everything in africa is bigger.
the continent itself is big, the wild animals, the plants and leaves and flowers, the yard birds, the fire ants- all bigger. even the viruses are bigger, deeper in the chest, and stay longer, and the bee-stings hurt more and become systemic for 12 hours. the sounds of the outdoors are louder, the voices singing in the church are fuller, the fabrics more vibrant. the rain is harder, trees are taller, the dark is darker, the stars are brighter. the work is harder, the loads are larger, the accidents more destructive. the sick are sicker, the poor are poorer, even the dirt seems dirtier.
life here is wilder and more extreme, life here is lived out loud. not hedged and trimmed and tidy. not manicured or hushed or subtle. i get this. it resonates. maybe it's what drew me here so long ago. the fullness of it- vast and intense- the way my heart tends to be. but maybe i'll learn something now.
maybe in the bigness of peoples lives, the violence and the love, the deep sacrifice, the hardness, the work involved in just the living of life, maybe these things are what brings the acceptance, the tolerance of unpredictability. maybe all the bigness of africa reminds people of our smallness. maybe it tempers, and brings the okay-ness with lack of control. and maybe in this great land i will see the perspective i so long to maintain- that it's ok to not see too far down the road and that life is infinitely, deeply and largely beautiful.
"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road." isak dinesen
"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever..." isak dinesen
the continent itself is big, the wild animals, the plants and leaves and flowers, the yard birds, the fire ants- all bigger. even the viruses are bigger, deeper in the chest, and stay longer, and the bee-stings hurt more and become systemic for 12 hours. the sounds of the outdoors are louder, the voices singing in the church are fuller, the fabrics more vibrant. the rain is harder, trees are taller, the dark is darker, the stars are brighter. the work is harder, the loads are larger, the accidents more destructive. the sick are sicker, the poor are poorer, even the dirt seems dirtier.
life here is wilder and more extreme, life here is lived out loud. not hedged and trimmed and tidy. not manicured or hushed or subtle. i get this. it resonates. maybe it's what drew me here so long ago. the fullness of it- vast and intense- the way my heart tends to be. but maybe i'll learn something now.
maybe in the bigness of peoples lives, the violence and the love, the deep sacrifice, the hardness, the work involved in just the living of life, maybe these things are what brings the acceptance, the tolerance of unpredictability. maybe all the bigness of africa reminds people of our smallness. maybe it tempers, and brings the okay-ness with lack of control. and maybe in this great land i will see the perspective i so long to maintain- that it's ok to not see too far down the road and that life is infinitely, deeply and largely beautiful.
"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road." isak dinesen
"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever..." isak dinesen
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