My column about “An Iliad,” the one-man show that Circuit Arts produced with Lagan Love, included the horrifyingly long list of wars that his character recites, spanning from the beginning of recorded history to now. That list elicited an enormous amount of mail. So I decided that for my piece this week, I’d share just a few of the responses.
Most of these are from people who have attended my Writing From the Heart workshops. I encourage them to read my column on The MV Times website, and it’s gratifying how many of them do.
Nancy,
One of the many brilliant aspects of “An Iliad” was how well it depicted the addiction and allure of being in the middle of a fight-or-flight situation with a team of buddies. The fight-or-flight response causes temporary disconnections in our brains, and those disconnections fuel killing. When a platoon experiences it together, you have slaughter. I find it ironic that our built-in survival mechanism is also a killing mechanism.
Rachael Orr
Vineyard Haven
Dearest Nancy,
War and peace … yin and yang, human dualities! We want answers to what we are actually responsible for creating. Sometimes we observe and try to understand and come up with solutions … our creator keeps us wondering and engaged, but perhaps there are no answers!
Trudy Walter
Euclid, Ohio
Dear Nancy,
Just your description of your experience brought tears to my eyes. I am so afraid that our country is going to be on the list with a violent rebellion this summer. ICE says it is following orders. I got chills when I read that. It is what the SS and Gestapo also said. Not our fault, we were just following orders.
Is violence and war, power seeking and greed, just a part of humanity? If women were in charge, would things be different? Or would men make war against women? Oh wait! They already are. I just finished watching “The Handmaid’s Tale.” It was hard to get through. Margaret Atwood drew upon history to write her story. Do we not learn anything? If only! I am keeping a candle in the window and praying hard.
Hillary Gauvreau
Niantic, Conn.
Dear Nancy,
I think your husband is right. It’s a power thing. And yes, probably related to testosterone, so can they help it? I don’t know. I often pose the quandary to my partner, wondering what if things were run by women? Would we have so much conflict? Could it be that simple? I wonder.
It seems from my experience that, generally speaking, women are problem solvers and caregivers. Deep thinkers and creators. We seek reason and peaceful results. When my guy is flippin’ channels, I’ll occasionally look up from whatever I’m reading or doing, and see a couple of men in a ring throwing each other down and beating the life out of each other in some alleged form of entertainment. Like … seriously. Who does that? And who’s watching it?
Patricia Chaffee
Groton, Conn.
Nancy,
Thank you for sharing this. It will stay with me for a while. And yes, MDMA for the f______ masses.
Roxy Kestner
Clark, Colo.
Nancy,
I think you are onto something real and true. I think biology has been cutting at human creativity in so many repetitive patterns through the eons of the wars of men. Hard to imagine how much more liberty we might all feel in this world, how much more the people and the planet might be valued and cared for had the feminine been honored and expressed.
Rex Jarrell
West Tisbury
Nance,
The world, according to men, and Kristi Noem. What a horrifying list, and I have thought of it so many times. Why aren’t we working toward peace? Why aren’t there any Peace Academies?
It’s all about war, war, war. And this is what we’ve reaped; this government.
Betsy Lydle
Eloy, Ariz.
Dear Nancy,
Just reading that list of wars made me a bit nauseous. If I read them out loud, I think I would also be drowning in tears for the stupidity of man. Saltpeter is a most excellent plan. May I suggest we sample the D.C. water supply first?
Susan Johnson Smith
Greensboro, N.C.
Dearest Nancy,
I think I’m at war with the wealthy and the politicians. They may win because marginalized people/groups do not know how to band together and fight for civil rights. Question: Saltpeter in the water, or MDMA? Whose water do we put it in?
Lori Reder
Grays Lake, Ill.
Nancy,
The list of wars is heart-wrenching. It’s throbbing in my head, and I didn’t even see the play.
What if we each created a list of love acts? Moving a turtle across the road, a child standing up to a friend’s bully at school. What would large acts of love look like in these times?
Susan Joyner
Raleigh, N.C.
Dear Nancy,
Yes. Keep speaking up for peace.
Roger Marum
North Ferrisburgh, Vt.
Hi Nancy,
I just read your piece. Sounds like an amazing show. What is it with men? I can’t begin to answer that now.
Albert Dubah
Ocean Township, N.J.
Hi Nancy,
Wouldn’t it be easier (as well as less costly) to start love, not war? Love doesn’t cost anything except some humility, compassion, and more love. I agree, saltpeter and lots of it!
Cindy Patane
McMinville, Ore.
Nancy,
I think men just like to fight. When I was a boy, my friends and I would fight just for fun. I guess it just goes on from there. That column clearly struck a chord. I hope we can turn it all into a beautiful healing symphony — at the very least for our kids.
Here’s an idea. How about we all light candles, pray in whatever form that means for us, and repeat the Buddhist mantra: “May all beings be safe, may all beings live with ease, may all beings be happy.”
Oh, and one more: “War is a man’s game … the killing machine has a gender and it is male.” –Virginia Woolf (I did not get an email from Virginia.)
Oh, and one more: Yuvahl Noah Harari said, “People think humans are like animals, that they fight over territory and food. This is not true. Men fight over imaginary stories in their mind.” (Yuval also didn’t send me an email). That is one of the ones that keeps haunting me. How can we change the narrative and tell a new story with a happy ending? I guess it just goes on from there.
Bob Luke
Windsor, Conn.