Who is your hero? There are so many personas one can emulate, that it is not even necessary to enter into a relationship with the Self. It is easy to assume the posture of another, even if it guides you so far from love that there is a constant coming and going of loneliness and depression. One forgets that there is more to life than survival. How to begin to find happiness? Take a minute to check yourself. What would bring joy to your life? Really?
“Be still and know that I am God”. Be still and listen.
Robin Thomas has given many in the St. Croix prison the opportunity to listen, to find, and to express their voices in a way that can be heard loud and CLEAR. Through poetry and applied arts projects, inmates have brought forth beautiful, meaningful, complex, and truthful words and images. One nearly completed project, sponsored in part by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, is a mural painted on the water tower by The Manor School. I am sure Manor student, Stephen Smith, will never forget the community service hours he has earned helping with this endeavor. In the majestic suspension of time within the act of making a truly CREATIVE mural, many secrets are whispered into the ear of those immersed in their process. Self discovery and growth are a result of such endeavors. Not to mention self worth.
There was much work done to ready these men for their contribution to their community, a contribution above the act of self expression. “I Wish I Would Have Listened” is the type of contribution that requires understanding of what was and what is and what could have been. There is much work yet to be done to make sure this program that Robin has begun will continue.
The next time you are headed to Christiansted by way of Five Corners, take a detour. See the LOVE for yourself.
Robin, you are my hero.
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