shadowed scenes from a life

P.S. I accidentally published the working version of this post late last night before it was done. I've since edited it - so if you read last night's version, now you know what my first drafts look like!  

I wish sometimes that I would take more liberties with this blog in allowing it to become the direct voice of my experience. Even if I were to give voice to my experience in the past few days, I would be doing more reporting than the "news", because the news is not actually even reporting what I have been experiencing. How surreal.
One of the works of literature that has stayed with me since my distant days as an undergrad is Kafka's Trial. I think it's stayed with me because I've gone on to experience episodes that are vaguely reminiscent of that narrative. And while it may seem strange to be voluntarily exposed to such occasional surrealism, I live where I do because I feel that there are certain parts of the world that must be listened to for the betterment of humanity as a whole. After all, the "news" does not always report on what is happening, or is unwilling to decode other interpretive contexts.
In support of my wish to understand the meaning of a place so little understood, I would like to cite Faulkner's Nobel Peace Prize speech, where he explains that the endurance of mankind can come only from experiencing compassion. The writer must first open his or her heart to the difficulties of experience, not an easy task, I might add. To extend his argument, it is compassion that will break down administrative bureaucracy, and see through any politics to the kernel of experience.
I feel - just as Faulkner did over half a century ago - that we need writers who are willing to open their hearts to various realities. To allow ourselves to feel our fears until they pass, to feel our own humanity, and only then take to the podium of the quill.
So, when I think sometimes about writing in more detail about where I live on this blog, I wonder if I am ready, if this is the correct forum (maybe I should write a book!), or if I will be understood. Do you ever rethink the purpose of your blog? It's definitely a journey - and I think the best way to figure these things out is to just keep writing.
Below is a photo of shadow puppets. Sometimes I think shadow puppets are a good metaphor for communication: symbols behind a screen, like the reflections on the wall in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. I think the ultimate goal of communication is to transcend those screens and barriers, to reach those moments when we strike a universal chord, and reveal something beautiful about our humanity. But achieving this can be no simple process. Do you ever think about such things?

Elements: lace effect: surfing ant; ln213;frame: minitoko;

doily, envelope, sequins: pugly pixel.