As writers, we’re often told to downplay our dreams. We’re not to get our hopes up about publishing prospects, the potential reach of our words or the legacy a book—or even a single sentence—can carry. It’s often uncouth in publishing to aspire to greatness. Instead we favor being realistic and timidly optimistic at best. If we’re honest with ourselves, though, we can acknowledge that many of us have the desire to change the world with our words. Be it one reader at a time or on a global scale, there is an admirable audaciousness that comes with putting your ideas on paper that shouldn’t be tempered. An audaciousness that Valarie Kaur doesn’t shy away from.
For those who are unfamiliar, Valarie Kaur is a lawyer, a civil rights activist, a filmmaker, an author, a speaker, an educator, Sikh American and mother. She has done a TED Talk with over 3 million views. She had a speech that went viral, attracting 40 million views. Her debut memoir, See No Stranger, was a #1 LA Times bestseller as well as a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. And Brené Brown called her latest book, Sage Warrior, “exactly what the world is craving right now.” She has also produced powerful films and is currently on her Revolutionary Love tour reaching people all across the country with her message.
Her ambition is high and her reach is far, so what does it look like when you want to change the world?
Tell Big Stories in Small Ways
Kaur believes in the power of words to heal, enlighten and change. And she is using every avenue she can to create impact and forge the future that her children (and everyone’s children) deserve. But how does she do it? How does she muster the courage to throw herself 100% behind her message and reach millions?
Some people are afraid to dream the big audacious dreams. You appear to have many of those, and are doing the groundwork to inspire true change on a global scale. How do you approach writing a book, when your desire is so grand in scale?
Books are the vehicle for ideas — and ideas shape the world. I see my books as invitations into world-building — to inhabit and imagine a world of love and liberation within us that we can begin to create around us.
For any writer (be it a screenwriter, novelist, memoirist, educator) often the biggest hurdle that comes with writing in a way that is world-changing is putting the pressure of what it could be on each and every word. In Valarie’s case, she is exploring themes she knows well, understands intimately and has the heart to tell. Whether that is telling the story of a Sikh man who was murdered in the wake of 9/11 or a tale about becoming a mother and the change in her worldview that that brought on, she is still operating from a place of personal and lived experience. Her ability to translate that message into a global one is her gift. And it seems to come with a willingness to lean on her own community for wisdom.
You have pulled in the ancestral history of Sikh tradition in your most recent book, Sage Warrior. What did the research process look like for your latest book and what were some of the challenges you faced when gathering this information?
Sage Warrior was birthed in community — in storytelling circles with children, in conversation with elders and aunties and uncles, in collaboration with my Sikh sisters and brothers who pored through the research with me, and in consultation with scholars and wisdom-keepers in our community. The book is an imaginative retelling of the story of the first Sikh ancestors, told from the perspective of the women. It spans 250 years. I wanted to do my best to honor our collective memory with integrity, even as I gave myself the freedom to imagine into the gaps — and draw forth the wisdom I think we all need now. My hope is that anyone who reads the book — and listens to the music album by Sonny Singh that accompanies it — feels like they are part of that storytelling circle too.
For writer’s seeking a grand impact, they could discern from her that you don’t start with the BIG IDEA. You start with the small, personal ones and explore those depths looking for the connective tissue that has the global appeal. A mother’s fear. A wife’s loss. A prayer for peace.
Mediums for Change
Often when we think about a writer, we think about their stories in terms of books, maybe articles or essays. But Valarie has another special talent. She is able to impart her words across many (many) mediums. And as writers living in the digital era, it’s important that artists think of all the mediums by which their message could reach people.
Through her speeches, Valarie has reached millions. Her books have found people all across the globe. For writers with a mission, it’s important to consider all the ways that words can reach an audience. But with so many options, how does one decide?
You’re a speaker, an author, a filmmaker, an activist and so much more. How do you choose the mediums for your next story/message?
