Living Deep

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I WANTED TO LIVE DEEP AND SUCK OUT ALL THE MARROW OF LIFE, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. -- Henry David Thoreau

Peace Corps Ukraine is undergoing many changes right now, mostly due to the huge expansion of PCVs that will be coming through the system in the next two years. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the number of PCVs will be doubled by 2012- which means there will be about 400 PCVs serving in country. Exciting News!!

With these changes has come the induction of a new Country Director, Doug Teschner. Our new CD came to us in January and although I've yet to meet him in person - I have discovered through his monthly e-mails that he is a man of quotes. gooody! because I am a lover of quotes. His latest quote is the one above written by Thoreau.

Thoreau's words are a perfect capitulation of what I feel most PCVs are so urgently pursuing here and I am not an exception. Everyday, I try to live deep. But what is "living deep" you might ask? So far...For me, living deep is such a colorful collage of humorous and serious, mundane and ideal that it's hard to name each specifically or to clearly distinguish one from the other. Of course, I'm endlessly in the process of defining what Living Deep means to me, but for now, this is what it means to me in Ukraine: I think, most importantly and something I am beginning to truly learn by being in Ukraine is that Living Deep means investing myself and my time in developing meaningful personal relationships with other people - my students, my counterpart, my colleagues, my new friends in Ukraine, my family, other PCVs, and my friends from home. At once, this is one of the most challenging and most satisfying deep living endeavors. Yes, it's often exhausting, progress can be frustratingly slow, sometimes you can be disappointed, sometimes heart-broken. But even more often, it's heart-warming, inspiring, impacting, and infinitely satisfying so I'm forever conversing, hearing people out, sharing in small daily activities and even more important ones with the people near and even far from me - from walking home with my students every day after school to celebrating family holidays with the Ukrainian families in my town to traveling all over Ukraine with other PCVs and even skyping with my family... these things are what have mattered the most. Living Deep has been learning to cook Ukrainian food. Living deep is traveling with good friends. Living Deep is reading good books. Living Deep is developing an ever-increasing relationship and reliance with Jesus. Living Deep is writing in my reading journal. Living Deep is learning Russian and not being too timid to use it. Living Deep is navigating a new city. Living Deep is a good conversation over (battery acid coffee) coffee or a glass of (overly sweet dessert) wine or french fries at McDonald's. Living Deep is teaching each lesson so it's a little bit better than the last. Living Deep is walking miles everyday in stilettos in the mud, ice, or pot-hole ridden sidewalks and paths. Living Deep is going on a run and having Sasha and Slava push me to do "odeen ee sho raz" rep at the gym. Living Deep is learning to immerse myself in post-soviet, Ukrainian culture. Living Deep is adapting to a different way of life and appreciating it for what it is, not judging it for what it isn't. Living Deep is not "sticking it out" but discovering and valuing the happiness of being who you are, doing what you're doing, in the place that you're doing it.

I don't think you have to be in the woods or in Ukraine to live deeply. But wherever you are, it's something to remember.