Dear Editor,
“It’s the little things . . . that make life such a big deal.” This quote, from the 80s-era musical group Timbuk 3, sums up a bunch of issues for me. The small tidbits of actual information one receives, amidst the roaring cacophony of urgent slogan-laden “news” from far away, unverifiable and barely relevant to any decision you might make, are the gems of reality.
Long ago, in a foreign land, a Vietnamese monk constructed a diorama of the whole of Vietnam. He would daily walk a path from one end to the other in silent meditation. Did this monk’s silly symbolic gesture help end the war? Just a little, because far away in western Kentucky, I, a near draft-aged boy, heard about it and was prodded to rethink my previous boyish view that driving a tank and spraying deadly lead was an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavour. At that point, I recognized that I could not, in good conscience, join the U.S.-led invasion. I was not alone in this decision, and eventually the undeclared war came to a shuddering end.
There are forces at play in today’s world, which call upon us to act out of fear and loathing, enacting radical changes at any cost. Look for the tidbits of real life, the gems of reality, that make your life such a big deal.
Robert Wills, Shawville and Thorne
