Several years ago I read a book by the Nobel prize winning writer, V. S. Naipaul, called "Half a Life." It takes place in India and is about a man who spends the best part of his life just trying to fit in and make do.
"I have risked nothing", he says. "And now the best part of my life is over."
I was deeply moved by this powerful book.
This week I read another book that, to me, had somewhat the same message. Many times my best reading is done when a close friend puts a book in my hand and says, "You need to read this."
This book is about a young man from Pakistan who graduates from Princeton at the top of his class and gets chosen by a prestigious and powerful American company.
Later, he discovers he's made a mistake and says "I had thrown my lot with the men of (the company,) with the officers of the empire, when all along I was predisposed to feel compassion for those...whose lives the empire thought nothing of overturning for its own gain."
Forty some years ago I wrote a poem about a friend who was forced in to change and went on to live an exceptional life.
LIZZY STEPS OUT
Look out Lizzy,
Your world's falling down,
He says he's leaving,
For a new love he's found.
I know you've been married,
for 21 years,
You've begged and pleaded,
And shed lots of tears,
But he thinks you're boring,
And placid and dull,
With just no life of your own, at all,
And even though the life you've lived through,
Has been his,
It doesn't count,
He wants out,
He's leaving.
Well, he's been gone now,
For 34 days,
And you're still seeing life,
Through a tranquilizer haze,
Come on, Lizzy, don't give up,
There's a world out there,
Go fill your cup,
But it's hard to see yourself,
As anything but "wife,"
When for 21 years,
You've lived another person's life,
But that's all over,
It's through,
He's gone.
Come on Lizzy,
Let's celebrate living,
You're accepting too much,
You need to be giving.
You're a person of worth,
You're a giver of love,
There are things to be done,
That you've never dreamed of.
Don't think about him.
It's over.
He's gone.
Hurray for Lizzy,
she's on the right track.
It's been two years now,
And she's not looking back.
She's making decisions,
She's dealing with "what is."
(remember when all of the policy-making,
was his?)
Life is different,
That you can't ignore,
But you found out something,
You might never have known before,
About you.
You're complete.
You're whole.
And that's enough!
(For right now.)
***
