What I Need
All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of,
Everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for,
Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given:
I've been given what I need.
- Michael McLean
As some of you know I've been struggling a bit as of late. It hasn't been one thing in particular, just a cumulation of a lot of things have been stressing me out. The other night in my Anthropology class we watched a documentary that put things in a little better perspective. It was titled "Elusive Beauty" which was an amazingly fitting title as it was about a woman who had survived many things in her life and still maintained a positive attitude. As a child she was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where she survived when the rest of her family was killed. They were not Jewish but had been helping the Jews. She had been a ballerina before her capture and the only thing that kept her sane was pretending she was dancing the Nutcracker when things got too unbearable. After her release (at the age of 16)she was raped and impregnated by French soldiers who were supposed to be helping the survivors.
Because of her experience in Auschwitz she was fluent in English, Polish (she was from Poland) and German. She went to work translating documents for the Americans. Then she went to France to her former dance teacher. She worked with her, regained her strength, and joined a dance company that toured all over the world. She was very happy. But a few years later she contracted polio and the doctors told her she would never walk again, let alone dance. Instead of just accepting what the doctors said she worked and worked until finally she could walk with just a slight limp.
She went to New York where there was a man she was told would help her find a job. He was the head of a dance company and he asked her to teach one of his classes because he had a meeting. She was incredulous! How could she teach a class? But she remembered all the things her ballet teacher had taught her before she was strong enough to start dancing again after Auschwitz. She started teaching the class those things. The man she had been sent to see was actually watching her thoughout the whole class. The students all came up and thanked her afterward and the man told her that there was more than one way to do ballet and had wanted to see if she would make a good teacher.
From then on she started teaching ballet classes. Through everything she had to go through she kept an optimistic attitude and looked for all the beauty in a world filled with horror. The film really hit me. As much as things have been sucking for me lately, they have been nowhere near as bad as things were for this woman and she was still able to be happy. Why shouldn't I? I really needed to see this film that day.
Everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for,
Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given:
I've been given what I need.
- Michael McLean
As some of you know I've been struggling a bit as of late. It hasn't been one thing in particular, just a cumulation of a lot of things have been stressing me out. The other night in my Anthropology class we watched a documentary that put things in a little better perspective. It was titled "Elusive Beauty" which was an amazingly fitting title as it was about a woman who had survived many things in her life and still maintained a positive attitude. As a child she was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where she survived when the rest of her family was killed. They were not Jewish but had been helping the Jews. She had been a ballerina before her capture and the only thing that kept her sane was pretending she was dancing the Nutcracker when things got too unbearable. After her release (at the age of 16)she was raped and impregnated by French soldiers who were supposed to be helping the survivors.
Because of her experience in Auschwitz she was fluent in English, Polish (she was from Poland) and German. She went to work translating documents for the Americans. Then she went to France to her former dance teacher. She worked with her, regained her strength, and joined a dance company that toured all over the world. She was very happy. But a few years later she contracted polio and the doctors told her she would never walk again, let alone dance. Instead of just accepting what the doctors said she worked and worked until finally she could walk with just a slight limp.
She went to New York where there was a man she was told would help her find a job. He was the head of a dance company and he asked her to teach one of his classes because he had a meeting. She was incredulous! How could she teach a class? But she remembered all the things her ballet teacher had taught her before she was strong enough to start dancing again after Auschwitz. She started teaching the class those things. The man she had been sent to see was actually watching her thoughout the whole class. The students all came up and thanked her afterward and the man told her that there was more than one way to do ballet and had wanted to see if she would make a good teacher.
From then on she started teaching ballet classes. Through everything she had to go through she kept an optimistic attitude and looked for all the beauty in a world filled with horror. The film really hit me. As much as things have been sucking for me lately, they have been nowhere near as bad as things were for this woman and she was still able to be happy. Why shouldn't I? I really needed to see this film that day.
posted by Heidi @ 10:33 AM
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