Member Interview of the Week - Sylvia Clute
This Week: Sylvia Clute
Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I knew when I was a young woman that there was a desire within me to write, but there was not enough impetus for me to begin. It was only after working in the legal system as a trial attorney for many years being in the “belly of the beast” and seeing first-hand the need to find a better way to resolve our disputes and deal with societal breakdown that a voice within me began to speak.
But it began as a driving desire to learn about possible alternatives, and different ways of framing issues and answers. This led to years of studying everything that I felt might provide clues to what that better way was. I knew I had to refresh my understanding of what was happening in science, including learning the basics about quantum physics. I needed to investigate what was happening in the holistic medicine movement, as that was another profession going from the Newtonian world to a more quantum framing of illness and wellbeing. I was led to study the philosophy of the Freemasons, to find the spiritual roots of our nation’s founding. And I studied many writings about spirituality and inner growth.
Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A: How government can be made to work for the benefit of the people has been a passion of mine since childhood. As I accumulated more knowledge about the transformation that was happening in diverse arenas, from science to spirituality and religion, I began to see how such a transformation could take place in the area of public policy, law and government. This is when the passion to write and share this vision began to emerge. I then had no choice but to write and share what I was learning.
Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your writing career?
A: Patience. Taking a vague idea knowing in your gut that you have something important to share to creating a physical form that can be shared with others does not happen overnight. It requires a lot of effort, seeking help from others, learning and making mistakes. The other side of patience is determination, the stick-to-it type that is essential to accomplish anything of value.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: Destiny Unveiled finally made it into print the end of December 2006. It is an engaging novel that will excite people about the possibility of peace and abundance being real possibilities. The next step is to show people how they hold the key to making this happen. So I am now writing a discussion guide called Ten Discussions on Love and Fear, A Companion to Destiny Unveiled that will enable book clubs, classroom teachers, Sunday School classes, and others to explore the realm of positive public policy in greater depth.
Many people mistakenly believe that public policy is not about them. In fact, power lies with the people at the grassroots, not the people at the top, because we are the system. We can no more choose not to be a part of the system than we can choose not to be human. What people don’t understand is how to exercise their power in effective ways to create the government policies that they truly desire. Ten Discussions, expected to be released in the fall of 2007, will provide these tools.
Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your writing life in a positive way.
A: I read constantly, and the list of who has influenced my writing is long. A few writers who provided key concepts as I was formulating my ideas include: Rupert Ross, Returning to the Teachings, Exploring Aboriginal Justice, David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Legge, Wald, Krueger and Mueller, The Politics of Cultural Differences, and Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief, Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles. I have also been deeply influenced by A Course In Miracles, a beautiful, consistent explanation of what is and what can be.
Q: What have you recently read or what are you reading right now that you would consider an outstanding work?
A: I am reading two books, Power versus Force, The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior by David R. Hawkins and The Divine Matrix, Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief by Gregg Braden. Both are excellent books about the emerging evidence of our true spiritual nature.
Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: I dream of a day when people understand the true meaning and power of the teaching, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” a lesson found in all the major world religions. For this to happen, people must see the insanity of the belief, “Our killing is moral because we are good; their killing is immoral because they are evil; and this duality is just because we are not even responsible for our killing, because THEY made us do it.” It is not only the ultimate form of victimhood believing yourself to be powerless over your own conscious, willful acts it is insane because THEY nearly always see the world in the same framework, making the vengeance and killing endless.
This destructive pattern will only stop when all people accept responsibility and measure their morality by their own acts, not the acts of others. We must move from the dual morality of “an eye for an eye,” to the monomorality of the Golden Rule if we are ever to have peace in the world. I believe when people understand the inner workings of these “systems” instead of accepting insanity as truth, the world can be transformed. I dream of helping people to understand this through my writings, both fiction and non-fiction.
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In Destiny Unveiled, Sylvia Clute draws on extensive political and civic experience, research and multiple degrees in law and public policy from Harvard and