My law school professor Reva Siegel once told me that my task was to be polylingual — to become fluent in multiple ways of telling a story in order to shift policy and culture. All of my work — every film, campaign, lawsuit, speech and book — are a result of listening intensely to the world. My guiding question used to be: “What will I say?” Now it is: “What needs to be heard?” Knowing this leads me to the medium.
A video could lead intrigued audiences back to a book. A film could find viewers who may never have been willing to check out an essay. A podcast can meet people where they are at in their daily life, even if they don’t have time to attend a live tour stop. The brilliance and beauty of Valarie’s platform is that it opens the door for so many. By not being singularly focused on one medium, she has the potential to reach people on a far grander scale. Is the work load a bit daunting, especially for writers just getting started? Yes. But if the ambition is high, it’s thrilling to see just how far a story can travel when the writer is willing to take many roads to get it out there.
Often writers are told to “have a platform” but it’s not always clear what that means. You have a very multi-pronged platform. How do you decide what the different elements of your platform are and how do they all co-exist?
Books are the container for my ideas. Film and video tell stories that invite people into the ideas. Live events build movement around the ideas — virtual and in person gatherings connect and empower people in community. Music and art land wisdom in the body. Educational curricula equip people with the tools to practice the ideas.
We are harnessing the power of all these platforms right now. My books Sage Warrior and See No Stranger contain the big idea: Revolutionary Love is the call of our times. We are currently on a bus tour to 45 cities across the country — everywhere we go, we are gathering people around stories and art and music to ignite hearts and build this movement together. We are capturing videos of stories of love and solidarity as we go. And we leave people with concrete tools to put the love ethic into practice right where they are.
It’s been electrifying to witness the impact of this work every night. The ideas are alive in people’s hearts and mind and moving between them. We can practice the world we want in the space between us.
Valarie is exploring every available avenue with heart and purpose to reach as many people as possible.
There’s never been more opportunity for writers to explore new avenues for their writing talents. If someone has been focused on long-form, like books, and feeling like the message isn’t going as far as they’d like, perhaps it’s time to try video. Or audio. Or live events. In other words, if you’re not getting where you want to go by walking, try hopping in a car or on a plane!
Revolutionary Love in Writing
Valarie Kaur is the mind behind the Revolutionary Love Project.
Tell us about the REVOLUTIONARY LOVE PROJECT. How did it start and what are your hopes with this project?
Let me offer what I share on stage every night:
I have spent two decades laboring for racial justice in this country — at the sites of mass shootings, inside supermax prisons, on the shores of Guantanamo, in the wake of hate crimes. This is what the struggle has taught me: The only way we will birth the world we dream is through a shift in culture and consciousness — a way of being, a way of seeing, that leaves no one outside our circle of care. We need a revolution of the heart. I believe Revolutionary Love is the call of our times.
How do we put the love ethic into practice, on a scale we haven’t before? I started the Revolutionary Love Project to equip people with practical tools to reclaim love as force for justice, healing, and transformation. [Explore at RevolutionaryLove.org]
I spent twenty years of my life organizing around hate; I will spend the rest of my life organizing around love.
This practice is meant to engage people across all spectrums and to create change through tools and practices that will help enact the kind of future Valarie sees as possible. If similarly a writer wants to inspire and transform with their words, then the values of this project can be applied to truly any type of work.
Anyone can walk themselves through the steps laid out for activating this Revolutionary Love, including writers hoping to bring this energy into the stories they are telling.
When you visit here, you will see a breakdown of the core beliefs around this project. It shouldn’t take long before you see the areas where this could apply to a work of fiction, nonfiction, or memoir.
For example, “Wonder” is one of the first principles in the “See No Stranger” node that represents ways to foster revolutionary love. Surely, as a writer, wonder is a mode that comes naturally. But have you chosen to wonder about the ideas and behaviors and people you find repugnant? Have you chosen to wonder why the villain of your story would think themselves noble? Have you chosen to wonder about the force that is oppressing the progress of your cause? As writers who might be seeking to foster a message of love, walking through these steps as a sort of outline and exploration for your story could help you get to the key of an idea that can inspire on a global scale.
