the suffering of others. …

From a social perspective, we see that at our core we are social beings with a range of emotions, desires and motivations. As the world population grows and our cities rapidly expand, the equitable distribution of food, energy, education and healthcare is becoming paramount. The solutions to these pressing challenges require a collaborative approach that recognizes that in order for me to thrive my neighbor must thrive as well. …

The biological perspective expands the view that we are interconnected to encompass our interdependence with the natural world. To find viable solutions to the complex problems we are confronting such as climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity, we need to work together using a systems approach. This approach sees what systems theorist Fritjof Capra describes as the “connectedness, relationships, patterns and context” in nature. “According to the systems view the essential properties of an organism, or living system, are properties of the whole, which none of the parts have. They arise from the interactions and relationships between the parts.” Instead of focusing on the individual parts of an ecosystem, such as the soil, plants or species, we view the connections and relationships among these parts. The same applies to human-built systems, such as business, healthcare and education.

 

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Truthspeaking: Ancestral Ways to Hear and Speak the Voice of the Heart
Author:  Tamarack Song
Publisher: Snow Wolf Publishing
2019 Special Honors for Best of Small Press
Silver Award: Relationships & Communication (cat. 23)

(Page 10)
As soon as we give our Truth an opening, it will begin pouring forth like a bubbling spring that has just been cleaned of choking debris. The free and spontaneous flow of our Truth is cleansing and uplifting: it reflects how we take care of ourselves, how we eat, and even our self-esteem. Truthspeaking is the simplest, most direct, and effective path to total well-being that I know of.

Much of the debris that inhibits the flow of Truth comes from the very words we use to convey it. …

Thus along with the gift of speech comes sacred responsibility:

• First to understand its power.
• Second, to learn to use it wisely.
• Third, to encourage it in others.

Words are like sticky Spider silk: We often weave them into a web, then walk into it and become entangled. Another option is to step back and take note of the striking, intricate pattern that our word-silks have formed, then look through it to the clarity beyond, rather than getting snared in it. This book is a guide to realizing the power of our word-web, and to using this power to free our thoughts and feelings rather than being victimized by them.

(Page 80)
There is no Truthspeaking without Truthlistening. We can speak our Truths until we are blue in the face, yet if nobody listens—or knows how to listen—we might as well save our breaths. In effect, nothing was spoken. A voice needs an open and accepting ear to receive it. Traditional Hawaiians express it this way: He lohe ke ola, he kuli ka make—To hear is life, to turn a deaf ear is death.

If we cannot hear our Truths, we cannot voice them. And if we cannot hear the Truths of others, we cannot honor them.

(Page 103)
We take a risk by opening our Hearts and extending trust every time we Truthlisten. This takes courage. Keeping our Hearts open to Truth and detached from outcome—thus takes even more courage.

Yet, there is no other way, as an open Heart without daring to keep it open is lake a bird without wings. The Truthlistening journey asks that we embrace the bitter as well as the sweet of what Truth brings. To pick and choose would be to live in a False Truth.

This requires trust with risk: adventuring from the security of knowing to the frontier of the unknown. It is having faith that we are capable of communicating in a better way. It is having the self-love to believe that we are worthy of being happy and content with life.

For many of us, it takes not only courage, but tremendous courage, to open the door and step out into these nebulous winds—into our personal frontier.

When we do, we strip away habit, pretense, and illusion. We occupy the place that encourages us to be fully present and aware, to be finely attuned and sensitized. Our personal frontier is where we find our Truth. It takes courage to get there, yet once we arrive, this vibrant, unfettered state of being renews our will to keep going.

 

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Dandelions Blooming in the Cracks of Sidewalks: Stories from the Bedside of the Dying
Author: Amita Lhamo
Publisher: Mandorla Publications - Small Press
Gold Award: Death & Dying | Grief &Loss (cat. 11)

(Page 19)
We cannot avoid death, but we can gaze deeply into its eyes, ask our questions, and walk with one another. This, of course, is what we’re most afraid of. To dance with death sheers away all the good ideas, rips off scabs and masks, unties all our neatly packaged stories and impermanent defenses, and leaves us naked with the rest of humanity, with all sentient life.

This is also the beauty. We cannot escape. Death surges through the very center of our being, tearing off all the fig leaves. We can comfort the pain, the anxiety, the suffering. We can also gaze through the cracking shells to see what else lives in such places. What shines through the brokenness? What remains?

To look for the beauty is to recognize that we are not our suffering. Within the intimacy of kindness, we learn to stay just long enough to grow minds that can hold the paradox of living and dying simultaneously. No matter which way we turn, we find one garden, one ground.

Each soul is a wondrous flower. To gaze into the face of any one of us is to see it all. Namaste—the God in me sees the God in you.

Perhaps this is why we need stories. We look for language that can invite us into the invisible landscapes with the courage of one who’s gone before. We find our place within the necessity of a path only we can walk.

(Page 23)
Yet at the heart of midwifery one human being sits with another. The word midwife translates as, “Be with…be-with woman.” Together we explore the malleable truths through the labyrinth of the heart. We lead and follow, follow and lead, and within the dialogue, we become present to presence.

This book is a collection of such stories, gleaned from thousands of conversations around the deathbed. Each one reflects a quality of beauty, of soulness—the ways any one of us reflects the profundity of existence.

“Beauty is the harvest of presence,” wrote David Whyte. “The evanescent moment of seeing or hearing on the outside what already lives far inside us.”

Before death, our greatest strengths and vulnerabilities arise. We grapple with every hope and fear imaginable. It is my wish that these stories can offer wisdom, reassurance, solace, encouragement, and confidence for anyone standing before the mirror of finitude. Perhaps they can offer guidance while we remember what already lives within. Perhaps they can point to the presence of beauty.