Not Just One Person
“My first column of the year, after a long silence, won’t be sweet or pretty, for pretty is a weak thing robbed of power by mediocrity, and this is no time for either. It won’t be beautiful either—beauty being the power-laden dynamo that ‘pretty’ aspires to. For what I have to say, to express in hope of being heard, is better said by Elytis, whose power hasn’t dimmed decades after his death: ‘I dream of revolution against evil and wars . . . .’”—Helen Noakes
Waking Point
By Helen Noakes
“I dream of revolution against evil and wars like the one Matisse made against chiaroscuro and tones.”—Odysseas Elytis, from Villa Natacha, translated by Nanos Valaoritis
“Justice is what love looks like in public.”—Cornel West
SAN FRANCISCO California—(Hubris)—January/February 2026—My first column of the year, after a long silence, won’t be sweet or pretty, for pretty is a weak thing robbed of power by mediocrity, and this is no time for either.
It won’t be beautiful either—beauty being the power-laden dynamo that “pretty” aspires to. For what I have to say, to express in hope of being heard, is better said by Elytis, whose power hasn’t dimmed decades after his death: “I dream of revolution against evil and wars . . .”
I dream of an awakening that propels us towards humanity rather than fanatical pursuits driven by greed, malice, and hunger for retribution.
I dream of a collective understanding that the choices we make today—in the face of the evil which is bent on destroying us, our children, and any future we have hoped to create—have consequences.
To quote Timothy Snyders’s admonition in his excellent book On Tyranny, “In the politics of the everyday, our words and gestures, or their absence count very much.”
I urge you, please, if not for others, then for yourselves, don’t look away, don’t shrug indifferently and say, “What can I do, I’m just one person?” Transform the diminished definition of “just” and empower it with its other meaning.
Join the thousands worldwide who demand that we save this planet from rapacious ignorance—a planet that embodies both darkness and light at its core, across its green and blue mantle, and in the creatures who roam its land and waters.
Seek justice for those who are unjustly persecuted, because it takes only one tiny shift in focus to include you and yours in that category. Join the thousands peacefully voicing their opposition to violence, subjugation, and mayhem.
Vote! Engage in every legal avenue available to ensure that the future we share with the generations that follow will be worth living.
Helen Noakes
Helen Noakes is a playwright, novelist, writer, art historian, linguist, and Traditional Reiki Master, who was brought up in and derives richness from several of the world’s great traditions and philosophies. She believes that writing should engage and entertain, but also inform and inspire. She also believes that because the human race expresses itself in words, it is words, in the end, that will show us how very similar we are and how foolish it is to think otherwise. (Author Head Shot Augment: René Laanen.)