Joy to the World

I've been attempting a blog post for days.

Write parts.

Delete parts.

Change subjects.

Put too many subjects together under one roof.

Delete and start again.

***

I am three quarters through the book, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.

I'm reading it because my daughter told me to, and I always do what she says to do.

(My daughter doesn't read my blog, so she'll never be able to debate me on the validity of the sentence above.)

I am already happy. A happiness book wasn't something that I would have ever chosen on my own, but through the reading of this book, I have found some interesting challenges that are already changing my life. How fun!

***

We went to see readings by Warrior Writers last night. We listened to veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars reading poetry and stories which express what lives inside them after their combat and non-combat experiences.

Will write more about that later. Still digesting.

Bought the book, Warrior Writers: Remaking Sense, while at the event.

Going back to "happiness", is this Gibran quote that I found in the Editor's Notes of the Warrior Writers' book true?:

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."
- Kahlil Gibran

From my experience, sorrows have created space for more joy only when I have let them carve deep into my being. The times that I have only danced on the surface of sorrow, without giving it words and life; those are the times that joy finds no avenue for penetrating my heart and breaking it open. Roadblocks everywhere.

Some people might not think that listening to the pain and anger of returned vets would add to one's happiness. I feel happy to know that these brave young men are more brave than any of us thought they were. The bravery is not just found on the battlefield. It's found in admitting one's actions, in facing one's deepest nightmares, in saying the unsayable. I am happy that I got to witness the profound last night.

If Gibran's quote is true, the soldiers in the video below must have a chasm for joy that runs deeper than the deepest ocean. I don't know. But I truly hope so.

Yesterday

7:30 a.m. Arrive at the public area between Denver Public Library and the Denver Art Museum. Unload bags and bags of shoes and boots. COLD! I have never been a part of the Eyes Wide Open exhibit in warm temps. What is it about that?

9:00 a.m. All boots, shoes and signs are arranged. Three women from the downtown Women in Black vigil arrive and stand with their banner. One of the women ends up standing the entire 5 hours we have the exhibit out. I really appreciate her dedication. A few people pass by. Some look for a few moments. Others keep eyes straight ahead as they walk to wherever they are going. I wonder how they can be so disengaged with what is going on around them. Then I realize that I am sure I have been that way before during times when I wasn't comfortable with what presented itself to me. (Mental note: I want to live my life being present, with wonder, open to investigating what's around me.)







A few of the "usual suspects" come and hang out with us. I love these people. All are kind. All trying to help the world in any way that they can.

Noon: The wonderful women from the Women in Black vigil that I stand with come with our banner. We all gather. There is a prayer. "...Remind us what YOU have taught through every religion, that we are wise to do to others not as we have been done to but as we want others to do to us. Open our eyes, make us wise that You give us answers better than war..." Names are read. The first Iraqi name, that of a one-year-old, shoots through the air and into our hearts.
The weight of my head is too heavy for my shoulders to support.










Then Jeff Lucey was remembered. Not a casualty of physical injuries, but a suicide after returning home from the war. A casualty of war, nonetheless. My heart... We all stood in silence for a long time. There were no more words.

Boots representing the unknown number of suicides that have occurred
as a result of the wars.

Thank you for the photos, Mr. Carol For Peace.

The Human Cost

If you live in Colorado...

8 Years in Afghanistan: The Human Cost

Join us for Eyes Wide Open, the Human Cost of War. As there are commemorations all around the world to mark this chilling anniversary, we will be participating in Denver with the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 17, 2009
9 am - 2pm

At noon there will be a special remembrance of lives lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, both civilian and military.

Location: Public space between the library and the art museum in downtown Denver.
10 W 14th Ave. Parkway