Archive for March, 2010
#6 Half of the Sky
“Women hold up half the sky.” – Chinese Proverb or quote from Mao Tse Tung, based on web articles.
This is the quote on which the book “Half the Sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (husband and wife, married in 1988) derives its title.
I haven’t read the book but after attending a showing of the Event Half the Sky, I want to read it. It was heart wrenching, inspiring and incredible. My heart is still trembling from the information and stories.
March Madness
He said, “Even though I’ve been off the ship for a month, I still think I’m there. I’m not used to not always having people around.”
I understood.
“And then, I can’t really explain it to people. What the ship is like I mean. I know that you get it. But you’re the only one of my friends in San Diego.”
We talked about the struggle to find a moment alone on the ship, with all the people on board. And then both he as a crew member and me as a child, never being able to leave the ship alone. Everyone was required to leave only in groups. On the ship: people in the dining room; people on deck; people in the lobby and meeting rooms.
We talked about the changeover of people. Every six months a large group of people left. Each of them flying back to their respective countries. Most of whom I have not seen again, and probably won’t. People I was friends with. People I loved. Then there is the constant moving of the ship itself. Every two weeks or at the longest, every month, we set sail and are in a new port.
Living in San Diego has proved very strange because now my memories have begun to layer themselves on the land. Balboa Park is where Daniel B. and I hung out when I was in high school. It is where Charlie and I took our engagement pictures. It is where my friends and I crashed a Christmas party on the balcony above the Science museum and stood looking over the crowds filling the park on December Nights. It is where Kathy, Lyndsay and I went on a picture taking spree. It is where Justin taught me how to use a bow and arrow. It is where Grant and I walked Dozer with Rachael and Eric. It is the place in which I continue to find rest on a blanket in the shade with unopened books. I lay, gazing at the people, sky and scenery around me.
It is strange to drive by places or go to places that hold so many memories. The places are almost heavy with memories. Is this why some people do not like to return home when they grew up in one place? The place is too crowded with memories they would rather leave behind. They need a new canvas on which to paint the story of their life?
While growing up on the ship, each country had a single layer of memory. A place might have two memories, for example if we visited the same restaurant twice while in port, but most had only one. When we moved, and as the wind of time blew over them, they faded because my connection to the land was like a single thread, pulled taught and often disconnected and forgotten.
When people hear that I grew up sailing the different countries, they imagine I must have handfuls multicolored memories and experiences that are both tangible and wise. Instead my memories are fragmented and I often do not remember the details of the place; however, I can remember the emotion and sometimes the thoughts held in a port. But then this is the way of all memories. If you try to touch them, one’s hand often disappears into the body of the memory. They are ghosts. And sometimes when we retell them or try to remember, they change shape.
Talking to Christian inspired me to re-enter the telling of my story and the story of the ship. It has not been told yet.
I have created a goal for myself. I am calling it MARCH MADNESS. Each day of March, I will write a page. At the end of the month, I will have 31 pages. I will not post them all, but am looking forward to stretching myself and my storytelling ability.