Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

Gratitude

We had just completed Chapter Four the other morning around 4 a.m.

As is often the case, I have a difficult time shutting down after a long night of writing, so after laying in bed for about a hour and a half I got up, grabbed a cigarette and headed out to the porch of our house. It was an eerily still time of morning, a rare treat as Mexican life tends to run non-stop. As a tourist destination, Patzcuaro has a very active nightlife. Plus Mexicans just seem to celebrate life as every night, just before dark you can hear the explosion of fireworks ringing from all corners of our town, easily discernable from our hillside perch. Birthday and confirmations, engagements, weddings and yes, even deaths are causes for celebration in this deeply Catholic, deeply Indian town. The final announcement of a President, despite the rumblings from Mexico City, was greeted with a sense of celebration and relief as representatives of the three parties wrestling for power – the incumbent PAN, whose candidate the courts have certified as president despite the strident activism of the PRD, the liberal challengers whose candidate has vowed to keep up the fight (though I sense that is unlikely to continue on this issue) and the PRI, the party who had held absolute power for over 70 years and lost their grip with the election of Vincente Fox – are coming to grips with the confirmation of Mexico’s desire for a new way as reflected in these last two elections.

Due to my limited Spanish proficiency, I had to piece together the contents of Felipe Calderon’s victory speech, but what I picked up was that, in accepting the ruling of the judges and the awesome and sometimes overwhelming resistance from his foe, Calderon impressively made the point that, despite why he was elected, the points of his competitor, the need to address the poverty of Mexico was much more important than appeasing the desires of their more powerful neighbors to the north. I think that PAN sent a message to America and our political parties that, sometimes, it is more important to care about what your opposition thinks than what your loyalists think. As the party of the nuevo riche and the upwardly mobile, PAN and Vincente Fox attempt to reflect the style and will of the Republican Party which operates on the premise that government can do little to help solve the problem of poverty. I think, over the last five years, they’ve come to realize that this is not necessarily true or acceptable. They had come to power as a viable alternative to the class regimented PRI and, over six years, became more of a reflection of the party they replaced than the party they promised to be. I think Calderon and the party leaders realize how critical it is they unite a sharply divided country and, rather than sticking out his tongue and insisting the losers accept the victory, he is telling his party that they need to do all they can to reach out to the opposition for the good of Mexico ... not just themselves. While this may eventually revert to politics as usual and we could see a shift toward serving the party over the people in the months to come, Calderon’s message seemed to resound here in Patzcuaro. Calderon is a native son of the State of Michoacan, but the state and its poor Indian masses are decidedly supporters of Obrador but are long ingrained with the ever-present power of the institutional PRI which still controls the politics and life of so many small communities. What I saw happening was an acknowledgement that, for at least the short term, there are no losers and, here in Patzcuaro, they are putting the people first as all three parties have began to wave only one banner ... the flag of Mexico, which bedecks the street crossing and balconies of all three party headquarters. They are putting their nation first, and we can learn a lesson from that. This unity led to more fireworks, more celebration and for the short term they are celebrating life and Mexico.

So on this quiet morning as the people of Patzcuaro were just stirring from their beds to begin another long day of labor for the moment, I was thrilled by the silence as the lights of the town of Patzcuaro and the island lake of Janitzio twinkled with light. The sky was clear and the stars formed a bespeckled blanket above my head...and I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that still sustains me today.

I am grateful that I was raised by parents that sacrificed their time to drag their kids all over the southwest every weekend to view and appreciate those historical aspects that told the story of our corner of America.

I am grateful that my dad taught me how to read a map at a very early age and to make me wonder in fascination at those unique and wonderful sounding places that dotted those small roads off the Intertstates.

I am grateful that I grew up in a home that never stopped bickering, not because we despised each other but because we were all so passionate about what we cared about and would not surrender our points for peace.

I am grateful for excellent public school teachers that indulged my passions for history, politics, commerce and music and how much more inspiring and memorable they were than any over-paid college professor I ever encountered.

I am grateful for the kindness and tenderness of my mother’s heart. She could never turn away anyone in need and served as "mom" to dozens and dozens of Marines who shipped off to Vietnam, many never returning but knowing someone loved them.

I am grateful for my time in service to my country as a United States Marine and how it so dramatically reshaped my views of religion, race and politics.

I am grateful that I possessed true talents recognized while still in my teens that opened doors for me, providing a reasonably satisfying career in music and media management despite my absence of a college degree.

I am grateful that my parents implanted in me a strong sense of myself and those 20-plus years in "the business" didn’t change me for the worse.

I am grateful for every heartbreak and disappointment I experienced over the years, for they revealed to me the true nature of humanity and taught me valuable lessons about myself as much about the source of my misery which, despite my feelings at the moment, are temporary and vital for growth.

I am grateful for the twist of fate that accidentally connected me to that hippie southern chick that made me realize there is a life beyond L.A. and whose siren song lured me to Dixie.

I am grateful for those two beautiful girls she gave me who make me smile every time I think of them.

I am grateful that I have a wife and children who love, understand and believe in me much more than I believe in myself sometimes.

I am grateful for every argument I have ever had with anyone where sometimes I have been enlightened, sometimes I have enlightened and sometimes I have had to walk away realizing that sometimes, despite your best efforts, "what we have here is a failure to communicate."

I am grateful that my wife supported my decision to have a mid-life crisis, sell the house, quit my job and actually go live a dream ... and she and my girls came with me!

I am grateful for their hugs and kisses and their high loud voices that break my concentration and force me to stop fixating on this thing that forces me to respond to it rather than them.

I am grateful for having married a woman who is much smarter than me but lets me believe how much smarter I am.

I am grateful that I found a real partner ... not a playmate, not a helpmate, but someone who truly balances out my love for chaos and cacophony.

I am grateful that, for 14 years, this cast of characters have invaded my dreams and finally forced me to yield to them and tell their story.

I am grateful for true friends that love, support and encourage us in this crazy quest to actually put my philosophies into practice and know that these efforts will bear real fruit.

I am grateful that coffee and cigarettes sustain me for the late night writing sessions and then bring me back to life the next morning to continue the battle.

And I am grateful for the awesome silence of a pre-dawn Mexico sky.

posted by Dave Carroll @ 9/08/2006 02:32:00 PM