Death and Circuses
Death and Circus
We all die. No matter what we do or who we are— we all die. During this time we have been in Israel, four of our Galilee Arches have lost someone to death. One boy’s neighbor was actually killed when a stolen car hit a fire hydrant, flipped over and landed on the man, crushing him. One of our girls lost a woman in her life who was ‘like a grandma’ to her. Cause of death was a brain aneurism. Two brothers lost an uncle in a senseless revenge killing.
We know exactly how many Israeli soldiers died in the fighting today. It was 18 at last count, At least 62 are dead in Gaza and the number is likely quite higher. People die. The Circus Harmony community found this out when we lost our own Reggie Moore in a car crash this past October.
When we first came to Israel in 2007, there was trouble in Gaza. There was a murder in the Arab village. Both are true again, today. People die. Always have and probably always will. The fighting in Gaza has upped people’s awareness of death. Circus people seem to live closer to death than other people. More of them seem to know someone young who has died in circus-related accident.
Does being in closer proximity to death help make you feel more alive? I did a death defying act in the circus where a mistake or slip could have caused serious injury or death to myself or my partner. Did living closer to this edge give me a heightened sense of awareness for the experiences of life? I can’t say that it did but I do know circus people seem to laugh and enjoy each other’s company more than town people. I am noticing that in our Israeli families, too.
Of the deaths discussed above, none of the people were expecting to die right when they did. We all may be close to the edge. We just have no way of knowing how close. If it doesn’t change how we perceive life; couldn’t it change how we approach it?
This morning we did a circus workshop for the children of the kibbutz we were staying it. This afternoon we presented a show for a group of Rabbis from America (who gave the Galilee Arches a standing ovation!). Both groups thoroughly enjoyed their experiences. They weren’t thinking about dying, they were very much enjoying that moment of living,
If you are close to the edge, do you sit down and stay still so you won’t fall over? Or do you keep walking so you can get somewhere and maybe whistle a little tune along the way? Let’s lock arms, sing loudly and see what’s around the next bend. Let’s make a circus— not because we think are near dying but because we are full of living!