Furthermore, Valarie offers this as a lesson in writing from her latest book, Sage Warrior.
What are some of the lessons in Sage Warrior, that you think writers can implement in or apply to their creative journey?
Remember the wisdom of the midwife: Breathe and push. There is a cadence, a rhythm, to sustaining one’s generative energies in any long labor. You can’t push all the way: You have to step away — go outside, awaken your senses, drop into the magic and mystery and beauty of being alive right here, right now. Let your body rest, sleep, and dream. Let the creative solutions you are searching for rise from the unconscious. Make yourself sift and receptive. Only when we breathe deeply are we able to birth the new.
Whether it’s through the practices of the Revolutionary Love Project or her books or her videos, writers can find endless tools to live a good life and, indeed, a good writing life as well.
Focusing on the Message
From her beautiful books to her awe-inspiring speeches, Valarie seems determined to forge a life filled with purpose. She defines herself as far more than an author, but each of her guiding values and ethics show up in every branch of her work. As a writer whose goal is to uplift and inspire, taking a look at Valarie’s platform might give you some ideas for how that can be done. Is each story its own entity, separate from the rest? Or is there an ethos that comes first and then weaves its way into everything you produce?
For Valarie, this is hers and it appears in everything she touches:
I went on a journey to rediscover the wisdom of my ancestors, because I needed support to keep going in a world on fire. I discovered that Sikh wisdom carries the medicine we all need now. How do we survive seemingly apocalyptic times? How do we find courage in the face of relentless crisis? How do we protect our joy?
Perhaps what was most powerful about Guru Nanak, the first teacher in the Sikh tradition, is that he distilled the mystical heart of all the world’s wisdom traditions into its essence: Love.
Love is our birthright.
And so, this book is for anyone ready for more love — Revolutionary Love.
If you notice the consistency in her responses, that’s sort of the point. Her belief and her mission appear to always be top of mind.
In an industry where it’s easy to bemoan the decline of reader attention or the drama of BookTok or the lack of depth in the high-selling smutty genre… Valarie doesn’t focus on that. She focuses on her purpose and the pieces of her brand that support that end. If you are a writer driven by legacy and conviction, let that be your guiding force. Not the whims of an industry in constant flux.
In order to be “revolutionary” it’s typically a requirement that you do things different. But revolution can also take place in quiet, more subtle ways. If Valarie’s method is the top of the mountain where the likes of Elizabeth Gilbert and Anne Lamott are calling her book “sacred” and “profound” and she’s being honored at the White House, there are equally meaningful ways for writers to create significant work in quieter ways using Valarie’s approach. It’s okay if your goal is simply to make one reader believe in love again with your contemporary romance. It’s beautiful if ocean conservation is the end all be all of your work’s focus. Valarie has a very big, bold and beautiful desire to quite literally change the world through love. But that doesn’t mean that small steps to change one person’s life can’t be harnessed with just as much passion! Ultimately, if I’m reading between the lines, I believe Valarie’s desire is that every person lead their own personal mission because a world full of inspired, empathetic and love-filled people is exactly the kind of Earth-shattering change needed. And writers hold such a unique and powerful ability to do this in an infinite number of ways.
As a mother and woman determined to make an impact, how do you feel legacy plays a role in your creative endeavors? What do you hope your legacy will be?
I would like to be remembered as a good ancestor, as someone who invited us all to love more — and become more.
Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory (The Revolutionary Love Project) by Valarie Kaur
Valarie Kaur’s Sage Warrior combines personal narrative, Sikh history, and spiritual wisdom to explore how we can cultivate courage and compassion in a time of crisis. Through her journey with her children to Panjab, India, Kaur uncovers the path of the “sage warrior”—one who embodies love and ethical power to fight for justice and humanity. The book offers practical lessons on transforming grief, embracing joy, and choosing courage, making it accessible to readers from any background seeking to create a better world.
Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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