It's November, and it surprises me. I haven't been writing much because I've been "doing" - in fact, for the almost 5 weeks I was 'doing' it in Shanghai, China. September was a blur of getting ready for (and thinking about) China, October was a blur of being in China. It's November. And I have so much to say about what I've encountered.Except that I don't want to talk about my experiences. No, it's not that I want to be silent - that I don't want anyone to know what adventures I had; quite the opposite. Everyone should hear what 4 weeks in China was like, working and exploring. The main point remains that I've spent what feels like lifetimes of people 'just talking'. Not always communicating and not always solving. Just talking. Sometimes in ego, sometimes in frustration, sometimes in boredom. People in days, weeks, months of talking about themselves.
When one is living life -- truly living -- one's speaking changes. Conversation moves away from small-talk and ego. Instead of asking "How are you?" the question becomes "How are you?" People who are 'living' often may talk less and listen more. Or they may take action instead of discussing when to take action. They've encountered adventures and circumstances which need little embellishment; they breathe the activities and don't need to exhale in idle chatter about themselves.
Instead, they watch, barely speaking, and wait --for what?-- kinship, maybe. A sign that someone else has breathed adventures also.
Photo taken by Lauren Muney, Century Park, Pudong, Shanghai, China, Oct 2007. What an interesting trio...and how happy they were to be photographed.
