It was 1991… I was on board of the airplane taking flight from island Cuba to Kyiv, Ukraine. That was my first transatlantic flight ever taken. Spending two months in Cuba, I discovered a new world for myself that was similar to the moon flight. What could a simple girl see, being born in the Soviet Union and living behind the “Iron Curtain”? She could see totally nothing except for her own country. That was the year when the Soviet Union collapsed and a new and serious step in the history of Ukraine was taken. But it’s not about the country history and its politics. It’s about my feelings that I experienced at the moment of opening a glossy magazine with a colorful article about San Fran. It was describing the city life with its green streets, night lights, gorgeous and delightful houses and buildings, famous all over the world cable cars, unbelievably luxurious and never-seen-before shops and independent people living their best life. My emotions were running me so much that I got speechless. The only thought that crossed my mind at that very moment was: “How happy the people should be living there. I want to be among them”.
19 years later… I was sitting at the window of my friend’s house, watching the perfect view of night San Fran that was reflecting its beauty in the Bay. Yes, I was in San Francisco… At that very moment I remembered the dream of that little girl who perhaps was so impressed by that charming city and those bewitching words from the article, that in 19 years she happened to be here. Many years ago she left her heart in San Francisco waiting for the time of meeting. It was the power of visualization of that little and naive girl, who had inexhaustible trust in her dream and its might. Being grown up and mature, we don’t know what wonders we can achieve always leaving a drop of hope. We forget about our inner energy and belief in miracles, and it makes us weaker even though we think we are getting stronger by putting on some fancy dresses for a next masquerade. Every so often we are afraid of changes and new possibilities, leaving our dreams beyond belief and behind the scenes of our consciousness. What I know for sure is that we should pamper ourselves, living our life beautifully, feeling true colors of its beauty and leaving some space for our child-like dreams. Let your mind play some games with you and stay up-to-date to new life prospects.
P.S. I still keep that flight magazine as a reminder of human inner strength and power in time of loss.
Epicurus had sound advice and if your life is going relatively well this makes perfect sense. Your story sounds very much like that of my wife Marina who came over in the 80's from St. Petersburg when Russia was still soviet. She was Komsomol only because being aligned with the party meant a slightly better life and an education at university. One thing I have learned from this wise but down to earth woman is just how much we as Americans take what we have for granted, we are given everything from the time we are born. We live in a country were until a decade ago we felt complacent and untouchable. In the beginning, I never wanted to see just how correct she was and I would vehemently disagree but the truth is, as many of my consuming self indulgent fellow citizens would prove time and time again that Marina is absolutely correct and now I see and appreciate more the opportunities that are available to each of us, and the stupid wasteful and sometimes apathetic attitude as if none of this could ever go away. Thank you Vika
ReplyDeleteYes, you take a lot of things for granted. I'm glad that we have a chance to share and exchange experience! Thank you for taking time and reading my notes.
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