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Charlie Alice Raya
book 3/3, shaping
Where do we go from here & decisions
The easy town books are my main work, and when the Views from around the universe grew, it was only a matter of time before they would slip into the main stories.
The following is an exclusive extract from the unpublished third part of book 3, where the Views from around the universe are included in the story for the first time.
The planned publication date for book 3/3 is 10 January 2025.
This extract is particularly interesting for this website because it adds some thoughts on attack, the.
For more about book 3, shaping, visit the easy town books website.
Charlie Alice Raya, 2024
++++ 17
The sun bathed the balcony in a cool light.
Alice was wrapped up warmly, sitting in a wheelchair, a steaming cup of tea in her hands.
Kahu sat on the railing, reading aloud: ‘As I thought about trees, I tried to imagine being a tree, starting as a small sapling, wondering whether to focus on the roots or whether growing tall was the priority. And suddenly I thought, it’s strange that trees grow at all and all the time and in all directions. I wonder whether they really have any priorities. It seems, they just grow. But why? And I thought that a tree might be a good image to explain to young people what growing and getting older is about. It doesn’t mean you are stupid as a child. A sapling or a young tree isn’t stupid. In fact, it’s the heart, the core, the beginning, the foundation of the growing tree. Everything else wraps around that beginning. Everything that happens adds layers and new branches, and, yes, that will change what you look like and it will shape your views and understanding (if you are a living and wise tree). But it won’t make you better or more valuable or any such linear attribute. Growing will extent you, both in size, strength and regarding the amount of branches and leaves and fruits which will be a part of you. If you grow in a healthy way, you will have more to give at every stage of your life. But that doesn’t devalue the first apple that was ever yours to give. — It was beautiful to imagine to be a tree, but it didn’t get me to sleep.’
Kahu looked up from her thick notebook.
Alice smiled. ‘Beautiful.’
‘There is more. I call the collection Views from around the universe.’
Alice chuckled.
‘It’s a joint project with some friends. And as you know, there is, of course, life on other planets.’
Alice laughed, wincing.
‘But …’ and here Kahu flicked to the first page of her notebook and read: Oh, planet Earth!
We owe so much to you.
Without the abundance
of the mistakes you make,
where would we be?
Where would we go?
To learn.
How not to act? But the time of selfish indulgence in your failings is drawing to an end since our best thinkers have urged us to share some of our insights with planet Earth so that we might not be complicit in the downward trends of your planet. And while we are not ready, yet, to meet you face to face, we hope that our thoughts will bring you joy and maybe even some wisdom, health and happiness.’
Alice smiled.
‘Sometimes I have incomplete thoughts that interest me,’ Kahu added. ‘And I add those as fragments that are allegedly found on different planets. Those fragments are held in high regard, like the tree fragment. No one knows who the authors are. Generations have tried to guess what was written before and after a fragment. This way, I can keep playing with an incomplete thought.’
‘I like it …’ Alice said, letting her mind drift.
It was a cold day, but the sun warmed her face and something in her hungrily soaked up whatever the sun was setting in motion on her skin. Eliza had forbidden visitors and said that Alice should rest after the transport from the hospital. The first visitor who made it past Jazz had been Andy who said he bribed Jazz. Andy had helped Alice into the wheelchair, made them tea and wheeled her onto the balcony. The fresh air! The sun! Great! After days in hospital.
Andy had been just about to leave, having promised Jazz not to stay for more than an hour, when Kahu’s head appeared above the balustrade of the balcony, followed by her whole body which shortly afterwards dropped onto the balcony.
‘Can I use your balcony for my next visit?’ had been Andy’s reaction.
Alice smiled at the memory and let the pleasant sensation of the sun on her skin fill her. After a moment, she asked: ‘Kahu, is there a story about why some people feel such a hunger for sunshine and bathe in it for the pure sensation of being touched by its beams?’
