Travels Seven: Fireworks

*When I ask question I really am asking. If you think I'm totally on or off base tell me.*

Midnight in China:
Yesterday at midnight i watched Chinese babies setting off fireworks and it made me so happy. On every street people were lighting big, July Fourth, Disney World, explosives. Grandmothers were there cheering under the rockets. People have been setting them off all week and it can get annoying because they are so loud. However, it was not so different then a good loud rock show and at some point last night the noise and explosions overwhelmed me. As the explosions reached a peak i felt kind of small and playful but also rebellious in the best way. This was running around naked when I was four, sliding down banisters, and sneaking to kiss girls at camp.

The amount of fireworks themselves brought out the adrenaline and awe but the communal aspect of it all really took the experience to a more special place. I loved the fact that despite a little danger, at least it seemed that way to me, there was no violence. The grandmothers and babies made the whole thing seem natural, and peaceful. The Chinese New Year reminded me of what New Years felt like a kid. When staying up until midnight and still felt rebellious and yet sanctioned at the same time. That's a difficult spirit to balance with a family party and in America it fails when the kids hit adolescence. I don't know if generations can party together better in China but I know that I felt more like a kid at midnight in the China New Year then I have for a long time.

A Train Of Thought
Maybe this is obvious or repetitive but celebrating and exercising that kind of power and spirit communally without violence or enemy's seems really healthy. I think it must have been the first fact I ever learned but fireworks came from China and became weapons in the West. That is so messed up and amazing. China invents a kind of magic and Europe turns it into gun powder.

Briefly - Why does this fact have so much meaning for me?

For me the story is about enemy's. I grew up in a world that viewed reforming the world as valuable and other activities as superfluous. A world that needs reforming is a world filled with enemy's - with good guys and bad guys.

To me, the Chinese culture that invented fireworks and didn't see it as a weapon is the same culture that valued sitting alone and meditating for long stretches of time. I would argue that appreciating the good in the world is at least as valuable as reforming the world. As Alan Watts says, "Perhaps a peaceful mind is the best solution to a world in turmoil."

Fireworks. Yeah that's what I'm talking about. It works. Point it at the sky and it works. Throwing some of our energy away into the air and watching happily works. Creating a world with less enemy's takes practice.