behind every story

one of my teachers in college said, you could write about anything and everything if you wanted to. for one of our class exercises, she had us choose a topic that could be the most boring of all. we chose one of the classroom chairs.

we examined the chair, how it looked and why did it look that way. from the chair, we concluded that the college didn't have enough money to buy new ones. why didn't they have enough money? because of the budget cut. why was there a budget cut? because the budget for the education department was also being cut. instead of the consitutional obligation of congress to give the largest budget to education, it was going to go to the decrepit military services of the philippine republic. this was the time of the visiting forces agreement with the u.s.

aha! this is from one chair.

the same is true for everything in life. a tree, a flower, a simple park bench. i was walking in the park in front of our apartment the other day and we saw a cedar tree from lebanon which was planted in the 18th century. it was a gift to one of the geneva land owners at that time.

its majestic branches meeting the lowly earth was a sight out of a forest. the centuries old branches touched the ground winding and drawing spectators to come under its spell. it seemed like it wanted to hug the earth but couldn't.

like the tree, people are also stories waiting to be unearthed. i find that in listening to old people, there are so many things to learn. there is a passage from the poem "desiderata" that goes, "Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story."

i love to listen to people. i love to hear what they have to say and what they have been through. i want to know of their journey through life, for it might give me something to take along with me on my own journey.

like a stone on the road of life, each have their own story. each have something to give. each is an opportunity for learning.

so, before you dismiss those irritable boring persons that seem to bug you, look and listen. maybe like the simple chair, there is a story behind it all.