One of my ultimate goals in life is to inspire and thus empower others in the same way so many people and experiences have inspired me. Sometimes we need inspiration more during certain times in our lives and can find it in the most obscure and unimaginable places. Inspiration may come from poetic words that touch us so personally and become motivating or from observing others and situations that bring an awakening from a hellish state of unconsciousness and invokes true emotion.
While traveling and living in Central America for two years, you almost become desensitized to the poverty around you and find excuses, such as drugs, for why the people may be homeless or begging for food and money. In many cases, drugs may be the case, but this is still no excuse to turn our backs and pretend these people and issues do not exist. At first the woman in rags holding a newborn baby and rattling her can for coins is such a shocking sight that profoundly impacts you and leaves your heart aching for days. But, as the months progress in a country where you can’t walk more than a mile with out seeing a begger and can’t sit down at for a meal outside without someone interrupting to beg for change. It begins to become an annoyance, no longer evoking such emotion but rather an obstacle that you just want to push your way through or step over. . .their presence becomes invisible. That may sound like an oxymoron, an invisible presence, but we impose this upon the poor, homeless and disabled. While we know these people exist, it becomes easier to ignore them, making them invisible while pushing out of “our world” of existence. Now, I don’t mean to generalize into a collective "we" because there are many people who feel affected by poverty, hunger, disabilities, etc., and do their part in acknowledging the issues and working to create change and helping these peoples. However, I'm bringing awareness to how easy it becomes to feel overwhelmed by the problems and throw our hands up in the air and how it is only natural to want to protect ourselves from being too emotionally affected and thus detach and invisble-fy (I know it’s not a word).
It seems that one can almost only have sympathy and compassion once he or she has had a similar experience or heard a personal story that has some element he or she can relate to. Maybe it’s as simple as relating to the begger in his fight to survive or the invisible factor: Have you never felt like nobody could see your potential or your true being, or like nobody could truly hear you? In the end though, it comes down to the truth that we are all human beings, sharing the same planet. . . all players in the same game of life. But, some of us have been dealt difficult cards and been given greater obstacles. It is those that are struggling and fighting that inspire me, snap me back into reality, forcing me to appreciate what I have, the opportunities available to me because of my health and a loving family that could provide for me.
There’s something about children that are especially inspirational to me. Perhaps it is their fragility and vulnerability that motivates me to want to be a protector or their sponginess that encourages me to want to teach so that they can absorb positivity and in turn grow to become happy and productive members of society. Children are the future. . .
"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them." ~Richard L. Evans
During a trip to Granada, Nicaragua, I was inspired by a little boy around 10 years old whose face I can picture as if I am still next to him and who I will never forget (even if Ofoto did delete any pictures I had of him). Despite all the negative perceptions of Nicaragua and its people, especially living in Costa Rica where the relationship between Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans is similar to that of North Americans and Mexicans, I found such beauty in that country. However, the situation of its people having gone through a turbulent history and living in a state of political instability is unfortunate .. .and, like, all societies, the peoples carry within them as an unconscious culture all of that history. While Costa Ricans complain Nicaraguans are taking their jobs (sound familiar?) and blame Nicaraguans for most crimes and violence (sound familiar?), without generalizing, they are trying to improve the quality of life for them and their families. Many go, leaving families behind, in order to have work and send what little money they earn back home with the hopes they can provide for their family and eventually be reunited. However, they are ostrasized and abused, taken advantage of and victimized mostly due to society's ignorance and stereotypes. I find such disgusting and dangerous racism intolerable and sympathize with people who don't have access to basic human rights and are treated so poorly or "forgotten" about--the invisible. Something about this little Nicaraguan boy captivated me. He was selling small hand-painted and crafted wooden birds that whistle. He came up to me and my friends trying to sell us some, but we just smiled and politely said no. While walking through the streets of Granada, I saw him again playing and laughing with a group of his friends lounging between pillars on the porch of a stunning historical building. It was so endearing that the next time he approached us while we were eating along the plaza, I started conversation with him and planned to give him some money. While my friends went to shop in the market, I stayed behind to talk with this boy for what turned out to be a seemingly long time. We were talking about school and his favorite subjects and that he loved reading and math and computers. He told me that he wanted to give me a bird as a gift and didn't want money in return. With hesitation, I graciously accepted and continued to tell him that I wanted to give him a gift. I asked if I could buy him food or if he liked candy, but he kept saying no to all my offerings. I asked if he could have one gift, what would he want. His reply: a new notebook for school. In that moment, my heart went out to him and all the children who don't have access to basic resources and can't afford to buy school supplies, so basic as a notebook. I saw his eyes light up as he spoke about his love of school and of learning. It was so genuine and endearing. Mothers will often send their children to go beg as they stand behind to then immediately collect the change, even sacraficing the child's education. I wanted the money to go towards his notebook. In the end, I insisted that I was going to give him some money but made him promise that it was only to be used for himself. Almost three years later, I can still feel the impression this boy left on me almost as profoundly as it was just yesterday and only hope I could have inspired him as much as he did me.
"No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure." ~Emma Goldman
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