Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen died at the age of 87 on August 8th. At the age of 15, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Not given the expectation of a long life, she chose not to marry or have children. She became a doctor, an amazing doctor and healer, and did that work for 65 years. I have two of her books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings. I highly recommend both.
Both books are filled with wonder, hope, and inspiration. I open to this in Kitchen Table Wisdom. She’s on a visit to Fiji where she’s informed “it’s considered good manners in Fiji to acknowledge total strangers on the street.” “The proper form was to make eye contact and acknowledge each other either by nodding and smiling or by saying “Bu-la”. I’m reminded of my time in Nepal where Namaste and a bow with palm-touching hands was a given.
She returned to California from Fiji and noticed walking on her local street no one greeted her or smiled at her. She writes “In some very profound way I felt both invisible and diminished. Yet the street was totally familiar. It was my home.”
She continues: “The Fijians are aware of a basic human law. We all influence one another. We are a part of each other’s reality. There is no such thing as passing someone and not acknowledging your moment of connection, not letting others know their effect on you and seeing yours on them. For Fijians, connection is natural, just the way the world is made. Here, we pass each other with our lights out as ships in the night.”
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