Blue Flower Power: Courage

24. Apr.

4 Min. Lesezeit

Aktualisiert: 5. Okt.

Why participation in life takes courage in the modern world

As you probably know, Sparkle Valley started as a gift for my daughter on her 18th birthday. It was private and contained what I thought were the important things in life.

Not public.

But at some point, over the years of writing these books, I noticed that the problem the story was addressing wasn't just personal. It was much bigger than the “Magic Garden” behind the house.

People were emotionally flatlining.

And then there was experience on a plane that really convinced me to make Sparkle Valley public.

I was on cross-country plane ride and I saw a woman scrolling Instagram for over four hours. She would look away from the screen and take a deep breath every 20 minutes or so, and then return to her phone. It was hard to watch.

It made me realize that if I genuinely believed the things I was telling my daughter I should put it out into the world.

And this isn't because I have all the answers or think it will be appreciated by anyone.

It's to set an example for my daughter —to live up to what I'm writing about in Sparkle Valley. That participating in life matters. The woman on the plane brought it home.

And that, in a nutshell—participating in life—is what Blue Flower courage is.

Joseph Campbell recognized the "woman on the plane" condition, and he described the hero’s journey like this.

"Wake. Come on a trip. There is a whole aspect of your consciousness, your being, that’s not been touched.”

That idea feels especially relevant now.

Emily sees the Magic Garden has been invaded

Participation Over Passive Existence

The call to adventure isn't necessarily about climbing a mountain or going on some grand quest. At least not in Sparkle Valley (although Abigail does climb a mountain). The call to adventure is about something smaller and more personal. It's about trying to reconnect with those things that once made you feel alive.

That takes courage too.

The danger for Emily isn't physical harm. It's disconnection. Her openness to the world is shutting down. She's withdrawing from wonder and meaning and participation in life. But Abigail fights for her. Refuses to let her get cynical and stop caring. This part of Emily continues to engage—continues to show up even in the face of uncertainty, embarrassment, and grief. Because she ultimately knows a fulfilling life requires participation.

Emily’s Choice

By the end of the trilogy Emily's inner life has gone quiet. And It would be so easy for her to continue growing numb and leave that part of herself behind forever. But she goes back to Sparkle Valley. And that decision matters because it hurts.

Real courage often hurts.

I talked about this before, but that’s why I think Doris’s line in Book 2 may be one of the most important in the series:

“I think I can grow up and keep my imagination.”

This captures the entire balancing act–keeping that part of her world open.

Again, the Romantics:

Emerson: Have the courage to trust yourself even when the world pushes against you.

“Whatever you do, you need courage.”

Edgar Allen Poe, haunted by his lost love, has the courage to confront grief directly in The Raven.

Wordsworth saw it as “the good man’s cause." Courage is not recklessness.

Nietzsche: (not technically a Romantic, but the quote is too good).

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

What he is saying so beautifully here is that creativity, meaning, love, and growth and all the important things require uncertainty. You cannot stay perfectly guarded and be a “dancing star.”

The Middle Path

Speaking of “dancing stars,” let’s turn back to one of my favorite characters—Frank Needlenose. Because, as we know by now, he shows us one extreme: total openness, total transcendence and emotional freedom. Everything is vibrant and alive, but his world collapses into chaos eventually.

Hank Needlenose shows us the other extreme: total control, total emotional closure. And his world becomes barren.

Emily and Abigail ultimately choose the middle path. Openness with grounding. Imagination in the real world. And that’s the “Courage in Blue Flower Power” we’re talking about. Step fully into life, despite uncertainty, potential failure, even grief.

The alternative is much easier. You’ll definitely be tempted. Everyone is. You can sit down on the couch and scroll. But that will start to feel flat. This is the message about courage that I was trying to convey to my daughter, and now to anybody who reads these books.