This is a very trying time for our country. The tragedy at the Pittsburgh synagogue is still fresh in our hearts. The political divisions are immense, and they are present almost everywhere in the world as well. It feels as our globe is turning in the wrong direction — wrong by whose standards? By mine, of course, right? And by many who think and feel like me, right? But there is always another side of the proverbial coin: different people, different standards, different dreams and goals, different disappointments and fears — a total mismatch for seeing things the same way or even in a similar way. So what can we do besides vote?
After the 6th of November things will change over here, yet they will remain almost the same – resentments, pains, anger, and distrust… just from the other side of the coin…. So, how to rise above those differences and anger? How to unify ourselves?!
There are no Angels with white, fluffy wings that will arrive from above and solve all problems for us. No one has a magic wand in their hands to change our reality. So?…
Some time ago I wrote this poem:
My Wish
I wish
for a day,
one
single
day,
all of us
could cry together,
free to sob
like children.
Tears of
sorrow,
anger,
hate
would merge
to create
a Chalice of Understanding,
so we can truly love,
so we can live in peace.
-Alicja Mann
P.S.
I propose the first Sunday of November to be our National Day of Crying, because it is a day in the “neighborhood “of November 1st, the day dedicated to the spirits of those who departed from us — recently and in the more distant past. Furthermore, November 1st is observed in many cultures in the variety of different ways. This is exactly the point — a respect for those differences already exists in the observance of that day!
Think about it, please: one day without arguing, without anger, or smiling artificially– just for the sake of smiling… instead the Day of Crying — a day of cleansing our human spirit, a small step towards our unity.
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Text copyright © 2018 by Alicja Mann, alicjamann.com
Poem: from the book Looking at the World Twice © 2009 by Alicja Mann
Photographs: courtesy of Tom Pumford at unsplash.com
Alicja Mann Waves 