The Jester Appears

Write Within Yourself was officially launched this past Monday at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park (WA). It was a lovely evening – lovely to see so many friends and family, lovely to meet new friends who had come out for the event, and lovely to reacquaint myself with a character who had lay largely dormant for the last twenty years or so: The Jester. An author event is theater. Authors may not like to see themselves as actors or performers, but if one person is standing up and talking to a group of people sitting quietly and listening, then that is theater. And theater brings out a bit of the court jester in me. I spend much of my days wishing I were The King. The King proclaims and is the voice of earthly law and justice. The King also speaks to the multitudes. It is his duty. How else will the multitudes know the law and feel secure that justice shall prevail?

And yet, give me an audience, and The Jester appears. The Jester makes no laws, and has no power other than his observations, offered from a vantage devoid of earthly influence. The Jester is the King’s foil and confidant, reminding His Majesty that the crown and throne are inventions doomed to rust and rot. From such a vantage the world and all the scrambling about humans do in it for their wasting and temporary things certainly is a funny place, if and only if The Jester resists the dark temptation to call death tragedy.

Death, to my memory, did not come up at my book launch – not by name anyhow. With humans, it always lingers in the shadows anytime we stand up and say, “Look what I made!” This too shall pass. Who better than The Jester to speak at such a moment? Worry not; we are not made of these things we make. We are always more the laughter released from the bonds of solid stuff, a sound untouched but touching, home to the lightness required to dwell where the heavy and hopeless song of death is too often sung.

Write Within Yourself: An Author's Companion. "A book to keep nearby whenever your writer's spirit needs feeding." Deb Caletti.

Remember to catch Bill every Tuesday at 2:00 PM PST/5:00 EST on his live Blogtalk Radio program Author2Author! You can find Bill at: williamkenower.com