For a couple of hours now, I'm looking for a tablet in Facebook Marketplace. Actually, if not for the ebooks I'm reading, I need no additional gadgets. My laptop and phone can do the job. But some ebooks have tiny fonts that strain my eyes too much. No, I'm not generalizing. No, I'm not generalizing. (Repeat until true).
There was this homeless woman whom I often encounter whenever I walk home from the office. She is tall, kinda manly in her features, and babbles as she walks mindlessly. Once, I saw her throwing rocks at pedestrians and cars. I also saw her hitting people with sticks. Whenever I see her from afar, I change my route just to avoid her.
One time, I failed to notice her. All along I'm praying that she wouldn't notice me. I tried to walk as normally and calmly as I could. But she has keen senses. When our paths met, she punched me in the shoulder. I'm glad it didn't hurt, and it's good that she has nothing on her hands that day.
On many occasions, I circuit the streets just to avoid her. It seems she even follows me! Perhaps she's sensing my fear and uses it as leverage to bully or threaten me?
Until just recently I realized, I no longer see her. Rumor has it that she was taken into custody by the Social Welfare Department. "Whew, good riddance", I muttered.
When I shared my story with one of our pastors, who happen to live in the community where I often see this homeless lady, he told me that the person is not threatening at all. She poses no risk. They have made some connections, as my pastor at times supplies her with food and some necessities to live by. There were even times when they have had talks.
The lady may have mental issues but there's more to her than her facade.
What my pastor has shown to the woman is an act of compassion.
My reaction to the woman is an act of discrimination, disguised as self-protection.
"As we grow in our consciousness, there will be more compassion and more love, and then the barriers between people, between religions, between nations will begin to fall. Yes, we have to beat down the separateness." - Ram Dass
I tried to fit myself into the shoes of that woman. What if I'm the one with heavy loads of problems, and my family just choose to let go of me, let me scour mindlessly on the streets with no assurance of food and shelter from the changing weather. What if I'm the one who is sneered at, discriminated and people just can't stand to go anywhere near me. What if I'm the one who has no one to talk to. No one who understands, worse no one who reaches out to hear me, much more to understand.
I can't even stand the idea. More so, I can't stand the idea if one of my loved ones will have the same fate as her.
Still, my introspection is not enough. What I felt towards the lady is a mere pity. It's different from compassion. Compassion prompts a person to act. More than sympathy, it is empathy. More than reaction, it causes action. Compassion is more than a goody-goody feeling. It's beyond that.
Maybe during the times when I had the chance (and she was not carrying a rock or stick or anything), I could have smiled at her. I could have given her something. Maybe instead of trying to avoid her, I should have tried to make eye contact, to prove that I'm not a threat. Simple gestures but we'll never know, those might fill some void, or patch up some wounds.
In a world where we try to distance from each other because of mistrust and doubt, or pre-judgment and differences, may we reach out to the most vulnerable, to the most hurting. Let's build bridges, not walls.
I learned my lesson.
“Everyone smiles in the same language,
Happiness knows no frontiers, no age.
No difference that makes us feel apart
if a smile can win even a broken heart.”
― Ana Claudia Antunes
This post is inspired by @JonicaBradley's Writing Prompt #7: Compassion.
Hi, I am Marts! Aside from read.cash, I also run my blog - martsvalenzuela.com. I plan on growing my readership while learning to improve my craft and journey towards my passion to write and publish books that add value to people.
Carpe Diem!
