Wednesday, July 22, 2009

One language from Kabul to NYC


I felt as though I was reading the story of my life. I was not born in Afghanistan to a rich family, nor am I the only child of a widower, and nor have I committed a crime, but the tale of The Kite Runner is not bound to the factual details of time, place and characters. Rather, this powerful novel transcends the physical details of life and speaks of the human story; it speaks of deep loss and pain, of immense joy, of fond memories, of yearning for the comfort of the familiar. It describes a place of happiness, peace and safety, and tells a story of moving on, of hiding, of feeling like a burden. Most importantly it shows the power of self-redemption; of freeing yourself from pain long past and surging forward, of reaching your potential and living your dreams, of finding the strength you never knew you had and letting it take you to a new place in life.

The story of humanity is universal and is embedded in every person, in every soul. The face may look different, the country may have a different name, and you may call your mother by a different euphemism, but that's all it is; a euphemism.

Amidst our visual differences lies a human soul, a human spirit, and a human psyche that has experienced joy, pain, loss, suffering, challenges, happiness, ecstasy, peace, turmoil, humility, embarrassment, shame, guilt, loneliness, misery, depression, sadness, goodness, times of plenty and times of lacking, spirituality, anger, rebellion and much, much more.

So when you meet another person, don't be fooled by the language they speak or the clothing that they wear, because underneath it all you are both speaking the same language; the language of the human experience, the language of the soul.