Phil and Farmer John. Veranda, August 2019
Dear Caminoheads,
Our trusty resourceful BC in Castrillo de los Polvazares, Spain, Ron, brought the body language to this brainstorming we are doing on joy, happiness, smiles and eyes-smiles these last days. And he brought something we all experience in our lives so many times a day: the encounter with another human in the flesh… WOW! How powerful is that… have you thought? The pandemic hit us hard because somehow prevented us from this very basic human need: the presence of other humans. Even more if the humans we were used to interact with pre-pandemic, were nice human beings, kind, caring, loving, friendly, helpful (you know the type of folks I am talking about!!!)
Now, have you thought what these loving, nice, friendly, etc. folks do? They hug, they pad us in the back, they kiss us hello and good bye, they hold our hands as we talk, they smile at us, they look us into the eyes, and things like that. They body language is such that while we are with them, we feel good… our humor gets “good”, we feel joyful just for having a person like them in our lives. And this happens invariably, even if we are struggling or in a sad moment, we are so so so glad these people are in our lives.
This sort of proves that joy is present when we have the intention to be present for the other, and in that quality of presence, we sense who they are and the humanity that is shared between us.
Have you watched the Oscar winning film from the 90s “La vita è bella” by Roberto Benigni? And you have been in a country where the army is in the streets? Or in a riot, where the police are heavily armed? I have watched the movie and have been in these situations too… I have been in Santiago de Chile many years ago, when still the country was under the militaries… people were cold and the outside control could be sensed in their bodies in such a powerful way, no smiles, no expressions… it was scary… Just a few weeks ago, also, here in Buenos Aires, there were protests with cuts of streets and bridges, and the policemen were heavily armed with shields, helmets, and the hydrant tanks were blocking the streets… as I was driving by I could sense my own body fearful, tense, and the faces of these policemen were all tense and somehow showing anger and fear…
Yet, the movie can bring things into context… about presence and the joy that comes with just knowing we are making others lives a bit better… I think this line from one of the critics of the movie summaries what I am trying to say: “… It is about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the wreckage of dreams. About hope for the future. About the necessary human conviction, or delusion, that things will be better than they are right now.”
A(los)brazos,
Cris
No I have never been in a country controlled by the army.South Africa in the 1980’s was viewed as an Army type state but it was really controlled by the police and parliament (dominated by the National Party).The police where a national force called the South African Police and referred to as the SAP and very repressive.Each province also had provincial police too but they mainly dealt with traffic and some big cities had municipal police but I’d guess traffic was also what they dealt with too?The Army where too busy fighting in Angola too deal with the civilian population much.
Hi Kevan,
I didn’t know it was the police the active group in South Africa, I thought indeed it was the army…
I am intrigued… you have been in so many places… what has taken you to all of them? Maybe you can share some of your story with us?
Hugs across the pond!
Cris
No you hardly saw the army in 1970’s/80’s South Africa.In fact I don’t think it was well trained and mainly made up on conscripts and young men would be sent off to ‘the Border’to get killed and mained.The Border wasn’t actually the South African border but the border between South West Africa,now Namibia, and Angola.South Africa had captured German South West Africa from the Germans during World War One and sort of ran it as the fifth province of South Africa although it wasn’t but it had lots of diamonds so you can see why SA wanted it!In fact in Angola the South Africans would engage in fighting with Spanish speaking Americans, Cubans,who where assisting the Angolan government but seemed to be agents of the USSR but I don’t think many Russians themselves went there?