Kahu smiled and flicked through the notebook. ‘There aren’t many stories in this collection, yet. Most entries are short statements from different planets. Though on some subjects the universe agrees unanimously.’
‘Such as?’
‘The human.’
Alice chuckled, waiting for more.
‘The human is weird,’ Kahu obliged. ‘Ah, here it is: Views from around the universe. Sun, the. The sun brings day, enables life and takes it. Humans on earth don’t take enough care to understand the sun and their dependence on it. Next entry. On our planet we embrace the sun as our silent guide. We rise with it, we rest with it, we celebrate all it makes possible, and we mourn what it destroys. Next entry. We lost our planet to the sun, because we carelessly believed we were superior to everything around us and that we had no need to learn, understand and nurture. We are very grateful to the planets of the universe who gave portions of our people a new home and much learning. But we are lost. Our planet is lost. We hope that earth will not follow our example. Next entry. Though this is still a bit sketchy. Why are the sun and the blue sky so positive for the human’s mood? And why does a grey sky depress? Does this indicate a connection between humans and the natural world: flowers, trees, grasses? A legacy of some common roots? Or does the body know it needs the sun to produce vitamin D? Or is this about the fact that the warmth feels good, and therefore the lack of sun registers as an unfulfilled need? Maybe the body could learn that the human has no control over the sun. If it did, could it stop reacting to this need? Or should the longing for sunshine inspire us to act like migrating birds, always moving to where the sun shines? What if a nomadic lifestyle is not only more natural but also healthier? What is the good of the settled human?’
Alice wanted to applaud, but a thought was prodding her and got ahead of the praise. ‘What does it say under attack?’
Kahu looked grim. ‘Attack equals cowardice.’ Kahu returned, thumbed through her notebook and opened it close to the beginning. ‘An attack is the failure, both in personality and in action, to communicate, to seek and find common or new ground, to acknowledge that everything is a question of seeking understanding and of seeking solutions devoid of ideologies but tested and evaluated for their use. Next entry. An attack can be the result of a prolonged power imbalance, and often happens when the suppressed lashes out, fed up with the dominant power. In such cases an attack is the failure to balance powers and to avoid dominance. Next entry. An attack is the failure to try to understand what it is that makes us angry and to ascertain that our anger is justified. But even if anger is justified, there are usually better ways to deal with it than an attack. Next entry. An attack is often the result of a single, rather harmless thought, getting into the minds of sloppy thinkers, and as those find each other, they talk themselves into having to deal with someone or something decisively. Though, true decisiveness would never result in an attack but in seeking to resolve whatever stirred discontent or disagreement. Next entry. An attack is the failure to recognise that no form of violence will ever deliver a viable solution. Next entry. An attack indicates that a person, persons or a group have not acquired the skill and courage to face a conversation and to seek mutual understanding and mutual ways forward. In humans on earth we have observed an impatience to think and a tendency to avoid thinking and productive confrontation. Instead they lash out (physically or verbally or both) or resort to silence and keep anger and hatred and the lack of understanding well nurtured. The latter is often employed as a means of painting oneself as the one who knows, and moreover the one who knows better.’ Kahu stopped reading and looked at Alice.
Alice grimaced. While listening her frustration had intensified about— a lot, including the attack on her, Dennie and Patrick. And that must have shown on her face, because Kahu said: ‘There is more. But you should rest.’
‘Kahu, I keep hitting the wall.’
Kahu grimaced and Alice added: ‘I feel like I am at least partly responsible for the attack. And your snippets say that, too. But then I think that we are transparent and our motive is to work for people not against them. Kahu, I keep hitting the wall.’
Kahu slipped to the ground and squatted in front of Alice, her hand on Alice’s: ‘The attack is not your fault. That people are confused is the work of so-called decision-makers who have screwed with us for decades. It’s not your fault. Take some more rest. Get your strength back. And then — maybe we could try to find a door.’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping, where do we go from here & decisions