Based on the frequency with which the question is asked, what one does appears to be a decidedly important fact about a person. More perplexing to me, however, are the neatly crafted replies so readily offered in the face of such a query. As for myself, the truest and most concise response I may ever be able to muster is: One hundred thousand things.
I write, I make films, I climb mountains, I dream, I read books, I make art, I dance, I gather food scraps and leaves, I run, I garden, I cook, I listen to crickets, I swim in oceans, I walk through deserts and I question everything.
A tree spends a lifetime being a tree and I intend to fill mine being me.
Introduction
I suspect that like myself, many of you have felt to be somewhat other from the world. Unfortunately for me, blending in and pretending otherwise has never been a viable option. By the time I was 19, my body had grown to a full 6 feet and 6 inches (2 meters) tall. I don’t know how many of you can truly appreciate the horror of walking through life as an insecure, introverted teenager who rarely comes upon another human taller than himself. Needless to say, I’ve had many opportunities to confront my otherness throughout this first half of my life. It is precisely through that experience of otherness, however, that I have been able to see myself reflected in the eyes of beings who otherwise appear to be quite different from me.
I have many shortcomings, as all humans do, and a necessarily limited view of the world. I have no intention of painting a rose-colored picture of myself and fully recognize my own imperfection. As I am the one with whom I myself am the most intimately acquainted, however, I don’t hesitate to declare myself an expert on me; And therefore, also cannot deny my ability to add value within the spheres that I inhabit.
I am the product of the Captain Planet generation, believing from a young age that “with our powers combined” we could save the rainforest. I will ever be that little boy who cares deeply about the state of well-being in the world and who feels himself to be responsible in some way for the care and nurturing of this planet and all life that springs from her. Having said that, it has taken time for me to recognize exactly where I fit in the family of things and what part that I am suited to play. And while there will always be some mystery shrouding the path ahead, I have learned to find security in the recognition of the unmistakable patterns in my life.