“The real voyage of discovery consists not [only] in seeing new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.”
–Marcel Proust
When boarding the ship and saying goodbye to a country, we SASers re-enter into this comfort world… we go to classes, study for exams, work, hang out with friends… the world that we have come to know as “home.” But our comforts had just been stretched as we were out in a country. Sites that widely opened our eyes had just been surrounding us, humbling us. We claimed to “never be the same ever again” because of what these countries were just showing us. But as easy as it is to go up the steps to board the ship, those changes easily evaporate as we re-enter our comforts, our home, our normalities. I hate this… I absolutely hate this. I don’t want to be temporarily changed… I want my eyes to remain wide open and for me to re-adapt my life to these changes. As much as porting then sailing then porting then sailing can be a downfall (because we re-enter our “home” and those changes slip our mind), it is also a gift… When we forget the first time, we still have another port that will re-open our eyes again. If we forget a second time, we will still have another port to peel those eyes back open. During this period of time at sea between South Africa and Mauritius I have found myself to be more consumed by what I’ve seen off the ship. Those temporary changes are becoming permanent, I can only hope at least. I am finding myself to be more emotional… as images of Torgorme village, South African townships, Habitat’s new homes, and many others keep popping up in my mind. Just thinking about it gets me teary-eyed… And to think that I’ve only seen a tiny portion of all the world’s brokenness… So bear with me as I get more emotional… grasp on to my emotions and take the journey for yourself… be affected too…
I’ll share with you a few of the events that have triggered my tears…
First, Amy Biehl, a young American, went to South Africa to work with the Peace Corp in the early 1990s. Her passion was to help with the black’s struggle against apartheid. Amidst the riots and violence, Amy was pulled out from her car in 1993 and stoned to death by 2 black men who had mistaken her for their white oppressors. She had been in South Africa to help with the terrible never-ending struggle, but was killed. Her parents understood their daughter’s passion and didn’t want it to die with her physical death so they established the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust. The foundation continues their daughter’s work fighting against the effects of apartheid. In addition, they met the 2 men that killed their daughter… and forgave them. Those 2 men now help lead the Amy Biehl Foundation. We too should take advantage of the power of reconciliation and contributing to others’ passions.
Second, there are “Explorer Seminars” every night on the ship in which people can lead a seminar on whatever topic they choose. One that I attended this past week was called, “Living Life on the Extreme.” What does this extreme living consist of? Living life to the full, loving what you do, and doing what you love. But the reason this seminar was so meaningful was because of who was delivering the message. Lynn is a SAS Life Long Learner partial voyager. She was a student here many years ago and has been a partial voyager other times. About 15 years ago she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Her daughter was just 2 years old and as she told us, “[Her] daughter will never know what she was really like.” This degenerative disease with no known cause or cure is slowly taking away her once known mobilities. This was the first seminar she has given since the disease started taking away her voice. But although Parkinson’s is slowly deteriorating her life, she is not letting it win. She shared with us her “6 Steps of Happiness” and how she twists every battle into something positive. She encouraged us over and over to do what we love and we will truly be happy. Words like this are said a lot… but when they come from a lady who has reasons to be negative, the phrase comes alive with much more meaning. So as Lynn says, live your life to the full… doing what you love.
Third, the distribution of wealth in the world is sickening. It is way too easy for the U.S. and other developed nations to be ignorant about how vast poverty is in the world. As I’ve been spending time with these impoverished areas, I’m becoming quite disgusted with my own life. Why do I complain about the lunch food… when I am at least guaranteed a lunch? Why do I complain about a school class… when I at least am being educated? Why do I think I need one more sweatshirt… when so many don’t have even one? Why do I care if my shoes match my outfit… when many are concerned about even having clothes and shoes to wear? Why do I spend money on ice cream… when that money could feed a family? Why have I learned about these things but not taken initiative to do something about it? We have so incredibly much… so much more than most of the world… and so much that could help that world. $100 could give an entire village clean water for 5 years. Half my wardrobe could quadruple the wardrobe of 3 families. The money I spend on needless snacks in a week could feed a family for a month. It’s sickening… Why am I, why are we, ignorant and selfish in this world? Why do we hold back from sharing this wealth, from distributing a portion of our materials to those that truly need it? Mother Teresa once said, “God does not create poverty; it is created by you and I because we do not share.” The world is an uneven playing field, but we have the capabilities to level it. And it’s not even hard. It’s so easy for us to do this… The things I excessively want… are exactly what many people need. My little can give others much… Our little can give other incredibly much…
We port in Mauritius tomorrow morning. It’s a tiny little island in the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar. Shiplife these past 6 days has been filled with the norm… classes, midterms, work, friends, trip-planning, Salsa, Flamenco, Hip-hop dancing… but lots of thoughts too. I hope that my thoughts may become your thoughts now too...
