Sparks for You #6
On Keeping Your Practical Idealism Alive
Life can toss you lots of curveballs. It can be all too easy to feel dejected, wondering whether the far-off vision that moves you is attainable. If, and when, such moments strike, I find it heartening and empowering to read this gripping passage in Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged:
“In the name of the best within you, . . . In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not . . . let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it’s yours.”[1]
Before reading further, I encourage you to re-read the above passage—this time, out loud—and allow the words and their meaning to unfold in your mind. What are (or were) your ideals? What emotions are you experiencing? Where do you feel those words in your body? What music do you hear? (To this last question, reading this out loud sounds to me like the opening strains of Star Wars.[2])
Three important points I take away from this inspiring excerpt are:
(1) The “best within you,” the “irreplaceable spark” that is the source of your highest values, is up to you. Whether you fan that spark into a steady flame or allow its embers to die out slowly is under your control.
(2) Will that spark be tested? Will there be bumps and hurdles along the way? Might others mock your values? Yes. Should you let those challenges loosen your hold, whether all at once or bit by bit, on what makes your life yours? No, at least not unless you are prepared to live with regret. (And who wants to do that?)
(3) “The world” here does not necessarily mean the wider world at large. Much of what goes on there is outside of your direct control. What you can exercise some agency over is your own life: your thoughts, your choices, your actions, the concrete texture of your days. Reshaping the world starts at home.
Idealism isn’t just for starry-eyed youth who are expected to trade in such “childish” things for hard-nosed pragmatism as a sign of “maturity.” Real idealism, the kind worth working and fighting for, is meant to be put into practice, lived, and seen through to the end of your days. If it’s grounded in life-serving values that provide you with a deep source of meaning, nothing could be more practical and satisfying than idealism.
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[1] Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (New York: New American Library, 1957), p. 993.
[2] Cue to around the 29-second mark of this video for those unforgettable opening notes.
"It can be all too easy to feel dejected, wondering whether the far-off vision that moves you is attainable."
This has been essentially my only worry/problem for many years now, and it's not an easy one at all, at least for me.
"Empire" by Memoremains may not be the kind of music you normally listen to, but I think you would at least appreciate the lyrics. It's one of those songs that feels like it was written specifically for me. https://youtu.be/n0o0C4fIebo?si=i6rkC2ldNOC96qw9
A key thing you've highlighted is the importance of applying the broad terms of this maxim to the details and specifics of one's own life.