Michael G. Long's THREE LINES IN A CIRCLE

Here today is Michael G. Long, the author of the new picture book THREE LINES IN A CIRCLE (illustrated by Carlos Vélez for Flyaway Books.      The practice of creative thinking invites us to pause in our everyday lives so that we can look deeply into the life that enfolds us.
      When we look deeply, we can see the hummingbird stabbing at the cardinal flower, the bumblebee buzzing the white phlox, or the cat chasing after the vole. Creative thinking also asks us to use the rest of our senses in the same way -- to smell and touch and listen and taste with the purpose of experiencing life as fully as we can.
      This gets us to the fundamental question that fuels creative thinking -- “What is?”
      Deep sensing is the pathway to deep understanding -- of knowing life and love and suffering and death in detail -- and deep understanding is the root of the human ability to construct new thoughts. It allows us to identify new connections and to connect the previously unconnected. It grants us the opportunity to pinpoint new dissonances and to create friction where we need it.
      Deep understanding also encourages us to ask, “What can be?” Connecting and tearing asunder, we can see the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and disadvantages, of our life together, and with this vital information, we can then imagine new possibilities.      For me, creative thinking at its best is a moral practice with peace as its goal. Not a shallow peace. Not just the absence of unnecessary conflict. But a peace marked by justice and equality.
      The Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh -- who has written so much on these topics -- reminds us that the practice of deep understanding is essential to a peaceful life. It gives is the tools we need to empathize, to extend compassion, and thereby to build a peaceful life together.
      That’s what Three Lines in a Circle is all about. It’s an invitation to sense the peace symbol, to understand it, to empathize with it, and to share it with others in a way that creates a more peaceful life together.
      If we do that together, we will see that peace is not just a goal. It’s a way of thinking -- and living -- creatively.