Seeing Through A Different Lens

I have not been able to write for a while. I began to get discouraged, not knowing whether or not anyone ever read my blog. Was I just writing for the wind? Did anything I perceived matter to anyone?

Shortly after, I learned that the pravastatin which I had been taking to lower my cholesterol can have side effects of causing and/or increasing depression, bringing on insomnia, anxiety, nightmares, etc.....

I stopped the pravastatin, and slowly, the lead blanket of depression lifted.

And then I received the note from a kind friend who had read almost all of my blog and found it terribly depressing. She was praying for me to feel better.

I almost abandoned this new project. Over the days since I last wrote something here, I have thought a lot about the writing and songwriting I have done since I was very young.

Somehow, I was born with a different set of glasses from most people. God gave me an ability to empathize with all the people I meet. I have always felt a connection with people whose lives were far different from my own. I find myself deep in prayer and meditation for friends and family, but the meditation leads me to new places. I do not steer the meditation.

One of the first songs I ever learned to play and sing was "There But For Fortune", written by the singer/songwriter Phil Ochs in 1963. I was so drawn to this song, as I believed that compassion should be the guiding principle of life. I should never forget that I am connected to every living being on this planet, and that it is only by the fortune of birth or experience that I have had certain advantages or escaped haunting pain.

Any child could be my child. Any poor person sifting through trash cans for food could be me. Any family torn apart by war could be mine.

I try to write about life as I see it. My adopted Laotian brother, Bounchanh, is a devout Buddhist and has even spent time as a monk in the temple in Vientiane. Many times we talked about spirituality. Buddhists accept that life is full of suffering. The greatest goal, therefore, is to be compassionate.

Compassion, love, faith, hope: these are the powers which carry us through the sufferings of life and which can transform our experiences into something of meaning and something which can be used to help another person.

So, to my dear friend who was so troubled by my writing, I have always seen the world through this set of glasses. I have always dealt better with the suffering in life by staring it straight in the eyes. My songs, my poetry, and now my prose reflections are all an extension of the pair of glasses God gave me long ago. I look for meaning in it all, and I try to express the deeper levels of spirituality and humanity that I see in the world around me.