In College I had a really amazing English prof. His name is Ryan Knighton and he has been on This American Life and is a pretty amazing poet and writer.
One of the things he taught us was about sincerity, the roots of the word. He explained that in the days of the Romans when it was en vogue to copy the Greeks and have giant Marble Pillars in front of your house, there were those who would fake it. They would get marble facades and back fill them with wax. Those who could afford to would have solid marble columns thus "without wax" or 'sin cere". In the online dictionary where I just looked it up it states that the origins, are from the mid 16th century (also in the sense ‘not falsified, unadulterated’): from Latin sincerus‘clean, pure.' I like Ryan's definition best. This always stuck with me and I try to live as the DesiDerata recommends, to be myself.
Last night I attended a film screening of a new film called "Fractured Land". It's a very well done film about Fracking and it's impacts. Moreover it's a film about Caleb Behn, who is Eh-Cho Dene and Dunne Za/Cree from the Treaty 8 Territory of Northeastern BC. He has a Juris Doctor degree and is among the first UVic Law students granted the Concentration in Environmental Law and Sustainability. Prior to law school, he was the Oil and Gas Officer for the West Moberly First Nations and a Lands Manager for the Saulteau First Nations. But he is also much more than that. We were lucky last night that he was able to attend for the movie screening and speak both to the ways in which he was portrayed, the absence of other indigenous folks in both the filming and editing of the film and the way he sees the world. What really sticks with me about Caleb is that he is very raw and so honest. He committed to the absolute pursuit of truth and justice and this means that he steps on toes, and is walking a line of difficult choices and brave action. Caleb has a refreshing vocabulary and by the end of his talk, which was self-deprecating, and full of expletives he said that what will make us remember this talk is that he is being real and incredibly honest and vulnerable about his lack of solutions, hes not claiming to know the answers, despite being incredibly intelligent and as invested and committed to the causes he's fighting as a person could be. I was reminded of this article I read recently in Bust Magazine where Amanda Sternberg spoke about "The New Sincerity" which she describes thusly:
“It’s in response to the irony that has saturated culture and humor. We feel like sincerity is so important to humanity. Sincerity is so crucial if you ever want to connect with other human beings and make a change or impact.”
I think she and Caleb are both right about this. I also think about Severn Suzuki (who also happened to be at the film screening last night) who, at 12 years old gave a speech to the and her speech at the United Nations Earth Summit. She rocked the world with her bravery and sincerity. Check out the transcript of her speech or watch the video here. She also embodies what some people feel is the "ethos of our era" and I'm grateful to be surrounded especially here on Haida Gwaii with people who embody this spirit and commitment, not only to being true to themselves and finding their gifts and what they have to share, but also a commitment to that which sustains all of us, our planet. Happy Earthday, let's keep it sincere.
