The Human Experience Page #3

What is your meaning?

Like, what's your outlook

on life?

What is the reason for living?

I'm not on this planet for nothing.

I'm here for a purpose.

I don't know

what that purpose is.

Like this gentleman said,

we all have our faults.

We all did our things. So if our

purpose is to make mistakes

And learn from our mistakes,

That's gonna help us

to be a greater

Or less of a greater individual

along the way.

We meet people

through our life.

So my main focus is,

why my existence here

Is to help other people

and, as well, ask to get help.

I try to keep a good outlook.

With that, I can have my hope

and my dreams.

And I don't have to give...

I do not have to give anything,

including my dignity.

Forget about the part

that you have a home, okay.

Let's not acknowledge that.

But what did you experience

By you taking

this leap of faith?

I felt very vulnerable,

you know, vulnerable,

Easy to be attacked by anybody.

- It's a bunch of emotions.

- It's a lot.

I felt, at times, a little

humiliated, embarrassed.

- Yeah.

- You're not secure.

You're definitely not...

you're not safe.

To get to know

some homeless people

And to get to see some

of that commonness of humanity,

How very similar we really are.

I congratulate you.

At least you got balls enough

to come out here

And really sit around us

And understand

what we go through.

Most people say,

"oh, they're not human."

No, we're not automatons,

either.

Okay, you know, we have blood.

We have a heart.

We have a mind, a spirit,

and a soul.

As we get more days,

more experience on the street...

I don't know...

you become more humbled.

You become more...

You can feel the humility that

the homeless people go through.

And I don't know.

It's different.

Like, I don't know.

My whole heart feels different.

Really, it doesn't matter

who you are,

What your background is.

You can converse

on that experience.

And that is what makes us human.

That's a beginning

of a human community.

Experience can be

a generous teacher

Or a cruel teacher.

And it depends on those

experiences in life.

But whatever experience

we have,

Whether it is good

or whether it's bad,

We can always remember it

and learn something from it.

And it's those moments,

you know,

When something touches you,

something opens up,

Something that you didn't

realize before,

You hear a longing, you know,

that you never felt before.

Those human experiences that

define how you communicate

With your spouse,

How you communicate

with your children,

How you communicate

as a teacher.

You know, I think it defines

how we communicate, period,

As a society.

And when you experience

those things,

It brings growth.

And so you won't get caught up

in the facades anymore,

The little differences

that they talk about

That become big things.

You won't buy that anymore.

You know, and if you don't

buy it anymore,

They can't sell it to us.

We can talk

about ideas forever,

But ideas are simply that.

They're thoughts.

They're abstractions.

And until these ideas

are rooted in reality,

In the reality of my own life,

my own experience,

They can't be tested.

They can't be known

to be true.

Wil kinnane

is one of my heroes.

The story goes, he was taking

a road trip

With his brother to new york,

And his brother asked him

What he wanted to do

for the rest of his life.

Wil answered, he wanted to surf

and help people.

And surf for the cause

was born.

The idea was a group of surfers

traveling the world

In search of the perfect wave

And giving back

to the communities

And the people who call

these beautiful beaches home.

So cliff and I found ourselves

along for the ride

In a van full of surfers

Traveling

down the pan-am highway

Somewhere in south america.

I was told not to drive

at night by the surf guide.

"do not drive at night."

And here we are at night,

driving.

After driving

all through the night,

We finally start to smell

the salt in the air.

As soon as the guys got

their first look at the ocean,

They were out of the van

and surfing

Before I had realized

what was happening.

I'd never been surfing before

in my life,

And I wasn't too sure

that the big waves of peru

Were the best place to learn.

So after a great surf session

for the guys

And a couple of hours

of me getting my butt kicked,

We packed up the van and headed

to the children's home,

Where surf for the cause

was scheduled

To volunteer

for dr. Tony and his staff

Helping the lost and abandoned

children of lima, peru.

What we do is, we receive

children whose parents

Cannot afford medical care.

If the conditions in the home

are not such

The children

can be adequately cared for

As an outpatient,

Then the children

come in to the home,

And they stay with us

until they're well,

And then we send them back

to their families.

I went to india on a vacation

with several colleagues.

We landed in calcutta

and were simply appalled

By the poverty that we saw,

The horrendous conditions

of the children in the streets,

Some of whom had been mutilated by their

families, so that they could beg

And be more effective

as a beggar.

I was in charge of a neonatal

intensive care unit at emory,

And I contrasted

that with children

Who just needed basic needs

With the kids

that I was taking care of

Who were, you know,

getting the latest in care.

The idea sort of germinated,

"well, maybe...

"you know, you should be

doing something else

Rather than what

you're doing now,"

Because anybody could do

what I was doing at emory,

But not many people would be

doing what needed to be done

In places like india.

It took me about maybe a year,

year and a half

To make the final decision,

because it was a good job.

I loved what I was doing.

I was teaching fellows,

interns,

Residents, medical students.

I had a nice house

and a nice car.

So it took me a good while

to make the decision,

But then finally,

I decided, if I didn't do it,

Then I would regret it

for the rest of my life.

I didn't realize

some of the backgrounds

That some of the children had,

And it was quite hard to think

That these children

have been through this.

But to see them now,

they're so happy,

And they're

just such gorgeous children.

You kind of forget

these kids are even ill.

I mean, you kind of

forget that,

Oh, victor's

just got one leg.

That's the only limb

he has.

And he's using his foot

to eat and draw,

And you kind of forget that

that's not really normal to us.

Coming into it, you're just

thrown into it completely.

You're not, like, told anything,

And the first few days

we were tricked completely

By pretty much every child.

Not really doing anything

that special.

You're just kind of helping them

in their everyday lives.

Of course, most of the people,

they come here,

When they see how the children

are so happy,

Despite their infirmities,

I mean, they can't

understand it.

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