Episode 172: Matthew Quick

Practice You with Elena Brower

On our interconnectedness, releasing paradigms, and receiving the work that needs to pass through us.

• 0:42 – Introducing Matthew Quick; Bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook and We Are The Light; https://matthewquickwriter.com/
• 3:00 – We Are The Light – A series of letters written by a mass shooting survivor from protagonist to analyst over the course of a couple years. These letters are about interacting with the little brother of the shooter.
• 5:30 – Inspiration for the story – Movie theater shooting in Aurora, Co – writing a novel about a tragedy in a movie house and the people in the community come together to resanctify this space.
• 8:04 – Getting sober in 2018; experiencing writers block for 3 years; entering Jungian analysis; having paranoid thoughts and taking that into the creative writing wrestling ring. After 7 years of trying to sit down to write this novel, it was written in 6 weeks.
• 11:00 – This Jungian Life Podcast; The protagonist, Lucas, talking about Eli, the brother of the shooter. Tiny injections of reality from your analyst.
• 14:00 – Lucas is tapping into these sacred places of radical love. He accesses a divine wisdom, possessed by the archetype of love in finding this reconciliation and healing of the community.
• 17:05 – Conversations about power – as we elevate these conversations of power, are we relegating conversations of love? Lucas take the stance of radical love. Owning the potential of darkness within all of us through shadow work and learning to love the totality of our humanity.
• 19:05 – How can we treat the shadow in others with more respect and bring dignity. Having the conversations as a community for acknowledging the personal responsibility for those unseen. Slowing down and taking the time to have human interactions.
• 21:42 – The work is to see the people that make us the most angry are the people most like us. These things that make us uncomfortable are manifestations of things that are going on inside of us. Bringing it back to within and doing the work.
• 24:11 – Seeing the humanity within all. Every single human is a part of this interconnected whole. Dropping opinions and assumptions and allowing vulnerability.
• 26:45 – Teach the kids to think, not what to think. Give them the tools to make up their own minds about things. We don’t have much dialogue and nuanced conversation in public spaces based on our affiliations.
• 29:15 – Our extroverted society demands quick answers and voicing of opinion, but complicated problems require a lot of pondering and meditation, especially in the wake of a tragedy.
• 31:50 – Ego is always going to want to take responsibility for everything. How little control we actually have can be terrifying at first, but also creates a pathway to access better ways. The analyst says to get out of the way, let what comes through you come through you.
• 34:15 – Having the humility to serve and let go afterwards is the trick. Life circumstances shift, but it comes back to service, humility and getting out of the way.
• 36:45 – A message to those struggling to get sober; finding people who can support you and you can talk to.
• 39:00 – Getting the benefit of talking about your sobriety. Admitting the need for allies.

Matthew Quick is the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook—which was made into an Oscar-winning film—and eight other novels, including We Are the Light, a #1 Indie Next Pick and a Book of the Month selection. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, was an LA Times Book Prize finalist, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a #1 bestseller in Brazil, a Deutscher Jugendliteratur Preis 2016 (German Youth Literature Prize) nominee, and selected by Nancy Pearl as one of Summer’s Best Books for NPR. The Hollywood Reporter has named him one of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors. Matthew lives with his wife, the novelist Alicia Bessette, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

https://matthewquickwriter.com/