I dreamed of Darfur this morning. I dreamed a group of us were in the desert there building a rudimentary photosynthesis plant. (And if you knew how little attention I paid in school, especially during science class, you'd be shocked that I even know the word photosynthesis.) Don't ask me to explain how it was supposed to work, since I have no idea--only that it made sense in my dream (but, of course). And yes, I know that photosynthesis a function of plants, but let me have my nonsensical dream, will ya? ;) We were capturing light to turn it into energy to provide heat during the cold months. It all seemed so real...the plant...its dusty green colored walls...the stark beauty of the surrounding desert...being surrounded by all that sunlight.
And I woke feeling hopeful, after falling asleep feeling truly un-hopeful. I'm reading a book by Matthew Fox right now called Creativity - Where the Divine and the Human Meet. And I simply can't overstate how much I love this book. I'm so glad I grabbed it at the library the other day. But let me tell you how I found it in the first place.
Last January when several of us began "Blogging the Artist's Way," I went to the library to look for a handful of books I could use as companion pieces to The Artist's Way during that process. I happened to spot Matthew Fox's book on the shelves while looking for books then. I checked it out, but for some reason, it wasn't resonating and I only read a few pages before returning it. Timing is everything, of course. Now, nearly a year later, I happened to notice the book again the other day, checked it out and began reading it a couple of days ago.
It's made me look at creativity in an entirely new light. I don't know about you, but I typically don't associate evil with creativity. Here's a quote from Fox's book, Creativity: "The essence of our nature is to give birth, not to destroy. To create. We see this in the love of mother and child and in the love of artist for his or her art. The dilemma is that the very powers we possess for creativity can just as easily become employed to destroy with." Right before that paragraph, he writes: "...while humankind does destroy, it is not of our essence to do so. We often choose to destroy, but destruction is a choice."
The Sudanese government is choosing to destroy some of the people in Darfur in a genocide. Non-Arab citizens are being murdered by the government-backed Janjaweed.
On an Oprah rerun a couple of days ago, Barack Obama said the guiding principle of his political life is something his mother instilled in him when he was young, "How would you feel (if that happened to you)?" How would we feel if our husbands were being shot in front of us? If our wives were being gang-raped in front of our children? If our children were being killed as they ran for their very lives? If government forces came to our village and burned down all of our houses and began killing and maiming us...because they chose to? There's a reason Darfur is such a passionate issue among many Jewish people: because they recognize it for what it is--another genocide.
Reading Fox's book reminds me that creativity is not the exclusive domain for those we call "artist." We are ALL creators. We create our LIVES.
Two ordinary people--people just like you and me--named Gabriel and Stacey did an extraordinarily creative act. They left their families and friends behind for two weeks over the holidays to travel to the refugee camps on the Darfur/Chad border. It's an extraordinarily brave thing to do, especially given how volatile and violent the situation has become. They file a video report each day and write daily posts to recount their experiences. Not only that, they've begun commenting back to everyone who's leaving comments for them on their Darfur posts. They're building connection and community in their attempt to raise awareness of what's happening in Darfur. And for a few moments each day, they bring hope to those they meet in the camps.
I've come to care a great deal about Gabriel and Stacey in the last nine days since they reached Darfur--about their welfare and about what they're attempting to do. I've also grown to care about them because they've shown me, yet again, that ONE person CAN make a difference. They're not asking for money. All they ask is for a few moments of your time to watch some video so that you, too, can know what's happening in Darfur. If you'd like to watch their video reports, you can click here or on the banner in my left sidebar.
I'm not trying to imply that I think everyone ought to unleash their creativity through activism. All I'm trying to to say that I would hope that we would care that this is happening to someone anywhere, instead of only caring if it happens to us.
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Thank you so much for all of your kind and sweet birthday wishes for Jeffrey. xoxo
(Photo by Maura Lanahan - Courtesy of IFC)
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