Heroes
My friend Kenny is on his way to Kazakhstan. In his blog, he mentions some heroes. I have often wondered why I have very few personal heroes. I suppose that people who go out to do something fantastic are just handily goal oriented. People who do great things often want the notoriety that goes with it.
In Kenny's story there are quite a few people mentioned who are doing small things that have a big impact. People donated air miles, offered to pay for a hotel room, etc. You can ask Kenny if he thinks he is a hero. I am sure to his kids, he is.
In my own story, there were the two women who invited us into the VIP lounge at the Almaty, KZ airport on our way out. It was 2:00 AM, we were tired, had a tired cranky baby, and we were sitting in the gate area waiting to get on the plane. These two women walked up to us from nowhere, and asked if we would be their guests in the VIP lounge. I remember sinking down on a couch and saying, this is the softest thing I have sat on the entire trip. These two women were heroes on our story.
These people who do small things that have big impact on normal folks are, in my mind, as great a hero as those who go out for the guts and glory.
Cheers
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Small World? Big World?
Last night at dinner, we were listening to some children's music. The song "it's a small world" came on, and about half way through, my oldest asked me "is the world was big or small?" I responded as best I could to answer a five-year-old's question. I answered, it is small becuase when we were in Kazakhstan, we could call you and talk to you any time you wanted. But it is big because it takes nearly a full day to get to Kazakhstan.
Then she started explain to me that oceans are smaller then the world, and elephants are smaller then the world, and even she is smaller then the world. But that she grew while we were in Kazakhstan. Yes, I said, you did.
I know she does not have an understanding of how big the world is, and the more and more I think about it, niether do I. I have been half way around the world, and back. There is much I have yet to see. Yet I know that events on the far side of the world impact me greatly.
I often tink about a metaphor for this interconnectedness. I call it my spiderweb theory of life. We are all walking along a path, like a spider's silver thread. Sometimes others touch us, and touch our threads, other times, others just come near us, but do not actually touch. Sometimes threads become tightly intertwined.
Coworkers, friends, relatives come and go from our lives, and our threads touch, people we walk by, come close, but do not touch, and best freinds, and spouses, children become tightly intertwined. When something happens to some whose thread is tightly intertwined with our, it impacts us greatly. When something happens to someone whose thread touches ours, it impacts us less, when something happens to someone whose thread comes close, we may not even know it. Because this is all interconnected, something that happens to someone on the far side of the world will eventually resonate accross the web, and depending on how strong that vibration is, it can shake our world.
Last night at dinner, we were listening to some children's music. The song "it's a small world" came on, and about half way through, my oldest asked me "is the world was big or small?" I responded as best I could to answer a five-year-old's question. I answered, it is small becuase when we were in Kazakhstan, we could call you and talk to you any time you wanted. But it is big because it takes nearly a full day to get to Kazakhstan.
Then she started explain to me that oceans are smaller then the world, and elephants are smaller then the world, and even she is smaller then the world. But that she grew while we were in Kazakhstan. Yes, I said, you did.
I know she does not have an understanding of how big the world is, and the more and more I think about it, niether do I. I have been half way around the world, and back. There is much I have yet to see. Yet I know that events on the far side of the world impact me greatly.
I often tink about a metaphor for this interconnectedness. I call it my spiderweb theory of life. We are all walking along a path, like a spider's silver thread. Sometimes others touch us, and touch our threads, other times, others just come near us, but do not actually touch. Sometimes threads become tightly intertwined.
Coworkers, friends, relatives come and go from our lives, and our threads touch, people we walk by, come close, but do not touch, and best freinds, and spouses, children become tightly intertwined. When something happens to some whose thread is tightly intertwined with our, it impacts us greatly. When something happens to someone whose thread touches ours, it impacts us less, when something happens to someone whose thread comes close, we may not even know it. Because this is all interconnected, something that happens to someone on the far side of the world will eventually resonate accross the web, and depending on how strong that vibration is, it can shake our world.
Monday, October 03, 2005
This is a blog by a blue-jeans-and-t-shirt guy in a suit-and-tie world.
This is my first post. I will most likely post about my kids, whom I dearly love, politics, of which I have strong opinions, religion of which my opinions are random and likely to change, and life observations from my side of the keyboard.
This is my first post. I will most likely post about my kids, whom I dearly love, politics, of which I have strong opinions, religion of which my opinions are random and likely to change, and life observations from my side of the keyboard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)