Last week Tamay rang me. She rang to say how sorry she was for everyone about the fire at Grenfell Tower, London. She said, it is so, so sad and that she was thinking about everyone who had been affected. "I am so sorry for everybody".
I was so touched by this. I had to share it with you all.
Tamay and I speak regularly. It is amazing that despite her not being able to read and write we have always been able to speak on the phone. Sometimes we don't always understand exactly, but we both listen and try other ways to say things and then we get it. It is truly satisfying, for both of us. (That's how we make jackets together and run this whole show.)
The call came when I was in the studio in the Bristol Textile Quarter in Bristol. Mary, who I share the studio with overheard the call and asked all these great questions as soon as I put the phone down. It sparked me to want to write.
How did Tamay know about the fire?
Tamay has a TV in her house now, but only for the last 5 years. Whenever the news is on Tamay always goes to see it. She watches it with such curiosity because so much of what she sees, she is seeing for the very first time. She is fascinated to see how things work around the world. She loves to see the people, the landscapes, she is horrified by the wars, she is amazed by the stories of hope. She goes on the adventure with every story.
Her wonder for the world is unquenchable and absolutely beautiful.
Wow, isn't that amazing that she cares?
Feeling is something so innately human, even innately animal. To care for others, how they feel, emotional connection and response. It is our most powerful skill that we learn in such early years of life, but perhaps we forget. My dog, Oumai is the most sensitive of the lot! Luna at the age of 2 was so engaged in feelings, she would talk about the teddies and babies and friends ouchies and sadness, loneliness, happiness all the time.
Do they care so deeply because they are not de-sensitised by overexposure? What is it that has mean't we can detach ourselves from our feelings so that we can see others, and often even ourselves, in pain or suffering and not be affected by it?
It seems extraordinary not to care? But I guess we see news stories and feel like we have seen it all before and it is just the way the world is. Perhaps, we feel like we are being sold a story to benefit someone else and that we shouldn't believe it. Perhaps, we just close our eyes quickly and pretend we haven't seen it, because it is easier that way, because we don't have much time to engage in it. Because we feel there is nothing we can do to stop the pain or the suffering, so why witness it in the first place?
That fire hurt.
Thanks Tamay for noticing.
Thanks for ringing.
Thanks for helping us to see the word is not such a big place.
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