Nothing To Fear: One Week In Silence, The Journal

To know the beginning of this story, go to this post. There you will find everything about John Birch and his amazing task.

Eyebrows are always
Older than the beards...
Mama said, be brave,
You’ve nothing to fear, darling...
( Des’ree , I Ain’t Movin’)

John put his experience in a book, and was kind enough to send it to me with a lovely dedication. This blog is also quoted in it. The book was quite an amazing journey for me- as I had said to John earlier, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like to be locked in a room, with no food or entertainments, with 14 hours of darkness a day and with no heating ( and that in December, in St Annes, Great Britain). John’s book surpassed all my expectations and my vivid imagination made me literally “see” everything he narrates. Down-to-earth, sometimes moving, often humorous and never self-pitying or yielding to drama, the book was to me something that maybe John didn’t intend it to be: a story of bravery and courage.

I don’t know about you, but much of my life is ruled by fear. Fear of losing my job, fear of not having enough money for this or that, fear of taxes, fear of being alone, fear of choosing the wrong mate. Fear rules the world today, fear of war or terrorism. And much of that fear comes from not knowing how much the human being can endure, how much he or she can cope with, how far can he or she go just by adjusting their minds. As John himself reminds us, there are many people who live in the same conditions that John chose for a week, and not by choice. And many of them are surviving through it without the advantages that most of us Europeans have. If we just knew how much we can take, we’d be less afraid. John found it very funny once when I told him that I was a Gypsy at heart and I’d do anything to survive:he kept teasing me and calling me “Gypsy” for weeks to come. Well, he has just come to prove that , in that sense, we are all “gypsies” at heart: able to adjust to hard conditions and new environments, no matter how impossible they seem to be.

Would I be rich if I played the Lotto??
Cause we don’t value things that come too easily...
(Des’ree, Open Mind)

I hear you protest: “But that bloke chose to do that of his own will! He got ready for that!(and indeed he did) It can’t be as hard that way..” Well, maybe not...but let me tell you something. I’m quite the hedonistic person, fond of “my little pleasures”, gourmande and quite a good cook, and who couldn’t imagine a world without books or music. To me, no matter how ready or determined I was, it would be the hardest of situations. And that’s because the things I own quite possess me, not the other way round, and yet I take them for granted. To consciously decide to challenge the tyranny of our possessions is very brave, and it also reminds us that the things we take for granted (freedom, food...) are not available for everybody in this world. Yes, this book is good food for thought.
To know more about this book (excerpts included):One Week in Silence Website
To buy John’s book (the proceeds go to Amazon Cry Foundation) go here.
Amazon Cry Foundation: http://www.amazoncry.org