Courtney Martin is an author, cultural critic and storyteller. She describes her publications as books she felt like she needed to read. Her articles for the Onbeing publication are also a breath of insight and fresh air. Within the context of disruption and disruptive conversations, her most recent book challenges the notion of the American Dream.
In our disruptive conversation, we covered a variety of topics. The most salient conversations revolved around Courtney’s most recent book, The New Better Off: Reinventing the American Dream. The theme that most stood out for me in our conversation, is also the premise of her book. The American Dream is changing and as it changes people of all ages, races, and social classes experience a sense of discomfort and disruption. As should be expected when any longstanding, deeply held cultural norm begins to unravel we begin to redefine yesterdays normal. The American Dream is evolving into a new norm.
In our conversation, we both shared some of the struggles around finding space for intentional living. Courtney shared some of her strategies for trying to use her power as a way of creating power for others. A way of open doors for other people. I shared my own struggles with filtering out distractions in an increasingly connected world.
My powerful moment in our conversation was when Courtney said, “sometimes the most powerful thing white people can do is shut up.” The key word there is sometimes. My own interpretation of the point she was trying to make was that the first step in our journey to liberation should be learning to listen and then thinking about how we act. At a deeper level, it reminded me that we all need to learn from the those embedded in the context while simultaneously being genuinely open to disrupting our own preconceived notions of how things are, or how we think things are.
At the end of our conversation, I concluded that we were both struggling to live our truths in a complex world. There were many powerful moments in this episode, and I felt like our conversation could continue for a lifetime.
Before you listen here are my moments of insights:
- Courtney’s favourite quote: “there isn’t anyone you couldn’t love. Once you heard their story. (Minute 45:07)
- That moment when Courtney was very candid that her biggest struggle is being a working mother. (Minute 28:41)
- When I learned that we both liked the same quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes – “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” (minute 43:32) Sign up for my newsletter or email me to learn more about the chasm of complexity. I am working on a piece explaining the chasm of complexity.
- The bigger the team, the greater the chance you have of making a difference. (minute 40:03).
- With complex problems, you can never really pick a winner, but you can make everyone smarter about the choices, they think are working and identifying where is not working. (minute 34:54)
For writers listening and reading this podcast, write what you know. Get out there and write.
Links mentioned in the podcast: