In the past few days I have discovered things. Like we all do, I suppose, when it comes to our own lives, discovering something new about ourselves or something we’d forgotten, not realized, ignored. And what we discover can be very personal in experience or very casual. Depending on the person, what is discovered can alter a life, or not; be taken to heart, or not. I prefer to take my discoveries to heart because I feel there is something to find with each new thing.I just returned from Lima, Peru and this experience was… Well, it’s not easy to say which says everything. Seriously and genuinely this was a truly life altering experience. How? Not quite sure. I can’t form the words just yet, or fully comprehend the magnitude of things as it becomes embedded into the soul of my being, but I know the case for change and transformation is present. To witness hard working people, poorer than any sort of poor I have ever seen, continue waking-up with the desire for more life floored me to the core. As an American I can’t fathom having any sort of drive for life when there are dog food bags and blue tarps being used for ceilings in one-room huts with children playing inches away from sewer runoff. But, when all you know is what you know then everything is what it is. Simple thinking? Yes, but in the end you are your universe. In my observation, the people I met on this journey in Lima did not believe the grass to be greener on the other side because the only grass they had was in front of them. What they wanted the most was to make their patch of grass as green as it could be. This was done with their heads high, their eyes forward holding tight to a vision and a persistence.
Going into this project I had wanted to know what makes a person have desire for life. In whatever the circumstances, be it mine, yours or theirs, people truly want to wake up in the morning. In all people, I believe, there is an innate hope that tomorrow will be better than today regardless if today was the best or worst day of their life. What I have discovered in the people of Peru is that they see today as another gift from God, just like yesterday, and that alone makes it a blessing. A daughter of 13 has dreams of her future, bright and optimistic, but is reminded by her mother to stay focused on today. The future is uncertain as the future always tends to be, but right-now is present so be inside of that and cross tomorrows bridge when you come to it. Practical advice from practical people. It’s like my mother said to me growing up: paciencia y fe; patience and faith one day at a time. It’s never easy, but it wouldn’t count if it was.
I don’t mean to sound naïve through my ramblings though, to some I’m sure, they could be misconstrued as such. It is my intention to point out that any sort of sadness or emotion of “feeling sorry for the less fortunate” is not present in my contemplation. I ask, how could those feelings be there when they don’t have it for themselves? It would be almost insulting if I did. They don’t believe in hand-outs but rather working for something. Maybe it’s an ingrained habit formed from a need, maybe there is no other choice, but when listening to them speak about their daily lives an established work ethic is very apparent and starched into their fabric. How does someone like me translate that?
And that blessing extends beyond the new day. Their “things” are blessings; a fridge in the living room, a television held up by boxes, their homemade picture frames of their family, everything including the first steps of the morning are filled with gratitude. Could it be because they sacrificed much to attain the things they possess? Or that maybe they have an inherent appreciation for their belongings? I can surmise that the definite answer is an astounding yes. But then I look to the boy down the street who saved his money to buy a car, or the lady who worked hours on her garden to reap the rewards of beauty come springtime. Appreciation comes from what is worked for. To attain a goal a vision is adopted, sacrifices are made, and once attained, gratitude for having achieved it is given. There is a little bit of “Peru” in us and little bit “American” in them, but then we are all people, humans of the world, and we’re not that much different.
As I begin to formulate my portion of this collaborative project my hope is that I can capture that “desire for more life.” Sure, to show the world another perspective of poverty is the mission, but beyond that there is something more. Humans are human in every way. We want to get ahead, to be successful and to have a good life. Fathers are men, mothers want the best for their children, children have dreams and the elderly want to leave a legacy. From the hills of Peru to the burrows of New York, and across the United States the drive to live is all the same. To say Americans are one way and the Peruvians are another, as if to say one is better, would be unfair. That’s generalizing and we all carry our own crosses and know our own individual worlds however they were created; there is no right or wrong, good or bad in that, it is what it is.
The strategy for this project would be to have the audience recognize themselves in the play. To find commonality can be controversial and comforting, it can stimulate conversation and motivate understanding, it can create a proactive movement and generate awareness. Theatre is at its best when it can entertain and enlighten at the same time. When the message is so engraved in the story that at the end you realize something new about yourself without ever being told what or how to think then you know, life is different, in some small way, because of what you saw. Again, naïve? Yes. Very. But naivety can drive your determination and persistence and belief to make your-reality a world-reality.
This play, I believe, will add to the cannon of humanity. How, I don’t know. But it will.
