The film is about Amin, the self-imposed president of Uganda from 1971-1979. He is responsible for an estimated 300,000 deaths. Classic dictatorship/terror storyline -- thousands being killed, yet the United Nations accepted Uganda to the UN Commission on Human Rights. (Shoot, is that my cynicism escaping?)
Anyway, back to reflections. For Christmas I received a compilation of poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke. A classic, I know, but I was only somewhat introduced previously. I tend to muse over a poem for a few days before being able to move on to another. There's a line from Lament that is melting in my mouth like a... jolly rancher? (I never eat those! Why does that come first to mind???)... like a... piece of dark chocolate. (Mm. Better.)
"I would like to step out of my heart
and go walking beneath the enormous sky."
I've been in Southern Illinois for the past week, and have spent time with some gems.
"Irreligious and devoted": Roger. A dear friend, mentor, coach, author. I have never met someone who dreams as big as Roger. He inspires me to fill space with dreams that are too unrealistic to plan. He urges me to run straight down my lane of hurdles, with my eyes only on the finish line. Roger loves people practically with no expectations or motives. He is the most competitive, driven, devoted man I've met. He used to wrestle. If I were a wrestler, I would *never* dare to face him.
"It's your heart palpitation.": G.M. A friend whose presence does the same for me as does a walk in the crisp, cold night air. The complexity of life clears, calms and life regains its beauty. G. is a poet, and seems to make my words sound better. For example, I told him of my dancing. He saw my eyes light up and sat back, smiling. "It seems like it's one of your heart palpitations," he observed. Dale. I'll take that. I'm ready to submerge myself in life once again.
"Hello, my dear!": Mentor, close friend, sister, mother, counselor. A woman who's known me since age 14, who buys my Christmas gifts months in advance (a beautiful wooden tea chest), and who knows the perfect moment, amidst my tears, to make me laugh. Her inventiveness, endless list of ideas, desire to learn, and loyalty make life sparkle. I feel grounded, soothed, and mentally stimulated in her presence. I realized my cheeks hurt from smiling.
Final thoughts about life in a small[er] town: garden gloves are what litter the side of the road, I heard the flapping of twenty blackbirds leave a bare tree as I hiked past, I *did* go walking beneath the enormous pearl-like sky, the owner of my favorite night-spot stayed late until G.M. and I finished our conversation, a store owner flipped his sign back to "open" when I peeked in his window, I paused in my run to listen to geese pass through my part of the sky.
Here's to beauty, magical people, 65 degree days in December, and Rilke's Palm.
