shantaram

i read an absolutely phenomenal book this summer entitled shantaram. here’s the link to the author’s website: http://www.shantaram.com/
the author - Gregory David Roberts, based elements of the book on his own incredible life story. i’d like to share a little bit of his life story with you here.

* Born June, 1952, Melbourne, Australia
* Founder member, Anarchist People’s Liberation Army, 1969
* Union activist, Builders Labourers Federation, 1972
* Founder member, Australian Independence Movement, United Front Against Fascism, 1973
* Student Leader, Melbourne University, occupation of university Council Chambers, 1974
* Student Leader, Black Week Aboriginal Activism Movement, 1975
* Marriage break-up, loss of daughter in custody dispute, beginning of heroin addiction, 1976
* Armed robberies with toy pistol to support heroin habit, end year 1977
* Capture and imprisonment, 1978; Escape from Maximum Security Pentridge prison, 1980
* Helped by motorcycle gang, BLF Union, & revolutionaries to escape to New Zealand, 1980
* Fight conservation campaign to save sacred Maori mountain, Mount Maungahiha, 1981
* Escape from custody (twice) in New Zealand, end 1981
* Arrive in India, beginning 1982

so after reading that, i wonder if you, like me, are amazed that a man who could commit armed robbery, deal, and engage in countless other illegal and dangerous activities could also be such an accomplished and powerful writer?
i’ve often wondered how many people have slipped through the cracks of our society through their own poor judgement or through society having standards or expectations that somehow pre-empted them from receiving the support, attention, and veneration they deserved. perhaps they didn’t fit the mold of author, writer, poet, or painter and so were not given the opportunity to share their insights and expressions with the world.

i wonder how many incredible artists, musicians, writers, actors, thinkers lived their lives unnoticed because perhaps they didn’t have the means or ability to make themselves known to the larger world?

what if (okay, let’s move beyond “what if”). we know, that the famous people who grace the pages of magazines, line the walls of galleries with their work, or play their music to appreciative audiences, are very much just the tip of an enormous creative iceberg. what if the people who achieve “success” aren’t even the best artists, musicians, writers and actors? what if in the great unknown unrecognized mass of humanity there are people who could truly transform the world through their creative insights but . . . . through some quirk of fate we will be denied the richer, more beautiful future that would be welcomed into this world on the calling card of their creativity because they were a criminal, lived in poverty, or didn’t have the personal wherewithal to promote themselves.

reading this book reminded me that i often judge people through their choices and of course our society compels us to judge people by their actions. but forgiveness - a virtue subscribed to and promoted by all the world’s religions but rarely acted upon - is a powerful force that needs to be welcomed back to its rightful place so that we can see beyond the mistakes inherent in our choices and those of others, and look on our lives as an endless learning process - the emphasis being on learning - from our successes and our failings and from the successes and failings of others around us. perhaps inside that ordinary rock resides a diamond. perhaps inside that oyster lies a pearl.
the image below is of a petal that fell off an easter lily. it curled naturally and so i placed it on this sand dollar which was itself a gift. i like the large curl of the petal and small feather-like fronds of the sandshell. the textures are fine and granular on both the petal and the sand dollar. i also love the shades of beige in combination.