Where We Are

Tuesday is the release date for What Love Is And What It Could Be.

There will be a launch event at the UBC Bookstore on February 1st. (Everyone is welcome!)

You can also read some early reviews of the book.

Meanwhile, here's a little extract that's in tune with some feelings I have about the world right now.

The romantic mystique, as I see it, has a lot in common with the feminine mystique. The romantic mystique tells us that romantic love is also “mysterious and intuitive and close to the creation and origin of life,” yet special and wonderful (partly for that very reason). The romantic mystique likewise encourages us to accept love’s “nature,” passively and uncomprehendingly, instead of trying to resist or alter it. It is a disempowering ideology that celebrates ignorance and acquiescence.

...

To acquiesce or even revel in our own lack of understanding of love is not just intellectually unsatisfying; it exposes us to risk. It means refusing to arm ourselves with the knowledge and skills we need to stay safe and make good decisions. It means we are failing to understand a lot of what goes on around us day to day and are paying the price for that—whatever that price may be.

The stronger the forces for oppression and ignorance become, the more I have to believe in the possibility of work that pushes back. I won't deny that this has been hard lately.