I just read Making Waves and Riding the Currents by Charles Halpern. Halpern went from winning the first case stopping an Arctic pipeline, to building a law school for non-profit lawyers, to leading progressive foundations.
Within the hectic life of an activist he writes of balancing law with the development of wisdom. While a great writer wraps you in the story; Halpern just faithfully describes his experience in general terms not putting me into the courtroom, the classroom or yoga retreat.
Its not the book I wanted to read which is the most unfair way to judge it. I didn’t want a description I wanted a guide to balancing a life, a job, an activist approach to the world, a kid and in my case making art. Part of me wonders if much of the wisdom he looks for can be obtained by working in groups as an organizer and not by being a lawyer, as always the sadness in my life over not being a full time organizer trickles back in. Organizing drives you to think and feel with empathy with the people you are working with and not be judgmental.
Still the mentions of Buddhism has lead me to Happiness by Matthieu Ricard which is more the manual of what to do next.
That and it’s set me reflecting on the stories I am doing with Dian Killian on Non-Violent Communication, of exactly how you place someone into the experience with comics and not just describe it.
