“It is like a journey through your subconscious”.
My friend Gina and I were trying to make our way home on the Underground after a dinner at a Chinese noodles place near the British Museum.
Midnight at Holborn station can feel like walking through the meanders of your mind (Have you ever watched Being John Malkovich?).
I love London with all my heart.
But sometimes I feel so confused. I move through the streets, rushing from meeting to meeting. A lingering dizziness starts to form in my heart, as if I was floating through a realm that doesn’t really exist.
I sometimes make strange encounters. I cherish them. The stranger the better. They help to soothe my dizziness…
I went into Boots yesterday. The lady at the counter looks at me: “Where are you from?”
You will probably know by now that I have a knee-jerk reaction to this question. I have been asked it a billion times over the years. I don’t even hear it any more. My ears switch automatically to a Buddhist mantra every time somebody in my vicinity formulates it.
But this time, it was different….
The woman had such a sweet face. So I told her I am Italian.
She looked at me with dreamy eyes and said, “Have you ever met the Pope?”
I told her that I had been to Rome on a school trip as a young girl to see the previous Pope.
The lady fell deeper into her dream, “He was such a nice man.”
“He was,” I said. And this time it was my mind to wonder off, back to Easter Europe and to dreams of better times that I hope will stretch into eternity.
Later on, I was chewing my noodles near the British Museum and looking at the peaceful face of our Chinese dinner companion.
“The restaurant smells like Asia”, said Gina.
Behind me a wall-to-wall flat screen was showing MTV-style videos from the 90s.
I leaned back and gave in to the energy of London. May be my dizziness is a sign that I am becoming part of it.
Photo: thanks to inmagine.com
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Hi Silvia, it’s interesting your knee jerk reaction to being asked where you are from. For me, I quite like it because it means that here is someone who is curious and interested in making a connection with someone who may not be the usual sort of person they meet. It’s a conversation starter. I am always curious about other people as well whether it’s to do with their cultural background, job or interests - I like to know what it’s like to be them. Perhaps I’m just a nosy parker…?
The pope, “He was such a nice man.” I am not sure how one would define nice here.
I am sorry to offend any body’s religious views, but could you be referring to a reactionary person in an extremely influential position who was against birth control, and is therefore likely to have condemned many people to continued poverty in South America?
Or is it a question of blind faith? One accepts and believes all or nothing. Not being religious I wouldn’t know.
Best wishes, Jonathan
Thank you for your comment, Jonathan. I know there is that side of the medal. We live in a world of duality, so many things we do have a strong downside.
I was thinking mainly of his work in Poland during communism and the fact that he gave hope to so many people. He helped to bring down a system that had caused endless suffering. He had so much courage and taught people not to be afraid. That is what I will remember him for.
Silvia