Simplicity

  Sorry I've been idle for the past few days, I guess I was just facing some of my own problems. Anyhoo, I guess my personal things shouldn't affect the blog. This blog isn't about me, it's about the millions of stargazers outside, complaining about depression and heartbreak. Well. I really don't know how many readers there are, but I have faith there are, and hope they would support this. So if you are reading this, please leave some comments and/or email me. It means a lot!
  
  So, today I was in church, just another regular Sunday, you might say. I guess it was. I arrived to church late again, overslept, and most of what the sermon the woman was preaching, I already knew. Typical. 

  So I guess I was just there at the table in the restaurant, carving doodles with a knife into the paper where my plate of spaghetti was laid upon. My mother suggested a walk in the park. I went. My family was at the park, and my brother and I wandered off. I settled on the bench, it was a fine day, cool breeze, strong sun. The bright blue October weather, fall with a hint of winter. I clutched my caramel bubble tea, and took small sips, just looking at the clouds, listening to the laughter and talk of other people, the sound of birds and rustling leaves. Crisp grass, beautiful day, it was a sign of a good sunset and clear sky for stargazing. I was there, and I saw a bunch of middle aged women and a man that looks like he had hit his golden years, in the midst of the grass, playing with... Plastic flying dragonflies. I was, intrigued. Plastic flying dragonflies are toys meant for children about 8 years of age. I realized pretty soon they were a bunch of mentally disabled people. 

  More sips and another five minutes I could identify them all. Just there, on the red bench, I was learning so much. The woman with the ponytail and iPhone was the teacher, who just went around teaching the bunch how to spin the dragonfly into the air, cracking small jokes and giving thumbs up to the others when they successfully launch the dragonfly in the air. There were 4 women beside the teacher, the hefty woman with the Micky mouse shirt, the woman who looked like her head was too small for her body, and jumped around instead of walking, the chimp who sat there giggling the whole time, not doing much. And the "silverback" woman, the leader of the gang, who acted like the baboons in "Tarzan", wore a red shirt. The man, who looked like he was in his 50's wore knee length socks, and blue Nike shoes.
   
  I watched. All the queer little things they did, the messed up groan-laugh the jumpy woman gave whenever she launched the dragonfly, even when she failed, she laughed. The half smile and nostril flare the hefty one made when she rubbed the dragonfly, the look of interest she had, the determination. The giggling chimp with the neon pink clip in her hair, covering her mouth, laughing at every joke the teacher said. The silverback, who gave the hefty one hugs when she couldn't launch the dragonfly. The man, who kept giving himself a thumbs up every-time he launched the toy in the air, because that is what he was rewarded with the first few times he launched it, under the careful guide of the teacher. The teacher, who kept encouraging them, who gave up everything she had to be with them. What made her give that love? She was not pitying them. She was loving them, like a mother. She kept taking pictures of them, helping them.

 A few more sips. She cared. The teacher. The others lived a hard life, being abandoned like this. The man, and the women, where are their parents? What was going on in their parents heads when they knew their child was challenged this way? The man is too old to have parents that are alive. How did he react when they passed? How did they all live their lives? How did other behave around them? I had so many questions. But I was too scared to ask.

  Now, all that was left of my bubble tea was a pile of bubbles. I chewed on them, one by one, wondering. 

 They were happy. So very happy. These are truly a people who have not conformed to the pattern of our world. Independent, yet happy in their nature. From afar, they look not much different from us. But after a while they look like monkeys, playful, cheery. I know they lived tough. Little can we compare to them. But there in a park, under my gaze, they laughed and giggled. They were mocking depression in the face. We complain, heartbreaks, bad grades, and cry at night. They? They LAUGH. They are so simple, and sometimes, simple is good. Funny thing is, you can be whatever you want, even when you know better...

  I hold a cup in my hand, now empty, sitting on a red bench on a typical Sunday afternoon, but now I sit in a completely new state of mind. I have gained a huge amount of respect for the teacher, and the students as well. I feel like if they can be happy, even after all the pain and toil they have been through, we can too. If some people who are so simple, can have such great happiness, why can't we? Why is it so hard, to be happy, like the jumpy one, to be proud of trying, not be afraid to laugh out in public, and express your true feelings? Why is it so hard, to be determined, and love what you do, like the hefty one? Why is it so hard, to find pleasure everywhere in life, when even the chimp can? Why is it so hard, to just love others, like the silverback? Why is it so hard, to encourage and love yourself, like the man? When even the simplest of us all can do that, why can't we? Why are people like the teacher so rare? Why can't we be like her, and see the beauty in everything, no matter how unlikely it seems? Why is it so hard, to care? 

  They pack up, their little picnic over, those simple beings. I whispered a silent prayer for them, and watched them go. In the most unlikely places, we can really learn the most valuable lessons. Today, was the day I learnt simplicity.


Please email me at hopeforthestargazers@gmail.com, comment and share. 
Till next time, 
Victoria Lee