We Must Care for Our Spirit, No Matter What
HAVANA TIMES – While walking down Maceo Street in Holguin, I noticed a poster for the 3D Room, formerly the video screening auditorium. An Audiovisual Festival was being held in Holguin, from February 19th to the 22nd. The news made me happy, so I approached the person who supposedly sells the tickets, or controls entrance into the hall. She then proceeded to call a woman who came out and explained to us [there were three more people waiting in front of the entrance door] that there was a power outage; but as soon as the power returned, the works would be presented on a screen already set up in the central park, to accommodate a larger audience.
We all thanked them for the information, and left. It was about 4:00 p.m. and the power was scheduled to return at 6:00 p.m. I didn’t want to wait that long, and decided to return home. But since a friend lives along the street I was taking back, I decided to pay him a visit. We greeted each other, and right away he told me he’s practicing yoga, and that I should be very careful, because there are a lot of unbalanced people around. He added that there’ll be more, because the starkly hostile circumstances we’re living through spawns craziness, among other ills.
I told him – yes, it’s true. But amid our conversation about the apocalyptic situation we’re facing, there came a moment when I wanted to inject a positive note. I told him that an audiovisual festival was taking place, of which I’d been totally unaware. Instead of rejoicing and saying: “Good, now we have somewhere to go when there’s electricity,” my friend reacted completely differently.
“Of course,” he said; “these people no longer know what to invent to distract us, so we can’t think about the disaster they’ve produced and they can continue to subjugate us as they’ve always done, and to remain in power”. It reminded me of a similar comment a university professor made to me a while back: “the government is behaving like in the Roman Empire, when the emperor mandated bread and circus to avoid rebellions. Here they don’t give out bread, but, yes, a lot of circus”.
My friend and I talked some more and said goodbye. But I left with a worry: What happens when – because of the difficult times we’re facing – we can no longer receive good news? If our brain, because of so much tension, and that constant mode of alarm we live with most of the time, is no longer able to take in a pleasant moment, a moment of relaxation, a call to life?
I couldn’t enjoy the Audiovisual presentations due to the blackout that no longer follows any schedule and has left everything out of control, but to me it’s good news that young people continue to express themselves by communicating, creating.. despite what we’ve had to live through.
Although I also agree with Jose Marti when he stated in one of his poems: “I’ve earned my bread, let the verse be made.” Because without the basics of life, it’s very difficult to have the capability of appreciating the kindness of nature, the gifts of those around us, the joy of being present in the moments that can be magical. I know that everything evaporates with that extreme need that cuts us to the soul.
Hunger, like love, is immune to understanding. And for that reason, I don’t allow myself to criticize my friend. But at the same time, I feel that our inner world must also be cared for, cultivated to the utmost degree, and we must continue feeding it despite everything. It’s for our own good, and that of those around us.