And it’s a good thing too

Dawn from Myanmar is blogging again which is a really comforting thing to me. Yes, I said comforting. A guy I know questions whether it really matters or not about my concern for "these people" in distant places. By these people, he means the various individuals – not political figures - from around the world, that I sometimes mention in my blog. He said, “You don’t know these people personally and they don’t care who you are and they probably don’t even know you exist. It’s just a waste of time.”

Okay, I’ll admit it’s a fair criticism. But the thing is, I like hearing about other people’s lives and daily challenges. I like observing the exotic dimensions of their dreams and the arc of their aspirations. I like hearing about their victories and their defeats; about their happy days and their sad nights. I want to know about all the sweat, blood, laughter, and tears of their existence - all those things that make us human and that help to define us in this vast universe.

I know these people aren’t aware of my existence. They never will be. I mean I’m not mental or anything. I don’t have delusions. But like any exquisite work of art or piece of music, I like to observe and hear the colors, shades, and textures of other people’s lives. A painting or song isn’t aware that I exist either, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of it. I still watch and I still listen.

Some people’s lives have an aesthetic value to me and I think it makes my life richer to know about them even if these people have no idea that I am here or that I ever existed. That’s my point – plain and simple.

- Just a peasant

Cover illustration art from an early Dragon magazine