After every doctor visit for a checkup that could potentially end with a verdict of cancer/blindness/possible death, disability, wouldn't you want the whole world to celebrate your narrow escape?
Isn't that a Huge Relief for which a solitary celebration is just not enough, is just so sad?
I have this dream. Every time I return from the doctor with a clean chit, some bonus time to live, to see, and walk into my street, everything would stop for a minute. There would be utter silence. The vegetable sellers. The Marwari shops. The banks. The small restaurants. The grocery shops. The flower sellers. The cobbler. The whole bustling street, full of people moving around. Everyone would freeze suddenly.
And then someone will switch on loud music on the giant speakers they had secretly set up for the occasion, the fireworks would go up lighting the sky, and the crowd would just erupt, pouring in from everywhere, dancing and smiling and laughing, celebrating my lucky diagnosis! THAT would be a proper celebration worthy of the event, the piece of paper in my bag that does not have the dreaded verdict on it.
I would like to be the organizer of such community celebrations. For all those who have no one to celebrate their Big Escapes with.
Many years ago, I used to mail a young colleague who had gone back to his island in Italy to battle cancer. I didn't know him, but someone told me about what happened to him. We had a happy correspondence those 6 months. I would mail him stories, pictures, anything I hoped would lift up his spirits, and he would respond. "Forever", one of my favorite posts, was inspired by him. I still check on him once in a while.
He totally understood my dream. The entire street erupting in joy because he's been declared free of cancer!
Every day, a sacrament to be taken kneeling. A gift to be celebrated, dancing.
Every day, a sacrament to be taken kneeling. A gift to be celebrated, dancing.
Painting in the forest near Lennik castle, Belgium: The Wedding Dance, by Peter Bruegel the Elder
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