On this cold and snowy day, my mind wanders back to a warm, beach afternoon in Mozambique, where I sat content, eating a home-cooked, picnic lunch of chicken and rice and drinking 3/4 of a Coke before becoming too full to finish. Only minutes after tossing my trash, I saw this little boy rooting through the garbage to salvage and eat the meat left on my chicken bones, and drink the swallow of cola that I had neglected to finish. We locked eyes and we both felt embarrassed for being found out by one another. Me being caught in my gluttony and waste, he being seen in his hunger and poverty. I immediately felt like a selfish asshole for leaving this little boy to wallow in my waste as opposed to seeing him, being aware of his need, and being willing to share.
Viewing entries by
Sarah Bollinger
I've recently returned from a 40 day journey around the world. A journey about intentionally taking time to stop, breathe, and reconnect with my heart.
I had intended to write a lot, everyday in fact, but I found myself so caught up in unwinding the cobwebs in my head that I was rendered almost completely unable to put words to the experience, which is not like me. And I apologize to all those who were hoping to follow my blog during these travels. #fail. From meeting Mozambican mamas to taking long Spanish siestas to playing music on patios in Portugal, I was unable to write or say much of consequence in response to these experiences other than the occasional quiet mumbling of gratitude-laden mantras under my breath...simply thank you, thank you, thank you....
In many ways, I am an unlikely choice. I'm young, I'm not good with authority, I don't really do things by the book, I don't know Portuguese (yet), and I'm definitely not the picture of sainthood. I stay out too late and listen to music that is too loud; I talk too much, I have no filter between my brain and mouth, and I have crazy opinions regarding just about everything. I don't really fit in...but hasn't that been the way my life has always been? It's just that now, I have a new job.