Blue Like Jazz inspired rambling

I recently read the book Blue Like Jazz. The book itself was very scattered and I found it hard to follow, but there were random quotes and thoughts throughout the book that really got me thinking.

The writer talks about living in the woods with a group of hippies for a short period of time. Through that experience he was changed: he didn’t make a conscious choice to change, he just did. He was still the same person but he was different. He had seen the world through the eyes of someone completely different from him, he had learned to appreciate the thoughts and views of a group of people he had never before cared to associate with. In the short time he had spent in the woods he had started to absorb the culture, the attitudes, the passions of those around him. For a few months after he left the woods he becomes this in-between guy, this part hippie part yuppy guy. After a while he goes back to hanging out with his yuppy friends, and absorbs their culture, attitude and passions again to eventually become a mostly yuppy and only a small fraction hippie guy.

I found this whole thought interesting, and it has really gotten me thinking. We are like sponges absorbing the culture, attitudes and passions of those around us. If I spent a summer living in the woods with hippies I would leave the woods much more “hippie” than I entered it. Why? Because no matter what, we become like the people we spend the most time with.

Living in Haiti, I meet a lot of people who are passionate about missions, feeding the hungry, taking care of orphans, educating the poor, spreading the Gospel, providing medical care to those who can’t afford it...etc. Hanging around these people feeds my passion and makes it stronger. I have become more passionate about these things than I was before coming here, it’s amazing.

But what about my other passions? I don’t run into a lot of people who are passionate about art history, protecting the environment, Dave Matthews, photography, live music, dancing, vegetarianism, gardening, non-violence and so on.

I’m passionate about all these things; from missions to Dave Matthews.

At least I have been in the past.

It’s hard to be passionate about something when you’re the only one around who is passionate about it.

I miss my hippie friends. I miss my artisan friends. I miss my vegetarian friends. I miss my musician friends. I miss my tree hugging friends. I miss my peace loving friends.

I miss absorbing their culture, their attitudes and their passion. I miss feeling like I belong. I miss being one of many. I miss feeling connected.