Glosoli

I saw this video last year sometime and again during a presentation for my theology class before break. The second time brought me to tears, mostly due to one scene that won't leave.

Near the end, they are about to run and make the jump. Lined up, the boy in front with a girl at his side. He is pounding on the drum, the music rising, moving towards the climax. The rest of the group is behind them. It shows several of their faces. You can tell they are deep in their head. Thinking like crazy. Analyzing, measuring, weighing, options flying in and out. And then back to the boy, and you can see the excitement, the increased clarity and focus, the rhythm, the drum holding desire with each beat, as if providing a steadiness, a security in the face of the rest of their disorganization.

And the moment that won't leave me. The boy starts to run. No, he takes off. No wondering, weighing, measuring. And he doesn't just set the drum down, he throws it. The girl, she doesn't carefully remove her hat, instead she rips it off her head.

Why I think that image won't leave me? I know the questioning of the rest of the group, I know the looks on their faces well. The calculating, the safety measures. And when I'm caught up in my mind, like their questioning, I know that counseling is impossible, that it is way too much, that I need to get out before I get really hurt.

And then that moment. I see him throw the drum. I see her rip the hat off. And then my tears. Tears bringing hope and impossibility face to face. Reason and desire colliding. And desire blowing the hell out of reason. Logic fails.

And then human beings flying.

That is hope.

Back Home

It was hard to leave home. I was there for awhile but definitely could've spent more time with the family. Five nieces and nephews running around the house was a pleasant change from bachelor life in Seattle. A quick summation includes Play Station 3 (which my nephew Jacob said to Matthew, "why is Michael beating you at this game if you own it?"), Nintendo Wii, plenty of movies, a good college friend's wedding in Chicago, a couple nights out on the town (including new years where I vowed not to have anything to drink because of a bad cold, yet was forced into a couple games of beer pong at the end and got schooled off the table - I can't help adding the grossest story of the year so far - my partner was sick and she spit several times into a cup on the side. well, that cup somehow got into play on the next game. ouuuuccchhhh. thank God i lost and didn't learn that the hard way like a friend of mine did...). We also revitalized the game Taboo, did some skiing, had some good talks with the brothers and sister, and of course, hung out with the kids.