)(( hannah mello ))(

allegory >::<

I didn't know, when I signed up for a trans-national adventure that I would not be alone.

You know that feeling? hmmm... I'll try to describe. I guess it's like visiting an art gallery on a Saturday afternoon in an overwhelming new city. You walk between pillars-- feeling the air change as you enter a world of frozen thoughts and emotions for public viewing. A timeless place that is alive with the whirl of present/active integration and interaction. You walk in alone. Your expect that this world will shake your mind and swirl you differently. You approach the first art piece-- a gigantic mural that overwhelms your frame (no matter how big your frame is... :)...). Unexpectedly, your senses are interrupted from interacting with the art. You sense breath's in and out sound-- your space of aloneness has been punctured. At first, frustration arrives. Then, as you try to re-engage, disillusionment sets in, because you are now taking in the art along with the eyes of the 'other' --> and somehow your eyes are trying to see what you see and what they see at the same time. You move on. Then, when you have your aloneness again-- another puncture happens. Your world is interrupted and joined by another 'other'. After disillusionment runs its course again, acceptance is birthed. Somehow, between those spaces on the floor and between those canvases, you came to a place of acknowledging the reality of your experience as being shared -- and through that acknowledgement, acceptance was awakened. Acceptance's eyes are far more kind-- far more gracious. And with the eyes of acceptance, you feel as if you are in a completely different world! Yes, you are still in that world past the pillars-- enchanting and intellectually inspiring-- but somehow your senses are able to take in far more than the place in a passive way. Now, acceptance has given you the understanding that sharing this world is perhaps the bigger gift.

The days and weeks in Greece and now in Italia have illustrated that allegory in earthy, practical, everyday experiences.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 5:25 AM