Peace

Why is it that so often I feel closer to someone after talking about the tragedies we've both experienced? Is it because I always end up laughing at some point? Or is there some magical mystical sap that we emit with a trusted companion in sharing our wounds, that we heal each other? Or, that talking is a process of exposing the wounds to the air, letting them scab up and eventually fall off, leaving a faded scar that only the person inside the body can point out? A few nights ago, I think I made a friend at the restaraunt, aired some wounds, drank some coffee, laughed a lot. I think laughing heals even when we aren't hurting, it nurtures.

I've just watched Million Dollar Baby. Another blogger had left me a comment that I should watch it, thanks for the recommendation. I think everyone should watch it, or if not, here is what I got from it. There is an underlying theme for the determination of the spirit - there is the bodily and physical endurance that can make you a world champion boxer, but there is another spiritual endurance that gets you through the humanity of life. There is an endurance required to extend yourself, to allow yourself to care about other people, and not only yourself. Looking at so many athletes today, the big names, a lot of basketball headlines come to mind, I can't help but think some are lacking. They have incredible muscular structure and are visually awe-inspiring. But, who can really know what endurance they have in their spirit? Going back to the endurance in the movie, of the spirit, I think there is also an incredible strength for letting go.

Bob Dylan is blaring on the cd player as I am commenting. There is something so calming and genuine and human about his voice. The cadence is so unmistakable, a lot like the rythm of breathing. This morning before I went to work I was reading Reading Lolita in Tehran. The author made a comment about the American Dream that really got me thinking, that America is not a materialist country, "...but as an idealistic one, one that has turned money into a means of retrieving a dream." She made another about the good novel: "A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to have a voice; in this way a novel is called democratic-not that it advocates democracy but that by nature it is so....the biggest sin is to be blind to other people's problems and pain." I can't help but reflect on the war that our country is involved in right now, and every war. If I could make a bumper sticker that said "Bring our children, our fathers, our mothers, our sisters, our brothers home safely. All human children, on both sides. P e a c e." I would.