IT IS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTIONS
A few months ago, I was conceiving a poem that my friend Brian wrote about the people we see
daily in the cities and how they behave as we usually expect them to behave in an urban
environment. He starts with these lines:
“What does the world look like from your window?”
“It’s probably full of flowers because you see everything here in green. It seems so lovely that
you want to get up and run around everywhere you go. There are lots of birds, lots of animals,
lots of streets, lots of parks, lots of trees, and lots of places to go. Some birds fly far out into the
sky so that the sun does not shine. Birds in their feathers make sounds as if they are singing. You
see many humans dressed in clothes, sitting upright, and having conversations. They are all
looking at each other, talking, laughing, and having a good time. Many people have unique
things, like plants, flowers, and rare flowers. In this city, there are lots of people who talk about
what they are going to do tomorrow or how proud they are of where they live. The people
walking along the road have something new to show to everybody. Most humans walk around in
jeans and t-shirts. Not only do you see lots of street art, but exquisite paintings on walls,
sculptures, and lots of different architecture. If you want to move somewhere, you don’t just turn
down a mall or a street. You usually have to take another route to the same place. People tell you
stories, which might happen in the future. Or maybe people merely drive past and admire what
they see. You know a guy doing unusual things, and everyone monitors him and his car. Maybe
he knows somebody who lived next to him but does not talk much about it. Sometimes people
will give advice or some kind of support. As you leave your house, you can hear the dogs
barking and cats playing. And sometimes, you just see lots of different people. This city has
thousands of people.”
I thought about this poem a few weeks ago when I saw some kids climbing trees in our park on
sunny days. We were standing in front of the statue of Saint John Paul II. At that moment, a
person told me about one of her friends who had fallen in love with rock climbing because she
saw him climbing and then fell for him. She told me that her father could never teach her how to
climb trees like her brother, mother, or sister. Then she said to me that the boys always did
exactly the right thing, and she did not think there could be any wrong choices in life.
She told a funny story about herself when she was small. She was with her mom in the
mountains and her dad asked her to go on top of a hill. When she got there, there was another hill
and another hill. By the time she found the first hill, she could not believe she had made such a
horrible mistake. But she had to climb up, and she knew it was a bad idea because she wanted to
become a doctor or a lawyer, but her mom told her to become a writer instead of a Doctor,
saying that she loved books and writing better. After a few hours of climbing the mountain, she
heard laughter and when she checked, nobody was behind her. She stood there for a while,
wondering if she had done anything wrong. Suddenly, she saw her older neighbor jumping over
the last hill. She said that even though he went wrong, there were no regrets. Currently, she tells
her younger sons to always watch their parents who live far apart, especially for climbing trees
and walking across landscapes. For children, it should be more important to learn about life and
their surroundings so that they have no reasons to blame themselves.
A few months ago, I was conceiving a poem that my friend Brian wrote about the people we see
daily in the cities and how they behave as we usually expect them to behave in an urban
environment. He starts with these lines:
“What does the world look like from your window?”
“It’s probably full of flowers because you see everything here in green. It seems so lovely that
you want to get up and run around everywhere you go. There are lots of birds, lots of animals,
lots of streets, lots of parks, lots of trees, and lots of places to go. Some birds fly far out into the
sky so that the sun does not shine. Birds in their feathers make sounds as if they are singing. You
see many humans dressed in clothes, sitting upright, and having conversations. They are all
looking at each other, talking, laughing, and having a good time. Many people have unique
things, like plants, flowers, and rare flowers. In this city, there are lots of people who talk about
what they are going to do tomorrow or how proud they are of where they live. The people
walking along the road have something new to show to everybody. Most humans walk around in
jeans and t-shirts. Not only do you see lots of street art, but exquisite paintings on walls,
sculptures, and lots of different architecture. If you want to move somewhere, you don’t just turn
down a mall or a street. You usually have to take another route to the same place. People tell you
stories, which might happen in the future. Or maybe people merely drive past and admire what
they see. You know a guy doing unusual things, and everyone monitors him and his car. Maybe
he knows somebody who lived next to him but does not talk much about it. Sometimes people
will give advice or some kind of support. As you leave your house, you can hear the dogs
barking and cats playing. And sometimes, you just see lots of different people. This city has
thousands of people.”
I thought about this poem a few weeks ago when I saw some kids climbing trees in our park on
sunny days. We were standing in front of the statue of Saint John Paul II. At that moment, a
person told me about one of her friends who had fallen in love with rock climbing because she
saw him climbing and then fell for him. She told me that her father could never teach her how to
climb trees like her brother, mother, or sister. Then she said to me that the boys always did
exactly the right thing, and she did not think there could be any wrong choices in life.
She told a funny story about herself when she was small. She was with her mom in the
mountains and her dad asked her to go on top of a hill. When she got there, there was another hill
and another hill. By the time she found the first hill, she could not believe she had made such a
horrible mistake. But she had to climb up, and she knew it was a bad idea because she wanted to
become a doctor or a lawyer, but her mom told her to become a writer instead of a Doctor,
saying that she loved books and writing better. After a few hours of climbing the mountain, she
heard laughter and when she checked, nobody was behind her. She stood there for a while,
wondering if she had done anything wrong. Suddenly, she saw her older neighbor jumping over
the last hill. She said that even though he went wrong, there were no regrets. Currently, she tells
her younger sons to always watch their parents who live far apart, especially for climbing trees
and walking across landscapes. For children, it should be more important to learn about life and
their surroundings so that they have no reasons to blame themselves.
