Inspiration, Part One

I want to be a force of change. I want to inspire and be inspired. I want to follow what is in my heart, not what is popular opinion. Most of all, I want to do what is right.

These past few weeks have been interesting for me. I can feel something stirring inside me, but I haven't been quite sure what it is. It started on April 25th. As most of you know, on that day I, along with thousands of other people around the US went silent for 25 hours to bring an end to 25 years of war in Eastern Africa (InvisibleChildren.com/25). During the time I was silent, it gave me a chance to really think about not only what I believe, but how I want to put those beliefs into action. I wasn't really sure how to morph all of the feeling that had been floating around inside my heart into thoughts, sentences and actions, but it was a start.


Then came April 28th. I attended this exhibit, Streets of Afghanistan (www.mountain2mountain.org), and it totally rocked my world. I spent 45 minutes with one of the Emmy-winning photographers, Tony Di Zinnio, and learned more in the 45 minutes about myself and the world that I live in than I have all year sitting in class. I realized that as much as I hate to admit it, I still have so many stereotypes about other countries. I've always pictured Afghanistan as some big, bad place with nothing but war and dirt. I was so incredibly wrong. I forgot that the people there have stories to share too. I'm working on an article right now about the exhibit and the people I have talked to since the exhibit, so I'll just post that later instead of going into more detail.

Tony and I not only talked about modern-day Afghanistan, but also about my future. He has a job right now that I would kill for. He gets to go around the world, capture some of the most intimate, yet everyday  interactions occurring between people in countries that most of the world doesn't understand, and then bring them back to change misconceptions. I told him about my admiration of Nicholas Kristof and my passion for Invisible Children, and he gave me some great advice. He told me to write a letter to Kristof as soon as I got home about how he inspires me to become a better writer as well as a better person:

"That practice of sending that out into the world, whether or not he writes back-- he could be a glorious bastard, I have no idea, but if he is a decent human being, as you might suspect, he might see something of himself in you. In that case, he might respond. Whatever he responds will be a great reward for you. But the practice of putting your thoughts down onto paper is more important than whatever happens because you are recognizing that something that is true and wonderful and beautiful and you are externalizing it outside of your internal experience and you're saying, 'you know, he’s really doing something that I want to do, and one day I will follow in his footsteps.' That becomes your mantra. By putting it out, it means you inform yourself to move towards those things. The recognition of it only bolsters your confidence."

We talked about seeing the world:

"You have to go and be a stranger in a strange land and see for yourself and acquire humility. That’s a really excellent prescription to broaden your horizons and see what the world’s really like, as opposed to simply accepting the things that you are fed through the media. So, as a potential journalist, you have to consider that first person authority with which you define an experience. You could go do all the research and get a PhD and become an expert on the place, but until you've been there and seen it for yourself, there’s something missing between theory and practice and you just need to go there and see for yourself. So now you know everything I know."

He also told to me to relax. I hear that all the time from everyone since I am always "on," but he actually gave some good reasons. I'm a worrier, and I am constantly worrying about what I will do after high school, which is stupid considering I still have 3 more years to go. Instead of always freaking out, he told me, I should forget about all of the worries and judgments that I let hold me back. I should replace those bonds with the concious effort to pour every bit of my heart and soul into the things I love. Forget about all of the expectations that I feel people holding me up too, forget everyone's opinion about my actions, and forget all of my excuses of why I don't have time. Just do it.


Thanks, Tony.