I spent last Easter in the jungle... a 2am worship service after drinking local tea and puking my guts out...
This Easter here is the quote I just put in my paper:
When we buy new clothes not to keep ourselves warm but to look "well-dressed" we are not providing for any important need. We would not be sacrificing anything significant if we were to continue to wear our old clothes, and give the money to famine relief. By doing so, we would be preventing another person from starving. It follows from what I have said earlier that we ought to give money away, rather than spend it on clothes which we do not need to keep us warm. To do so is not charitable, or generous. Nor is it the kind of act which philosophers and theologians have called "supererogatory" - an act which it would be good to do, but not wrong not to do. On the contrary, we ought to give the money away, and it is wrong not to do so. - Peter Singer
Sometimes it's hard to believe that I'm the same girl as the one sitting on the tree stump drinking jungle tea in the middle of the night. Now, 15 lbs heavier sitting in a million dollar house contemplating why we should/shouldn't feed starving people in Africa for a philosophy paper as part of my graduate degree... that girl seems a distant memory.
However I am often reminded that girl, Awarmas, is within. All of those experiences and the way in which I grew and changed is all part of me even in this new situation in which I find myself.
Is it crazy that I find writing this 20 page philosophy paper exponentially more challenging than eating grubs in the jungle? I might equate it to doing my wash by hand on stone slabs, knowing that it would never ever dry... that feeling of defeat... yea something just like that! If I could find a way to compare two more extreme situations... let me know! haha!
Life is fascinating...
After my bff's wedding shower, I had a revelation: life changes... for some of us in different ways than others. My life has become a bag of carrots, a chocolate easter bunny, and my laptop at 3 am... for now. And in that, according to the aforementioned quote, I am obligated to share the bunny with those who are in need. That is what I shall do.
Happy Easter. Be happy (in the wonderful words of a 7 year old) and share your chocolate bunny!
I hope you see the good, the bad, and the ugly encompassed by the changes in your life journey since this time last year too!
If you're the same... you're in trouble! :)
KK
I agonize over this type of thing frequently, too. Let me know if you work it out. -Kristine
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