Processing in Process

I have always lived a life of privilege.  I was privileged to be born in the United States of America, privileged to be of the dominant race, the dominant religion, and the more power holding sex.  The only fears I’ve had are common fears like the fear of the dark, or of falling, or of drowning.  I have never feared of starvation or homelessness.  Even when my family was scraping by at a subsistence level I was an overfed, chubby, white kid.  I do not fully understand how privilege has shaped me, nor how it has aided me in my successes in life.  I think only historians can look at something long dead to truly give appropriate criticism to the form it took.  I will be dead soon.  Soon enough a critique of who I was can begin in earnest, if anyone takes the time.

My transition home after living abroad for a year has been effortless and at times leaves me utterly listless.  I do not mean to take anything away from those who have had the traumatic experience of a broken neck, but the endlessness of looking forward to a time again out of a wheelchair must be something like what I’m feeling now.  Here I sit, in my hoveround, steering myself around WalMart with a joystick held between my teeth.  Am I ever going to get anywhere?  O, sweet!  Nutter Butters are on sale!  In truth my life is nothing less than extraordinary, I need only count my blessings to know this.  I need only to remember that the Earth is round, no matter how flat this part may seem.  

My friend Stacey paid Seattle a surprise visit two weekends ago.  She’s got a feather-soft dusting of reddish-brown hair on her head and all of the color in her cheeks back.  She looks to be thriving, not just surviving, and her energy was much higher than the last time I saw her.  What must this time for her be like; going from a cancer scared state of question filled days and nights to a time when health has all but returned, a time of restfull celebration?  Kilimanjaro this year pretty lady?  Are you finally up to see Africa like we talked about?  I’ll make it to Africa this year.  Let’s go together, and stand at the horizon of our world.