Seeing the world with new eyes is something I’ve been reflecting on recently. How much my attitude, my culture, my biases, and my weaknesses may influence the way that I not only see the world, but participate in it.
Back in September while running after school programs in Mount Sinai with the three Jesuit novitiates one of the kids approached me with a homework assignment: writing a rap. I told her first to pick a theme – it could be anything – something she knows well, enjoys doing, or can write a lot about. She chose el barrio (the neighborhood). I was curious what she would write – fully expecting her to point out those things foreign to me like the dirt roads and stray dogs. The positive light she shed on her situation honestly surprised and inspired me:
El Barrio
En el barrio hay persona tranquila
Se encuentra bonito animal
Hay casas hermosas
También hay flores bonitos, arboles de fruta
[In the neighborhood there are cool people
You find nice animals
There are beautiful houses
Also there are pretty flowers, fruit trees]
She doesn’t describe her neighbors as poor or hungry, instead tranquilo. She doesn’t describe the animals as stray or dirty, instead bonito. She doesn’t describe the homes as small or made of flimsy cane, instead hermosas. Of all our surroundings she does not identify the dirt and dust that covers everything or the random bits of trash that litter the streets, instead the flores y arobles de fruta. What would it be like to view the whole world through these lenses she uses?
Love and miss you all,
Colleen
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