cliche and cowardice

i'm quickly becoming a fan of the rumpus, and today i read this interview with philip meyer who reflects a lot of the same intuitions i've had in my own writing process, as well as just in life, which for me is inseparable from the writing process.

i appreciated his observations that there is a deeper consciousness greater than all of us, and that humans will rise to previously unheard of levels of compassion and self-sacrifice when confronted with trying times. i also resonated with his development of characters through the use of adages or proverbs, and his claim that, "all of us, all the time, are searching for some order in the world/universe/our lives. We’re searching for guiding principles and explanations. Partly as a survival mechanism, but partly it’s just as a result of our curiosity about things." i do seek to explain and make sense of my world, and i hang my security on the little truisms that i create out of my experience.

of course, i also believe that trying times are just as capable of bringing out the worst in humanity as the best. and i struggle with adages that become so cliche that i fear putting my faith in them dumbs down my experience. but i like meyer's overarching life principle, and it's a comfort to me as i work my way through my own decisions and make sense of my past. he recognizes how much fear we live in and often submit ourselves to.

his summation references both the belief in humanity's deep moral reserves, or dependence on a moral reserve beyond humanity, and on our need for snappy sayings to hang our actions upon: don't be a coward.