(written yesterday)
Day 11 March 9th 2011
Today is Ash Wednesday, first day of Lent. A day many Catholics show their religion visibly with an ash cross on their forehead, or a day that many proclaim their religion and Lenten vows to the world, so will I.
My Lenten promise to live as a tourist each day and as tourists wear their cities with pride in their clothing, Catholics wear their symbol of faith on their foreheads Ash Wednesday. I too will wear my faith. Tody I wore a cross on my neck. But today, pride was exhibited in many other ways.
Today at the conference, I attended four workshops, at least three highly focused on your identity: your ethnic identity, family identity, community identity, self identity. It highlighted sharing that with others and being proud of where you are from. All used the use of metaphors in some way whether through story telling, images, or concepts. Much of the day focused on sharing this with others. In one piece we were asked to describe ourselves as a plant today. I chose an aloe plant, potential to break and ooze out liquids, which will be healing to others.
Tourists exhibit their pride of their hometown to their fellow travelers on the plane, cab drivers, store owners. Sometimes people are full of love for where they are from. Once in awhile, people may have a sense of shame, possibly due to political climate or maybe they do not align with their hometown’s image. But overall when we share where we are from others, there is a deeper sense of connection, and in some ways a momentary healing to the world. We are collectively sharing who we are with strangers, and they do the same. For a moment barriers are broken as we simply pay respect to a person’s story. And for a brief amount of time, you hold the strength in your voice.
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