:)
When boarding the ship and saying goodbye to a country, we SASers re-enter into this comfort world… we go to classes, study for exams, work, hang out with friends… the world that we have come to know as “home.” But our comforts had just been stretched as we were out in a country. Sites that widely opened our eyes had just been surrounding us, humbling us. We claimed to “never be the same ever again” because of what these countries were just showing us. But as easy as it is to go up the steps to board the ship, those changes easily evaporate as we re-enter our comforts, our home, our normalities. I hate this… I absolutely hate this. I don’t want to be temporarily changed… I want my eyes to remain wide open and for me to re-adapt my life to these changes. As much as porting then sailing then porting then sailing can be a downfall (because we re-enter our “home” and those changes slip our mind), it is also a gift… When we forget the first time, we still have another port that will re-open our eyes again. If we forget a second time, we will still have another port to peel those eyes back open. During this period of time at sea between South Africa and Mauritius I have found myself to be more consumed by what I’ve seen off the ship. Those temporary changes are becoming permanent, I can only hope at least. I am finding myself to be more emotional… as images of Torgorme village, South African townships, Habitat’s new homes, and many others keep popping up in my mind. Just thinking about it gets me teary-eyed… And to think that I’ve only seen a tiny portion of all the world’s brokenness… So bear with me as I get more emotional… grasp on to my emotions and take the journey for yourself… be affected too…
I’ll share with you a few of the events that have triggered my tears…
First, Amy Biehl, a young American, went to South Africa to work with the Peace Corp in the early 1990s. Her passion was to help with the black’s struggle against apartheid. Amidst the riots and violence, Amy was pulled out from her car in 1993 and stoned to death by 2 black men who had mistaken her for their white oppressors. She had been in South Africa to help with the terrible never-ending struggle, but was killed. Her parents understood their daughter’s passion and didn’t want it to die with her physical death so they established the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust. The foundation continues their daughter’s work fighting against the effects of apartheid. In addition, they met the 2 men that killed their daughter… and forgave them. Those 2 men now help lead the Amy Biehl Foundation. We too should take advantage of the power of reconciliation and contributing to others’ passions.
Second, there are “Explorer Seminars” every night on the ship in which people can lead a seminar on whatever topic they choose. One that I attended this past week was called, “Living Life on the Extreme.” What does this extreme living consist of? Living life to the full, loving what you do, and doing what you love. But the reason this seminar was so meaningful was because of who was delivering the message. Lynn is a SAS Life Long Learner partial voyager. She was a student here many years ago and has been a partial voyager other times. About 15 years ago she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Her daughter was just 2 years old and as she told us, “[Her] daughter will never know what she was really like.” This degenerative disease with no known cause or cure is slowly taking away her once known mobilities. This was the first seminar she has given since the disease started taking away her voice. But although Parkinson’s is slowly deteriorating her life, she is not letting it win. She shared with us her “6 Steps of Happiness” and how she twists every battle into something positive. She encouraged us over and over to do what we love and we will truly be happy. Words like this are said a lot… but when they come from a lady who has reasons to be negative, the phrase comes alive with much more meaning. So as Lynn says, live your life to the full… doing what you love.
Third, the distribution of wealth in the world is sickening. It is way too easy for the U.S. and other developed nations to be ignorant about how vast poverty is in the world. As I’ve been spending time with these impoverished areas, I’m becoming quite disgusted with my own life. Why do I complain about the lunch food… when I am at least guaranteed a lunch? Why do I complain about a school class… when I at least am being educated? Why do I think I need one more sweatshirt… when so many don’t have even one? Why do I care if my shoes match my outfit… when many are concerned about even having clothes and shoes to wear? Why do I spend money on ice cream… when that money could feed a family? Why have I learned about these things but not taken initiative to do something about it? We have so incredibly much… so much more than most of the world… and so much that could help that world. $100 could give an entire village clean water for 5 years. Half my wardrobe could quadruple the wardrobe of 3 families. The money I spend on needless snacks in a week could feed a family for a month. It’s sickening… Why am I, why are we, ignorant and selfish in this world? Why do we hold back from sharing this wealth, from distributing a portion of our materials to those that truly need it? Mother Teresa once said, “God does not create poverty; it is created by you and I because we do not share.” The world is an uneven playing field, but we have the capabilities to level it. And it’s not even hard. It’s so easy for us to do this… The things I excessively want… are exactly what many people need. My little can give others much… Our little can give other incredibly much…
We port in Mauritius tomorrow morning. It’s a tiny little island in the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar. Shiplife these past 6 days has been filled with the norm… classes, midterms, work, friends, trip-planning, Salsa, Flamenco, Hip-hop dancing… but lots of thoughts too. I hope that my thoughts may become your thoughts now too...
:)
sending a lot of love to you my dearest Kelsey.
ReplyDeletexo
so true so true. ugh i feel so stuck right now.
ReplyDelete