Serendipity

Image: Pinclipart The short blade glistened in the sun, it made his eyes water He couldn’t figure out why he hesitated, what made him contemplate WHY!!! He doubted whether he had the right to; he wondered if it was right The cause seemed lost to him He thought of home for a second, the farm where he grew up, it made him feel at peace, such irony; contemplating peace with a dagger in hand The man kneeling before him had hair like that of Ahmid, his younger brother; whom he would give his life for in a heartbeat. He knew now he couldn’t go through with it, a task he had performed with precision many times before, with such swiftness, with such detachment but also with such fear. A morning of ironies it seemed. He found empathy at the most ill opportune of times, courage made his eyes water, bravery made his hands tremble and love made his heart bleed The fourth man in a line of ten, twenty men, ten with seconds to live.  Perhaps now, eleven.

Image: Expressworks I never gave much thought to the whole brouhaha surrounding Bruce Jenner’s evolution into Caitlyn, I had lumped it into the category of one of those bizarre things that happen frequently in the west. Granted, such things now happen pretty much everywhere else, but I dare say the west has always been known to glamorise such feats.  What got me thinking a little bit more about the whole story was how some groups of people started to praise Bruce for his bravery and courage.  I actually had to look up the meaning of bravery as I began to write this piece. Bravery is described as courageous behaviour or character, bravery was described with synonyms such as  brave spirit or conduct, courage, valour. Yet another source describes it as the quality that allows someone to do things that are dangerous or frightening. I did this so that I could understand why 'bravery' was most used to describe the actions carried out by this sixty five year old ex Olympian.