The Hour of Pearl

“It is the hour of pearl — the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.” This quote from Cannery Row is one of John Steinbeck’s most famous lines. You will make your own interpretation of its meaning, but I find it especially relevant to our world today. We could use a pause, a time-out to examine where we are heading ourselves.

An equally poignant but less-known quote from Cannery Row (published in 1945), delineates dilemmas that remain in American culture almost 80 years later: “The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism, and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.”   

Steinbeck’s Cannery Row did not dwell on the lives of factory workers or managers who narrow their interactions by sheltering-in-place in offices; instead, the novel shed light on people who occupy life’s stage at the end of the workday, often with little shelter in the nighttime. And guess what? Cannery Row, as a film, was banned in New York; it was considered “socialist.”  Eleanor Roosevelt is given credit for intervening and supporting the filmmaker.

We still have individuals existing on the edges of mainstream society. We still ban works of art.   

The good news? There are proactive organizations working on America’s deep-seated inequities. Illinois ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Response Collaborative recently featured IL Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton in a webinar. Stratton spoke on Illinois’ 5th annual Trauma-informed Awareness Day. She described the impetus to create trauma-informed and healing-centered systems change. As a first step the IL General Assembly passed Senate Bill 646: “Task Force to Create a Healing-Centered Illinois.”

Stratton outlined a healing-centered future. Addressing people’s traumas and meeting basic needs are steppingstones. For example, individuals who have served prison time come out feeling “still imprisoned” because they cannot find employment. Healing-beyond-harm restorative justice needs to be highlighted in our justice system. Food insecurity must be addressed.

Join the ACEs Response Collaborative online audience Q & A (offline):

  • What is one word that comes to mind when you think of a healing-centered state? Online: Hope, empathy, compassion, peace, justice, acceptance…
  • What would it take? Online: Dropping stigmas, having a family voice, cross-sector communication, education, funding…
  • What is happening in your community? Online: Youth harm-reduction, youth prevention education, integration of community efforts, child advocacy for physical and sexual abuse, online restorative justice programs, coaching through a trauma-informed lens, training organizations about trauma…
  • If you could make ONE thing happen overnight…Online: Free mental health services for every individual, train parents in universal programming, remove punitive charges for drug-related issues, universal healthcare….

Keep in mind, health has the word “heal” in it.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

193.What composes a healing-centered state in your opinion?

194. What are your personal steppingstones for a healing-centered life?  

Janis Johnston's avatar

By Janis Johnston

Janis Clark Johnston, Ed.D., has a doctorate in counseling psychology from Boston University. She has worked with children, families, and groups (ages 3-83) with presenting issues of anxiety, depression, trauma, loss, and relationship concerns. She initially worked as a school psychologist in public schools and was awarded School Psychology Practitioner of the Year for Region 1 in Illinois for her innovative work. She was a supervising psychologist at a mental health center, an employee-assistance therapist and a trainer for agencies prior to having a family therapy private practice. Recipient of the 2011 Founder’s Award for her dedication to the parenting education of Parenthesis Family Center (now called New Moms), and the 2002 Community Spirit Award from Sarah’s Inn, a domestic violence shelter and education center, Johnston is an active participant in numerous volunteer activities supporting children and families in her community. A frequent presenter at national psychology and educational conferences, Johnston has published journal articles, book chapters, and two books -- It Takes a Child to Raise a Parent: Stories of Evolving Child and Parent Development (2013, hardback; 2019, paperback) and Midlife Maze: A Map to Recovery and Rediscovery after Loss (2017, hardback; 2019, paperback). In addition to augmenting and supporting personal growth in families, Johnston is a Master Gardener and loves nurturing growth in the plants in her yard.

2 comments

  1. Dear Jan,
    I just read your most recent Pearls of Peace article and really found it helpful and insightful! It put things into a perspective that I found really interesting!

    Thank you for sharing and for making me think 🤔!

    Like

Leave a comment