Reflections of Václav Cílek on society, nature and ourselves
This book represents several years of thinking about society, nature and ourselves. The first part concerns our present situation, which is on the edge between anger and compassion, between destruction and creation. We are psychologically unprepared for the change, so it is necessary to build up some form of active defence. However, it turns out that mere self-defence is not enough, because it is also necessary to be creative.
The author shows three different kinds of creativity through the example of three artists, whose path leads through a thorough knowledge of craft, art history and listening to music, through the ability to be an extension of the forces of nature, or may even spring from a crack into another space. The final part of the book is devoted to a journey with an Indian shaman to the first post-American city of Detroit and the civilizations that dissolve and re-crystallize in a different form. We saw the end of a civilization in Detroit, and it wasn't bad.
