Meditations on a quote (from the Editor)
There’s something about a Starbucks beverage that each person holds in anticipation. For some, it’s the aesthetics formed by the foam and espresso when their drink is made to order. For others, it’s a chance to be set apart through a customized latte unique to them. And, for the majority, it’s all about that bit of artificial energy to get them through the dreaded 9-5.
What I look forward to the most is the quote on the side of the cup. Eloquently arranged words have a way of captivating my attention and forming a memory. A set of lines that has stuck with me for over a year are the words of Barry Privett:
“With childhood comes a brief grace period of ignorant bliss, when you’re not aware of the pain around you. That is the most special, unique time. It is the core of adult lament.”
These words provoked my thoughts, so I decided to put them to the test. I could have simply pondered the phrase, but a far more significant opportunity arose.
In the months following that fateful encounter in Starbucks, I traveled to India with four peers on a community development housing project for five weeks. We built homes for widows, a demographic ostracized by society because they’re seen as a financial strain on their families. These widows not allowed to “look beautiful” anymore, so they shave their heads as a public statement of their lamenting social status.
Having previously encountered the third world, I thought that I had seen suffering – that I knew what poverty was. But my eyes were finally opened to that reality in India. The social segregation from the caste system was so foreign to me. It then made sense that when I saw a man violently convulsing on the street, no one offered him any aid. Or when a man flew off his motorcycle and face-planted into the pavement, that some witnesses fled the scene.
My worldview was wrecked after I witnessed those things. I felt so far from home, from comfort, from the familiar. I found myself longing for that ignorant, childlike bliss.
Yet nearly a year after those experiences, I still ask myself: is ignorance really bliss, or does adult lament stem from blocking out the reality of life? I find myself looking at children and envying at their innocence to the pain around them; then I’ll be in awe of those at the end of their long lives because they’ve made it through the barrenness.
Looking back now, I know that my conception of reality would be more optimistic had I not witnessed the suffering in the world. Yet I can see that suffering leads to empathy and compassion. These things ultimately hold more value than bliss, and it took the shattering of my perspective to finally understand this truth.
_______________________________________________
The Year 2000
A new year. A new century. A new millennium. When the year 2000 rolled around, it met a world in anticipation. Some believed it was just another New Year’s Eve, but the majority were preparing for what would be the downfall in the global market via the “Y2K” disaster. Yet the clock ticked past midnight in Times Square and life went on unchanged.
The year saw many other cultural milestones, some which still garner attention from around the world.
On March 7, Hillary Rodham Clinton was elected as a United States Senator, the first time a First Lady ever entered into Congressional office. Some saw this as potentially paving her way to becoming President of the United States, which has played out in the current heated race for the White House.
Another political landmark, on November 7, 2000, was George W. Bush’s victory against Al Gore in the presidential election, one of the tightest races in history. Yet this would not be fully resolved for weeks because of multiple re-counts in Florida. This controversy has been debated for the past seven years during a period of war, terrorist attacks and potential economic recession.
While politics always catch global attention, another face has dominated media coverage over the past decade. That face is Britney Spears, whose sophomore album “Oops!…I did it again!” was released on May 16, 2000. The collection sold 1.3 million copies in its first week, setting a new record for highest sales in a week by a female solo artist in recording history. This milestone of stardom was a mere stepping stone for the world’s infatuation with Spears, following her decade-long display of career success, failed marriages, child bearing, head-shaving, rehab-stints, custody battles and forced hospitalizations.
