I believe the first one that I will share is also one of your favorites...
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make sense."
- Rumi
So I am pretty sure Rumi wrote this poem about our IPSPs. I mean I am sure he could foresee the Clinton School being established and its curriculum way back in the 13th century in Persia.
In an effort to add some kumbayah to my blog and life, I will try to share my thoughts and maybe even my feelings about it. Ryan Olson has spoken of interconnectedness many times and in the Class 4 graduation video, the beautiful Spirit Trickey said that when she returned from South Africa she had a better understanding and grasp of the interconnectedness of all people across the world.
I understood the concept. Duh, we are all humans, we all struggle in our own ways, and we are all equal. Check.
Yeah so I think I might have a different understanding or perception of this concept now.
I know I have only been here two weeks and have a long way to go. But the differences in the lives of Ugandans from the life I am familiar and comfortable with is not definable, the closest word is opposite. I feel like an alien at times, my blue eyes, light skin, and loud accented English cause me to stand out, but I was expecting that. What I wasn't expecting as much, is the kindness of the people. They are kind even though they have nothing in American measures.
I am starting to feel more at home as I walk on the streets along with the vendors and boda bodas, along with the chickens and goats, along with the dirt and trash. I am starting to feel this way because of the people, their smiles, lingering handshakes, and quiet speech. How they are so curious how I feel about their country. I am starting to feel that although I have a car, iPod, laptop, and all the American "necessities", I might not be so different from the woman living in a one room shanty with her three children who has never been on the internet and will never leave her home country of Uganda.
I think this feeling will strengthen as I move from prison to prison in the coming weeks, meeting with people in prison, and hear their stories and their needs. Those conversations will not only be heart breaking, but also enlightening and maybe even uplifting.
There is my dose of kumbayah for the day, or even the week.
Sincerely and with love from Uganda,
Julie
Proud of you, JAM! You just might end up out kumbayah'ing the most kumbayah'iest person Ryan Ubuntu (or....maybe not...but maybe a close 2nd place?). Feeling such inter-connectedness, you might now even be prepared to watch the Lost finale, ha. ;) Everything/one is connected...if only even in some small way, perhaps...there's something there, and you seem to be observing it with huge eyes/insight today. Thx for your inspired post, JAM, and to the inspiration woven from the lives/actions of Monteith, Ubuntu & Spirit.
ReplyDeleteAnd i loved your museum pic's with Jonathan, star jumper. Well done.
I think you are Kumbayah in wolf's clothing. Just sayin' ; )
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed one of my favorites. I'm glad, and not surprised, that you feel it too. It's the one that jumped out at me when I chose that book for you.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about your earlier post, "It's Uganda, Chill" while I was eating dinner. I found myself wondering if you could identify the large and small distinctions that lead to the general feelings of kindness and community. You gave a few answers in this post: smiles, lingering handshakes, and quiet speech. My new question is - Can you bring it with you when you return? And I ask that seriously. Can it be learned, emulated, and spread? Because it certainly seems worth spreading. Kind of like the warm heart.
This exact sentiment, being so connected and not any different from the women in my village, is what I carried home with me the last time I lived here in Tanzania. Knowing this makes the world a smaller, more comforting place for me.
ReplyDeleteReading through these comments, Julie, they remind me of a statement my Mom, your Grandma Florence said to me long ago: "I want your life to be such that you are as comfortable sitting with Queen Elizabeth of England at a big dinner, as you are sitting on the curb with a poor begger from India." I have thought of that often through the years, and it is possibly why I chose for my children two beautiful little Bengalis from Bangladesh to raise.
ReplyDelete