Epiphany

Dorian sat warming his hands by the fire. A savage, raving wind tore at the naked trees outside. The old woman put a kettle on the stove. It was dark in the small hut, but the crimson light of the setting sun streamed in through the window, illuminating the glimmering, iridescent rooftops of Katmandu far in the distance.

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The old woman didn’t speak English, but she had incredible intuition when it came to hand gestures. The conditions in the hut were extremely simplistic - the bare necessities - but Dorian found it to be sufficient, to his own surprise. Dorian had come from another world - beyond the mountains. From a world of corrupt, power-hungry individuals, a world of responsibility and toil, a world of never-ending change. It was a chaotic, complex, bustling, and sometimes volatile world. But at the same time, this world was the land of plenty, innovation, and technology.

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Here, things were so different. The old woman lived in a Himalayan village of several families, sitting snugly in a narrow, rocky, snowy valley that was nevertheless exposed to the merciless elements. All they needed was a warm hut, firewood, and a field with livestock - that was in the green lower valley, where one villager would trek each day to obtain everything that was necessary for everyone else. 

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It seemed so simple and beautiful, yet so unattainable in the massive world of bureaucracy, commerce, and intrigue. The tiny village was so alien to Dorian - he was used to writing emails, catching trains, and making agreements. Yet the village felt like home, though he had stayed in it for only three days. He was gathering strength and healing his wounds to begin his trek back down to the civilized world. After his helicopter had crashed onto a glacier, the old woman had shared with Dorian her greatest treasures: her home, her food, and her family.

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In our modern world, every individual weaves their thread into the immense, ubiquitous tapestry of knowledge and progress. Each of us, in our own way, can learn to enjoy, appreciate, and be delighted by simple gifts in our complex lives, and, in this way, find great happiness. It may take three days or a lifetime. So which is more important - chasing after complexity or searching for simplicity? Maybe we should have a healthy dose of both. And then, we can weave into the tapestry not only a thread of knowledge, but also a string of wisdom.

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