Cheese!

“Why do you suppose we collect things?”

“I collect things, because they become mine. I can make up stories about them. Love them, hate them, throw them away, or keep them in my heart.”

“Do you collect things now?”

“Yah, I was going to tell you about that. I could use some help if you’ve got the time. It doesn’t take much. You just have to primarily, keep your eyes open. Then just remember what you see. Easy, right?”

“Better tell me first what it is you’re collecting. I’m not good with people, asking for things; that kind of stuff.”

“Nothing like that. You don’t have to talk to anyone unless you want to. They don’t even have to know you’re collecting unless you want them to. So what do you say.”

“Sounds interesting, but I can’t commit one way or the other unless I know, what it is we are collecting. I don’t mean to be offish about this, but like I said, I’m not much good with people. Why you smiling? You’re acting like you know what I was going to say. Do you know me that well?”

“No, just think I know enough to believe, you’d be good at it. You spend so much time being invisible, that a lot of the time people don’t even know you are around. You are like wall paper, you are just there. I don’t mean to criticize, but you need to open up more, talk more. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but sometimes we have to do things that aren’t comfortable, for us to find out what we are comfortable with, otherwise it’s all conjecture. How can you really know if you don’t try something, whether you will like it or not?”

“Why don’t you just let me know what it is you want of me, then I’ll tell you. If you insist, I’ll try. But what you are asking is that I commit to something I may find unethical or immoral. I know you aren’t that kind of person, but maybe I don’t know you as well as I should.”

“You’re right. Let me tell you a story, and then you decide, OK?”

“OK.”

“There was this girl. She was blind from birth. She lived with her mother in a small town, where everyone knew everyone else. It was a difficult place to live. There was never enough to eat, barely enough wood to keep warm in winter. They were always in danger of being attacked by marauding tribes. When she was thirteen, her mother became very ill, and died. The girl was now alone.

Some of the women in the village took pity on her and brought her what food they could spare, and looked after her the best they could. One day she told them when they came, they had better take their children and go to the woods; trouble was coming. The women didn’t know what to do. Some thought there was something wrong with her. Others wondered how she could know, after all, she was blind. She only went as far as her door, and sometimes to the edge of the field, where she’d sit in the sun and hum songs to herself.

The women argued amongst themselves but finally decided that perhaps she had, because of her blindness, a special gift to know things without sight, that they could not. The men of the town were off fighting in the war, they didn’t have much choice but to listen. They were afraid, they’d heard stories about other towns being savagely attacked.

They went to the woods and hid. They watched as the horsemen appeared and left as suddenly as they had arrived. The women and children made their way back to the town and there was the blind girl sitting at the edge of the field, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

The women asked the usual questions, weren’t you frightened, what did the men want, what did they say, did they threaten to hurt you? She listened to their concerns, their questions, and then after everyone was quiet, she began to speak to their questions.

The men were hungry, so I told them where they could find food. They were afraid, there was another band of horsemen after them, hunting them, they said. This other band had burned their town and drove everyone out. They took what they could and left the families with nothing. So she told them where to hide. But they remained afraid. They asked why they should believe her, why would she help them.

She knew they were frightened; fear creates more fear she said.  It is like a forest fire, she explained. It burns everything in its path. Fire creates its own wind, its own power. It can only be stopped by something or someone, people who realize that being afraid, like the fire, is what is creating and driving the fear.

She told them where to hide, but it would do no good unless they were willing to remain hidden from themselves. There would always be hunters and the hunted. Hiding does little but keep you from confronting, what you most want to hide from, she told them. It does not disappear or go away on its own; It must be confronted.

They asked why she would help them. she didn’t know them.  They had intended to ransack the town, take what they needed and move on. She told them that when you help someone you help yourself, more than you help them, and that is what saves you from yourself, and from becoming what you fear. 

The women just looked at her, as if she did have a special insight, they believed her to have. She listened to their concerns but did not answer any more of their questions. When she remained silent, they asked if they’d done something to upset her. She just smiled at them and said that hiding your fear and running away only leaves more questions, never answers. You are unable to see and appreciate the important things in life, when you rush past them.

She smiled at those around her and then disappeared, as if she were a light that was no longer needed to shine.”

“You ever planning on telling me what you want me to help you collect?”

“First tell me, what did you learn from the story?”

“I learned you can’t run from your fears, so you might as well face them, so you can spend your time doing the things you want to do. Be with the people you want to be with, they will not judge you, and if they do, it is not your problem, it is theirs.”

“And?”

“Oh Yah, smile. I almost forgot the most important thing. When you stop running, you will be able to see and appreciate the things that make you smile.”

“Ready to start collecting?”

“Cheese!”