Mary and I have had a delightful season of campervanning this year, with me writing as we travel and her learning to play the violin (see pictures!). We’ve made trips to see family in Pennsylvania and Utah, a 40th anniversary excursion to explore geology and attend the WorldCon in WA, and now we are on the road to Kansas for perhaps our last excursion of the season to attend the funeral of a dear friend’s mom. This last excursion has gotten me to thinking about what is most important in the adventure of life and how that importance should be reflected in art, music, and literature.
Some thirty years ago I read a commentary by a well-known musician (I have forgotten who), who said that any art, to be worth its salt, must be political in nature because it is only in political conversation that we really make a difference in life. I didn’t agree back then, and I still don’t agree.
For me, art should be personal and any ancillary political aspects should emerge from that personal engagement. Political issues arise out of the moral and ethical choice of millions of individuals, and so it is personal morality that lies at the root of all politics, not the other way around. It is in addressing personal morality and ethics that any hope for healing of political oppression or conflict must lie. Who really thinks, in this era of political polarization and ideological entrenchment, that we need more attention on the politics of our angry people group and less on the examination of our own soul?
I try to argue for the importance of the personal over political in the introduction to my SF short story collection that I plan to publish in February 2026, Mindful Science Fiction. In the Introduction for that book, I make the following argument:
“Science fiction, to live up to its potential, should include less analytical exactness of technological innovation and more ethical and moral examination. Those ethics and morals, in turn, should transcend society-level issues like authoritarianism and social justice to include the individual morality and motivations on which meaningful society-level transformations must be founded.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking, that my recently-published SF novel The Arasmith Certainty Principle, has its share of political intrigue and commentary on the tyranny of leaders who think they know what’s best for everyone despite having limited ability to listen to them. But none of that story is based on current politics (I wrote the story some 25 years ago!). Rather (I would hope) the story is based on personal morality, ethics, and choices that transcend any particular political situation or time.
So, what elements of the personal most influence my writing? That is best illustrated by a few of my experiences over the past two months since my last posting, including my current journey to the funeral of my friend’s mom. Three things come to mind.
1: Life is all about relationships, and relationships transcend politics. Sure, you have your individual life, and the goals that you set, and the legacy and value you hope to leave behind when your existence in this world ends. But, it is in relationship, not merely independent existence and action, that that legacy and value gain meaning. A philosophical SF book that I read last month (Unfettered Journey by Gary Bengier), even concludes that relationship, in some way, underpins the very nature of existence and free will. Thus, my trip to a funeral for a dear friend’s mom ties me to real meaning, as does all of my campervan travels to see family with Mary, such as my visit with my 92-year-old mother and her great-granddaughter this past year. Can’t you see meaning simply radiating from the pictures below?
2) No life is full, or appropriately humble, without a pervasive sense of wonder at the astonishing existence in which we find ourselves. This week, up in NW Minnesota, an exceptional light show descended on us for two nights running. The “naked eye” reds in the northern lights were among the brightest that I’ve seen for quite a few years. Wonder at existence is also a type of relationship—with God and the natural universe. Check out the pictures below taken from our bedroom window!
3) Finally, the joy and journey of life shared is an essential element to finding personal meaning and nurturing the soul. This fall, Mary and I put up lots of garden produce together, including carrots and a first try at canning squash, seen in the pictures below. The visceral experience of the outdoor garden, planting and watching things grow and putting food up for the winter, places us squarely in the adventure of life together, a relationship like no other, as I mention in my Little Book of Gardening in Northwest Minnesota!
So, should art and literature pursue first the personal or the political? For me, pointing out private political preferences for everyone who agrees to agree (gaining adoring fans?) and everyone else to dismiss feels less significant than pursuing personal growth. Recognize that it is in personal growth of many individuals that we can find the foundation for a good political system, and that all politics, in the end, is about relationship with all other people. That is a type of personal that both encompasses and subsumes the political!