As my documentary phase wages on, I found myself watching "War Dance" for the second time last night...
This is a documentary about a group of children, most of them orphans, living in the war-torn region of Northern Uganda which has been ravaged by the LRA. This group of students is preparing for a major musical competition that incorporates both traditional and western style singing and dancing. While the preparation for the competition remains the in the forefront of the documentary's purpose, throughout the movie, they interview children on their experiences up until this moment.
I have always thought that there is nothing more inspiring that children who have managed to survive trough unthinkable things and still find a way to laugh and enjoy the beautiful and simple aspects of life. The children in this documentary have experienced more death and loss than I will probably ever face in all of the days of my life and still continue to grow emotionally, academically and spiritually. I was particularly impressed with the way one girl, Rose, articulated the way she felt when she was forced to identify her mother's decapitated head as it was removed from a bucket... She said that when she saw her mother, "She felt as if she were losing her mind" and, despite the profound misery of her experiences, it's absolutely breathtaking to see her illuminate when she sings. I think this brings to light the fact that without misery, there is no joy and, perhaps those who experience the most pain begin to have the most innate ability to feel immeasurable amounts of joy in daily life.
Traveling around the world, I have seen so many different levels of poverty and have always been impressed with the hope and immaculate senses of humor some of the people I've met in the most dire straights have expressed. This is something I've grown to love and admire about people as I've gotten older. It's so easy to get caught up in not getting exactly what you want when you want it and to not be appreciative of the little joys that present themselves all throughout the day.
I think I'm going to carry what I learned in the documentary with me for quite some time as I try not to get too caught up in worrying about finding my place in the world and try to change my focus to loving the place I've already found, whatever it may be.
