The Human Experience

I've been thinking about something that I want to share with you. When I was a kid I didn't think much about the fact that my grandpas on both sides of the family had served in World War II. Nor did I think much of the fact that my Uncle served in Vietnam. I never thought much about my grandma's brother who died while serving in WWII. I just didn't think about it. To me war is a horrible, nasty thing and I didn't want to be involved in it.

When I was at BYU I had the opportunity to take a personal history class from Don Norton. He taught me the importance of finding out those things I can about the people I am related to and to record that information in a way that would be accessible to the person and also to the family if they so desired.

I had the opportunity to become Brother Norton's assistant. At first I was working as a copy editor with him. He would let me do the first read of professors' articles to be published and then would teach me what I need to learn in order to become a better copy editor.

Later, he included me in a project that he was working on---Oral History. At the time he was interviewing WWII veterans and finding out about their stories and their experiences. 99% of them felt they had nothing to share, but Don has a way of asking just the right question and sharing his understanding in a way the people come alive with memories and stories. WWII became real to me! Suddenly I was hearing about the Pearl Harbor bombing from people who were in their late teens and early twenties at the time. Basically they were my age and they had the same kinds of reaction that I hope I would, pure terror and a sense of obligation to do something about it.

Having interviewed my grandpa about his experiences in WWII, I gained a greater respect for him and a what I would hope was a sense of compassion. It's grown with every person I've interviewed or transcribed since. Some of these people we call heroes. Like my grandpa, they would never call themselves heroes, but they are simply because they did the best they could under awfully horrible circumstances. Many veterans feel it was just their duty. But while doing their duty, while being pushed to the edge, they dug down and found that determination to overcome and fight tooth and nail to accomplish the task. They strived to do whatever they could to better the lives of others.

I've had the opportunity to interview and transcribe many interviews. It doesn't matter if they were involved in the military, or if they weren't. People have a story to tell and we need to listen.

While interviewing someone about their experiences, whether it be war on the battlefield or war in daily life situations, we all have experiences that are unique and that can help others. How? Well, many people experience something and feel all alone because they feel like no one can understand their situation. However, once I began learning of the experiences of other people, I began learning about myself. We all have that desire to understand who we really are. We all have those experience that push us to our very edge and or experiences that make us dig deeper within than we ever thought possible. I'm sure we have all experienced being lonely and feeling like no one remembers us. Perhaps we've felt grief stricken and didn't know how to express ourselves. We've felt inexplicably happy or down right confused. At times we feel enraged, offended or frustrated. Sometimes we feel completely stupid. Hopefully there comes a time when we feel smarter than all get out for a brief moment. For some there is depression and despair. At other times there may be this feeling you're infused with energy. Hopefully we've all felt full, and I think that everyone has felt starving---real or imagined. There's humiliation, sickness, love and hatred. That feeling of being completely stuck or that desire to be accepted. We're addicted to something, be it food, TV, exercise, drugs or even the comforts of life as the case may be. We feel completely ignored by others and maybe there are even days we wish we were ignored. There are hours, days, weeks, months or even years where we may feel completely overwhelmed or even on the brink of giving up---not knowing where to even begin. While there are or will be times when we feel we need to do more. There's pride. There's guilt. There's humility. And yes, there's even that silly side that pokes it's head in and makes us want to laugh like a kids again when we hear someone fart. The point is, the human experience is actually quite similar. Granted, none of us experience the same things in the same ways.

I think Heavenly Father wants us to learn from our brother, Jesus Christ. He also wants us to learn from each other. Just like he wants us to liken the scriptures unto ourselves (1 Ne 19:23), I believe he wants us to relate to one another.

No, I don't have to be a veteran to understand war or the ravishes thereof. And you don't need to know what hearing a voice in your head for seven years is like to understand me. All we need to do is learn compassion. We need to learn that while our situations may be completely different---opposite even---we have the same kinds of feelings. No, we might not react to things in the same way. But we have felt or one day will feel what the other person is feeling. Learn from each other, and the only way we can honestly do that is to listen with an open mind.

It is not my intent to belittle the sacrifices of those many veterans who've served our country through out the years, some of whom gave their very lives, nor is it to tell people I understand what they're going through. Instead, I hope there is some inkling born in each of us to try and understand. Try and get to know others. Try and become better accuainted with our family members and the others who surround us daily. Everyone has a story to tell and I am willing to bet that everyone wants to be better understood.

How's that for being preachy? Hope you're having a great day and that your dreams and wishes come true.
-MOPS