I’m reading an interview with the writer Barry Lopez in The Sun, one of my favorite literary periodicals. In it, Fred Bahnson, the interviewer, poses a question about an essay Lopez had written late in life about sexual abuse he’d suffered as a child. Lopez replied that he’d spent years dealing with the emotional disruption this experience had caused and finally concluded that, as a writer, he was capable of addressing the subject in an objective way. “I wanted to write this out and have it behind me,” he said. Publication of the essay brought lots of mail—personal pleas for help, requests for testimony by lawyers, and exhortations to support legislation before Congress. He declined these. “My job,” he told Bahnson, “is to create clarity around complex issues, and to hand it to other people who are smarter than I am, and more strategic, who know how to draw up and implement effective laws. I know what I’m not any good at.”
Lopez’s response struck a chord. This is an election year in the United States. An enormously consequential election. One issue at the top of the list in most voters’ minds is health care. I know a lot about health care as a nurse and administrator with many decades of experience. I care deeply about these issues. Once, years ago, I testified before a Congressional committee. Once I attended a demonstration in front of the District Building in D.C. I’ve written on health policy a few times, narrative pieces inspired by personal experiences. But I no longer show up at rallies. I do not contact my elected representatives, write letters to the editor or post my views on social media. I don’t join action networks. What I do is write—in my fashion—as a poet and essayist and, in that way, reach a small number of attuned readers.
This year in particular I feel guilty about my lack of activism, my failure to make more practical contributions toward better health in this country. But maybe this is not my job description. Maybe my job is, as Lopez says, to create clarity around complex issues in order to provide insight and inspiration for those with the skills to create meaningful change. Maybe my challenge is to accept my limitations and focus on doing my job.