It has fired the magic within me, and that is what we are looking for. I just got back from Salzburg, Austria. The purpose of this trip was to give inspiring speeches and appear at the opening of an art gallery. My first stop was in the church of an Austrian Prison (what a tough crowd). Me, Chris Gallucci standing in a church, in a prison. It was too much like a dream and not a very good one.
Thank God, there was more – next I went to a school for young, aspiring artists. In that speech I knew I had really reached the children. The children loved it and I loved telling my story to them. I felt it was good. They responded with excitement. One little girl especially – she came up to me and said, “I will never forget you or your story. You must be a great man!”
Then that night I went to the opening of the new art gallery in Salzburg which featured photos of Timbo and me. Another little girl, dressed up like she was going to the Oscars fought her way through the crowd, grabbed my hand and placed a note in it. She said her mother drove her here to the event to meet me. This little girl said she was having trouble dealing with a problem. She had lost someone very near and dear to her and after listening to my story, she said she knew now that she could deal with any problem that might come her way. Why? Because the magic is inside. She said thank you and walked away.
PS: It’s the Chris and Timbo thing – we are still going and it feels great. Moments like this make me proud to be “The Elephant Man”.
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Chris this is fantastic! Young children are responsive to concepts they can understand and a story of friendship, courage and dealing with loss (which is personal so the depth and reaction is different for everyone)they are able to grasp. Giving them the tools to find the positive from a devastating loss is invaluable. It must have been a strange feeling being in the prison. Adults can be so resistant to finding the positive in all situations, particularly horrendous ones. Did the crowd understand the concept you were trying to talk to them about?
ReplyDeleteWhere to next? Have you spoken to Iain or Saba Douglas-Hamilton (Save The Elephants) or Tammie Matson (Aussie girl has studied elephants in Africa and more recently Asia. Released as book on them late last year).
Take care.
Ros Sampson