Olympic Torch

April 9th, 2008; 7:35 PM

Current mood:indescribable

So, I was watching the news today. And they had a little psychout with the torch route today in SF. Apparently the Olympic torch was passing through the city, and in order to avoid all of the protesters, they changed the route. It made me think back to that time that my mom carried the Olympic torch. It was only a few blocks. (People don’t usually tell you that. It’s not like you run with it for a mile. You just run for a short distance and then hand it off so that someone else can share in the glory.) I was so proud of my mom. She was so tiny. But her arm was all ripply with muscles carrying that torch. She said it was heavy. -Probably the fuel inside it. If I find the pictures I’ll post some of them. But I do recall what a unifying experience it was. It was beautiful to realize that you were in the presence of a flame (only a symbol) that had traversed the globe, and in each place there were people who were greeting it and happy to pass it on, happy to be a part of this human experience. -Realizing that we are all connected on this planet.

Now I know that this is not how it’s going down this time. And I am fully in favor of the people of Tibet: to have the right to their own autonomy, freedom from oppression, freedom of religion, and to have the right to protest in a non-violent way and not be harmed by the Chinese government. I also recall what a beautiful thing the Olympic torch can be.