I often hear people say I’m a great source of inspiration to them. And with much more humility than I’m sure is expected, or even warranted, I kindly accept that honour, and continue on with what I’m doing. Not that such a compliment isn’t something I’m so arrogant as to brush off, or those words aren’t greatly appreciated, or that I don’t take them seriously. Far from it. I take such kind words very seriously. Each and every time I hear them. They are way more flattering than anyone will ever realize. Trust me. I’m modest when it comes to matters such as this, for reason’s I won’t get into.
But I do wonder if those people, while telling me I’ve affected them, are curious about who moves me…
Today on Democracy Now! Amy interviewed (parts 1, 2, and 3) Eve Ensler, an “award-winning playwright and creator of The Vagina Monologues and V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. She is the director of Swimming Upstream: A Testimony, a Prayer, a Hallelujah, an Incantation. Her latest book is called I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World“. And in the final moments of that interview, Eve spoke the most powerful words I’ve ever heard in my entire life;
The women of Congo saved my life. The women of Congo saved my life. Every day I get up, and I think to myself, I can keep going. If a woman in Congo gets up this morning after she’s had her insides eviscerated, what problem do I really have? And I think of how they dance. Every time I go to the Congo, they dance and they sing and they keep going, in spite of being forgotten and forsaken by the world. And I think to myself, I have to get better. I have to live to see the day when the women of Congo are free, because if those women are free, women throughout the world will be free and will get to continue. […] I know this may sound absurd, but cancer has been a huge gift to me. A huge gift. And I think if I feel anything, my allegiance with the sick, my allegiance with the poor, my allegiance with the raped, my allegiance with the oppressed, has been solidified in a way I would have never understood. I think if we see cancer as a transformational thing, something that allows us to kind of strip away all that is keeping us from awareness of priorities, awareness of the suffering of others, awareness of what we really could be doing in terms of service, it’s a gift. It’s a gift…
Indeed! What problem do we really have? Not only were those words spoken (at about the 56:28 mark), they were just a small part of what was said. I urge everyone who might stumble across my clumsy words, to go see the entire interview (the second part of the interview, “Congo Cancer: My Cancer Is Arbitrary. Congo’s Atrocities Are Very Deliberate”, especially), and really think about what is important in life. Chances are good, if you live in a Western “Democracy”, you’ll arrive at the same conclusion I did. Being alive. And relatively free.
If you’ve ever wondered who inspires me, it’s people like Eve, with attitudes towards life, such as hers, that keeps me on track. My life is just a turd on the side of a highway, in comparison to hers, doing all she does for people who are in a much worse place than most of us could fathom. I will never not need to hear people like her speak about their experiences and outlook on life.
Thank you so very much, Eve…