(no subject)
There is no way ten weeks went by that fast.
But my calendar and my 4:00 checkout time tomorrow tell me otherwise.
How do I begin to describe an experience that, day by day and week by week, fundamentally changed the way I look at the world? This being my last night in Ellensburg, I find myself reflecting on how difficult it is to point out exactly when, how, and why the changes took place. The first time I made eye contact with Washoe? The kiss through the glass from Loulis? The conversations with other apprentices, who have taught me more about getting to know people on a fundamental level than I learned in 20 years of social interaction? Maybe it was the first time I felt like I had made an impact on a Chimposium guest's life by teaching her what I had learned from my time at CHCI. Maybe it was when I realized that there is a better way of looking at existence than we as humans tend toward. Maybe it was when I learned that there is hope for reorientation on a grand scale.
It was gradual, whatever happened.
And now I'm different.
(And I'll be back in Parkland tomorrow, yeah!)
But my calendar and my 4:00 checkout time tomorrow tell me otherwise.
How do I begin to describe an experience that, day by day and week by week, fundamentally changed the way I look at the world? This being my last night in Ellensburg, I find myself reflecting on how difficult it is to point out exactly when, how, and why the changes took place. The first time I made eye contact with Washoe? The kiss through the glass from Loulis? The conversations with other apprentices, who have taught me more about getting to know people on a fundamental level than I learned in 20 years of social interaction? Maybe it was the first time I felt like I had made an impact on a Chimposium guest's life by teaching her what I had learned from my time at CHCI. Maybe it was when I realized that there is a better way of looking at existence than we as humans tend toward. Maybe it was when I learned that there is hope for reorientation on a grand scale.
It was gradual, whatever happened.
And now I'm different.
(And I'll be back in Parkland tomorrow, yeah!)