(‘its been too long’)
There is one thing I hate as much as I love writing…Writing.
I hope that each of you who are reading this are planning a relaxed and reflective break with people you love as we welcome the fresh new year.
– perhaps a dawning hush of peace…
Those of you who may be traveling alone, far from those whom you love – cherish the ones around you who have shown you constant support and kindness. They who never utter a negative sound in your ear, though you may anger or disappoint them, are the sages -- recognize and respect them.
I am one of a generation of over-privileged fools, who have miraculously come this far in the organigramme and am staring into the gaping mouth of graduate school.
I’ve been known to be a practiced procrastinator. I had imagined that a graduate school application was something very much like an application for a job at a corporate English school in Japan. I shocked myself.
How do you answer the question, “what makes you a peace activist?” (in 1,000 words or less, single-spaced, typed). I must have completed 15 unsuccessful drafts, am probably currently on the second or third-from-the-last one. In such an assignment, every word holds a tonne of political weight. You sit for days contemplating things like, Peace Studies, Peace studies or peace studies… words words words words words words orgys. (That ones for you, Gertrude!)
The greatest lesson has been the process itself.
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal” – Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
The incredible support that I have been offered from inspiring activists has humbled my own motivations. I learned how to effectively edit a piece for academia by watching my timid statement dance under the editing pens of great writers. I’ve had the time to meditate on what it is that I plan to do with my energies in the future. I’ve been able to search and find the reasons for which I should be confident in receiving such a gift as a graduate school degree, as well as where I fall short.
Once you feel with certain, a hope for humanity, life is perfect.
Watch the movie ‘The Interpreter’ by the way, and let me know what you thought of it.
Peace
It certainly "has been too long" since you've written in this space. Hoping you'll get back to some more reflections and imagary. What's holding you back?
Posted by: Appa | 11 May 2006 at 08:05 AM