Thursday, March 18, 2010

My blog's feet have been through a lot


Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado

I first began this blog with a pair of hands. You may recall, if you are a follower of my blog, that they were two hands being cuffed together at the American-Mexican border. All the blogs between that first one and this one have told us many stories. Many tragic details have hopefully left us changed and motivated to see the world differently. It is my hope that this blog will lead you to move. I hope that you will feel a desire to help not just refugees, but one another out. I have never written this blog expecting to convert the next Mother Teresa or to save the world from it's self-destructiveness, but I have written it so that you can see God's beautiful creation that is mankind. We exist. We live. We love. We cry. We have joy. And we suffer. The pictures that you have seen throughout the duration of my blog have hopefully captured that. So like I said earlier, I don't expect any of you to go out there and change the world in an instant. But I do hope that you change the world around you. I hope you can make the world a better place by small and simple things. Lets work together to help those around us who need a simple smile to know that we care.
Sorry, I got side-tracked once again.
So, my final picture for this portion of my blog is the picture of these feet. Once again, Salgado captures an experience, but does not have to put a face to the story. I'll be honest. I don't know what this story is, either. I found this picture on the internet on some Italian blog. However, it is Salgado. You can almost taste the Salgado flavor that is so evident in all his photos. I felt this photo was very fitting to end my blog with, for the journey is complete. The feet of my blog have been through a lot. It's been a trip. I hope you enjoyed it. Who knows when I'll see ya again. Love you all. God bless.

3 comments:

  1. Awesome way to end your blogs. Very interesting and creative perspective. We are all human, refugee or not. We all feel. Our pains may look different, but in the end, they feel the same. However, I do think joy is universal. Not the material possession kind of "happiness", but true, humble bliss...that is the same for everyone. It how we live our lives and the small things that bring us happiness. It is the relationships we experience, the sunshine, and where feet take us. I have enjoyed reading your blogs when I've had the chance- very insightful. You rule. Keep it real and all that stuff.
    Kelsey

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  2. Your last blog post is very powerful. When I started writing the blog, I had no idea how I can help them and what I should write about. Writing blogs was like a journey to discover myself, raise my sense of awareness and sympathy, and understand my responsibility to share this experience in personal growth. To prompt change in this world, to make it a better place, we must start with a vision, a collective vision. We are each special, unique creations, and in this most basic element, we are and always will be, the same. Hope you can keep doing it. You definitely know what you want.

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  3. Hey nice blog Gary! it was a very good way to end your blog and to leave everyone with a call to action. Doing these blogs and also working with these refugees has taught me so much. These people are wonderful and yes they are all God's creations. I have learned to have more compassion for them and only a cold hearted person could not want to help. The thing is that there are people everywhere. You do not have to travel far to find someone in need. So do it! haha

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