8/4/11

"I'm a Fed at an Army Hospital during 2 hot wars!"

What I knew about the military, about bureaucracy, about hospitals and about war has been transmogrified through direct experience. This cannot be taken lightly. And I dare not throw it away casually.

It occurs to me (just now) that the "para-ethnography" I convinced myself I was doing is not valid until I actually write something. There are few notes, but I have saved every post-it in a pile.

As I close the chapter on this life transforming experience, it is time to share what I have seen and felt. Please dare me to write, she asks herself. This experience, combined with the year at uChicago, has produced new vital energies, new faiths. I dare not waste the fruits of change. I dare not.
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Why Lotus? Why Pine?

The lotus signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.

The pine signifies longevity and endurance because of its green foliage year round. In both good and bad weather, the pine thrives year after year thus it also represents pure life and constancy in the face of adversity.

Yunnan Province is a mountain landscape created when the Indian Sub-continent crashed into the tropical lowlands of Burma. It is a place with hundreds of unique species and dozens of amazing topographies. When I walk the mountains of Yunnan, I breathe fresh pine air and marvel at the indigenous wildflowers. Yunnan is also the conduit through which Buddhism came to China, along the caravan trails from India. The lotus is a Buddhist symbol of purity and perfection. When I photograph these flowers, I am always captivated by their geometry and peace-inspiring colors.

my motto

Look well to this day For it is life The very best of life.
In its brief course lie all The realities and truths of existence,
The joy of growth, the splendor of action, The glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory. And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived Makes every yesterday a memory of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day.

--from the Sanskrit