What an incredibly sacred encounter. Half an hour maybe.
She's 19ish maybe? Today she returns to China from her
6 months exchange program.
Stunning. Kind. Thoughtful. Open. Informed. Wondering.
Mature. Concerned for the world. Inquisitive. Smart. Educated....
She asked it all. She grasped it all - that I have to offer.
We discussed the various human rights movements. She
totally gets - she emphasizes to me - the determination
of the Chinese Gov. to prevent dissent. She sees the
impossibility of resisting - trying to improve human rights
in China. BUT SHE SEES THAT WISELY, NOT RECKLESSLY,
MAKING THE ATTEMPT IS LIFE ITSELF.
A really fun, brief part of our exchange - as she and I were
sitting cross legged and talking, a group of Chinese
tourists came and went - and Shari said - "Do you care
about what people say about you?" Well, I told her
that everyone that comes through the park is my
brother or sister, but that most are waking dead, so dead
that I know that either they will not "see" me, or they'll think
I'm an idiot, or whatever. But the 1 in 10,000 like her -
she is why I am here. "Well," she said, "the Chinese
that were just here were saying that you work for the
government, a fake, to show that people in the US have
the ability to bring about change, when they really don't."
We both laughed heartily. Knowing it is true, if we
continue to let it be.
I worry for her.
She will not forget our encounter.
She now lives in me, and I in her.
"I'm going to go back to China and try to make it a
better place," she said with unmistakable clarity.
We both are changed.
OMG.
sl
She's 19ish maybe? Today she returns to China from her
6 months exchange program.
Stunning. Kind. Thoughtful. Open. Informed. Wondering.
Mature. Concerned for the world. Inquisitive. Smart. Educated....
She asked it all. She grasped it all - that I have to offer.
We discussed the various human rights movements. She
totally gets - she emphasizes to me - the determination
of the Chinese Gov. to prevent dissent. She sees the
impossibility of resisting - trying to improve human rights
in China. BUT SHE SEES THAT WISELY, NOT RECKLESSLY,
MAKING THE ATTEMPT IS LIFE ITSELF.
A really fun, brief part of our exchange - as she and I were
sitting cross legged and talking, a group of Chinese
tourists came and went - and Shari said - "Do you care
about what people say about you?" Well, I told her
that everyone that comes through the park is my
brother or sister, but that most are waking dead, so dead
that I know that either they will not "see" me, or they'll think
I'm an idiot, or whatever. But the 1 in 10,000 like her -
she is why I am here. "Well," she said, "the Chinese
that were just here were saying that you work for the
government, a fake, to show that people in the US have
the ability to bring about change, when they really don't."
We both laughed heartily. Knowing it is true, if we
continue to let it be.
I worry for her.
She will not forget our encounter.
She now lives in me, and I in her.
"I'm going to go back to China and try to make it a
better place," she said with unmistakable clarity.
We both are changed.
OMG.
sl
