Emily Dickinson, "Embarrassment of one another" (662)

Hi all --

I've got quite a bit going on. I'm learning Spanish: 3 months in, there's a lot I can understand, a lot I can't, and I'm hoping immersion for at least an hour a day will make speaking easier. The journey so far has been eventful. I have heard about those in Cuba, Colombia, and Puerto Rico enjoying chocolate caliente con queso; about how essential it is to know English in Latin America; seen Latin Americans and Spaniards gasp at the materialism of the United States.

I've also been running two Dungeons and Dragons games, and that has taught me about creating rich, vibrant worlds for my players. Before, I would have sworn that what I needed was 100 pages of notes for every town they visit. For example: they'd be able to find out that the blacksmith was previously a florist who sold tulips and that if you brought him a tulip bulb he'd give you the Flower Power Armor. You would get this information from the orphans fishing by the brook. Bring them an upgraded fishing pole which orc bandits stole and they reveal everything they know. Now I think about a town being one, two, or three major, memorable interactions at most. Players get a sense of where they are based on the interactions they have. And those they interact with aren't there to sit around with extensive, useless lore or merely give out items. They have or will have an interest in the player characters. By far the best session we had in one game was a villain maniacally ranting at my players before nearly killing all of them with one spell. That got everyone to pointedly respond as a team.

Soon I need to get more papers submitted to journals–rejections are good, I tell myself–and get more notes down for a small book I'd like to write on political philosophy and aphoristic thought. I would like the book to consist of aphorisms itself, as I would much rather it start conversations than resemble a treatise. And I do have a proposal due the 15th for the Northeastern Political Science Association. If you're an academic interested in politics and popular culture/media, I'm chairing the section on "Media, Popular Culture, Politics, and History." Would love to see you in Providence in November. I always learn a ton from the papers at NPSA.

Emily Dickinson, "Embarrassment of one another" (662)

This strange poem flirts briefly with the themes of classical political philosophy. It starts with shame, "Embarrassment of one another / And God." Then it swerves into revelation, the claim that we have been given a divine law and must not think to challenge it. Dickinson is plain in her language: "Revelation's limit."

In classical thought, these are matters of some weight. Socrates' shamelessness is not like that of the politically ambitious he seeks to moderate. His is geared toward creating a space for further inquiry. Revelation points to the question of whether justice can be truly rational. To what degree do we have to believe to have a social order?

So we've got these heavy ideas around this little poem of Dickinson's. And I just finished talking about James Baldwin and what the role of the artist/philosopher/iconoclast is in today's society. My mind wants to have the highest dialogue it possibly can. But does this poem actually engage the gravest matters? I think, more or less, it is an admonition to not talk too loudly about each other. After all, "Embarrassment of one another... / Is Revelation's limit."

Embarrassment of one another (662)
Emily Dickinson

Embarrassment of one another
And God
Is Revelation's limit,
Aloud
Is nothing that is chief,
But still,
Divinity dwells under a seal.

I'm staring at that word smack in the middle of the poem, "Aloud." I can't help but imagine that someone said something which was ill-timed. I personally have embarrassed people when I meant to be complimentary! I didn't mean to tell all their business to the wrong person. I just thought we're in this together, this other person could help arrange a pleasant surprise, and... oh. That surprise really isn't so kind.

I feel like Dickinson is talking about a similar situation. Sure, the shame you try to bring to God Himself may bring down the heavens, but right now, the problem is that you opened your big mouth. "Aloud / Is nothing that is chief." If you remembered "Divinity dwells under a seal" and kept things sealed, you would be divine yourself.

Which, at this point in my career, requires further comment. I've built a lot of trust and done a lot of good being a little more open while others hide what we need to know. I'm not saying propriety is bad–I certainly want to be as judicious as I can when I speak–but look who benefits most from our modesty nowadays. It is not us. It is not those who are truly modest. It is literally oil companies, scammers, grifters, arms dealers, war criminals, and a host of other evildoers. Yeah, some people might need to be called out or shamed a bit. We all know that some elders are willing to give thousands to the first e-mail which pretends to be friendly and asks for a bank account number. Better to endure some embarrassment and know where we truly stand. Divinity may dwell under a seal, but human life entails exposure.