Late last year I discovered John Varley‘s The Persistence of Vision through a superb reading of the story included in Spider Robinson’s Spider on the Web podcast. The story has become my favourite novella and I am thrilled each time I revisit it.

One of the richest elements of the story is the positive vision of polyamoury that Varley placed at the heart of his community. The non-exclusive intimacy was not merely sexual —though it was sexual— and demonstrated the best of what a pragmatic and enthusiastic community can create.

That one aspect of the community resonated with me, but Varley instilled the story with a genuine sense of realism by developing a fictional culture and society that was both functional and beautiful.

Recognizing elements of Utopian narratives led me to a reading of the story that I think works well: this is a functional utopia, one that recognizes the flaws inherent in any idealism and responds to them. The displaced Other of utopian thought is present here, but it is an other able to form a real community; idealism demands constant rebuilding.

Spider Robinson’s reading of the story is warm, loving and damn-near-perfect. You can download “Spider on the Web Episode 57 The Persistence of Vision” at Spider Robinson’s website and learn more about John Varley at his own.

For thirty years Elfquest has been one of comics’ gems, growing as an independent comic into one of the medium’s most endearing, compelling and beautiful bodies of work. Using fantasy and science fiction elements for its framework, the series explores sexuality, love, ethnocentrism, persistant change, and a range of issues the visual style and broad medium are not often recognized for.

Creators Wendy and Richard Pini will be publishing the entire series of Elfquest online for free to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first Elfquest story. Already a healthy selection of issues are available and by the end of the year over 200 will be readable with no cost and only a web browser is needed to do it.

My own love for Elfquest goes back a long way. Throughout my high school life Elfquest was the one comic series I followed faithfully. It offered me the first and most positive portrayal of polyamoury in my youth and gave me solace as I tried to come to some sort of understanding and acceptance of my own polyamourousness. My first taste of Taoist philosophy, my broader understanding of love and sexuality and my appreciation of family and community all have foundation stones in Elfquest that I am deeply thankful for.

Delve into Digital Elfquest and be sure to start with “Fire and Flight“.

I bring along Spider Robinson‘s Spider on the Web podcast when I have time to do some listening as one of my staples. Science fiction, great music, technology, culture, space and a slew of other topics pop up and Spider offers cutting insight on it all. His readings of essays written for the H.R. Macmillan Space Centre are especially rewarding, as are his ‘casts on religion and global warming. There’s an integral lean to a lot of his stuff that I appreciate.

This week’s ‘cast has been one of my favourites, largely because it introduced me to David Crosby performing “Triad”, the finest song on polyamory I’ve heard, and Spider’s Lifehouse Trilogy, which explores ethics among non-theists.

I’ve mentioned and quoted Spider before in “My Enviornmental Stance” and “Stardancing“.

It’s rare a book will bring me to tears, but as I finished reading Strangers in Paradise this week there were salty rivulets pouring down my face. The entire series packed emotional punch, but this ending was exquisitely teeming with love. Page after page of heartrending and soul-lifting beauty flowed by and I was left unquestionably satisfied with the story and deeply thankful to have been along for the ride these few years I’ve been keeping up with Terry Moore‘s masterpiece.

Strangers in Paradise is a romance, a crime drama, and a character-focused exploration of innumerable aspects of life. It also happens to be a comic book. Much like Craig Thompson‘s Blankets, Strangers in Paradise elevates the comics form into genuine literary greatness. The storytelling and insight are amplified by the collision of prose and visual art in a way that is disarming and authentic.

Central to SiP is a swirl of love that focuses on three main characters. LeeAnn Kriegh summed it up as “Katchoo loves David, but she’s in love with Francine, a mostly straight woman who returns Katchoo’s love just enough to break both their hearts,” and that’s just scratching the surface of a complex, beautiful and realistic story.

Terry Moore is a master at keeping controversial subject matter such as polyamoury, sexuality, religion and politics deeply embedded in human experience. One of the real joys of reading SiP has always been the touching way the characters have reflected the conflicts in all our lives. Mr. Moore depicts life gently but unsparingly includes all the betrayal and heartache to be found in it alongside the joys. I especially appreciated how he included David’s Christian faith in the story.

For some reason it struck me that there were no real Christians in comics, in mainstream-accepted comics anyway. I thought, “Well, that would be one of the most revolutionary things I could do right now.” … I thought one of the most rebellious things David could do was just say, “I’m a Christian.”
…
I mean, being a Christian right now is the most uncool thing you could possibly be, whether it’s in comics or literature or TV or film or whatever. Pop-culture-wise, for somebody now to stand up and say, “I’m a Christian,” they’d have to be very anti-establishment. Unless, they’re standing in the middle of the Bible Belt surrounded by churches or something. But, you know, in mainstream culture, it’s just not acceptable any more. Which made it all the more fun for me. I like thumbing my nose at both the establishment and the revolution.
- Terry Moore, The Comics Journal #276

Strangers in Paradise will stand as one of the greatest stories told in the last couple decades. Full of humour, drama and tenderness, it never fell from its sustained genuineness. Terry Moore established himself as one of the finest storytellers working today and gave us a true gift through the years he has worked to create this story. Now that it’s finished, I can’t imagine a better time to dive in.

I don’t know why but I do
Dream of you.
Losing you
I dream of you.
I don’t know why but I do
Think of you.
Though we’re through
I think of you.

Today, over at Integral Options Cafe, William brought my attention to “Polyamory in the News“. As he pointed out, polyamory is often viewed as very weird. The article and many opponents of the practice of polyamory become caught in a tangle.

Polyamory (from poly=multiple + amor=love) is a tricky subject, often because of a pre/trans fallacy. There are at least two approaches that accept polyamoury, one coming from “fuck you, I’ll sleep with anyone I want” and the other “these relationships we enter into are beneficial to us all and brimming with genuine love.” The two can easily be confused if one doesn’t know how to discern the difference in intent.

I experienced the feeling of and desire for polyamory with my first romantic and sexual stirrings. My first crush was on two best friends and ever since then my affections and tenderness were always twinned. Kira and Becky, Alicia and Jenna, and on my school crushes went. When I fell in love and had relationships later, I found that any love I felt did not diminish as I moved forward with new loves. Though the context changed, I have been blessed with loving friendships in the wake of romantic relationships. I thank my polyamorous tendencies for facilitating that, in part. Having an openness toward loving has become included as a vital aspect of my personality.

I’ve never actually practiced polyamory by having two intimate relationships at once, and it becomes a more challenging prospect as my moral understanding deepens. When we are taking into account everyone’s well being, stepping into multiple perspectives, avoiding harm and ensuring benefit for everyone is incredibly challenging. I have never been in a situation where I could say with certainty that being in relationships with two women would be best for us all, and so have remained, happily, in monogamy.

The openness to that happening remains. As Gary of Integral in Seattle pointed out in “Sacred Marriage“, higher levels of relationships are facilitating transformation and growth through intimacy. If the union of two people committed to that intimate evolution is so beautiful and beneficent it leaves us shattered in awe, what of more than two? Love becomes without boundary, and that includes both span (who we love) and depth (how deeply we love). Being in service of love then becomes about being skillful in how we act from love. I can only hope to be up to the challenge of love, however it arises.