Things can happen fast in the youth media-verse. But in our case it ground to a halt.
Most of you know that our team of youth journalists covered Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s event in Hartford a few years back. (Did you miss that post?) Some of you may have seen the video from the press conference as Caelyn and the Archbishop smiled and and chatted and laughed. Me? As Desmond Tutu himself reached out to hold and stroke my little girl’s hand, I stood by breathless and overcome with emotion and thinking dumbfounded to myself:
Who is this child and how does her life keep taking her on these journeys?
Things did happen fast after that, way too fast to blog about. YouView was asked to cover the World Youth Peace Conference and within a few months we had assembled and trained a team of kids and proceeded to log brutal hours dragging around heavy equipment while interviewing, shooting, and editing during the multiple-day event.
We were invited to video a private meeting with General Colin Powell. I mean they used professional lighting, designed two back up audio systems, managed the room setup, and crammed behind their tripods crunched into the tiny available space in the room while remaining unobtrusive and getting great footage. Did I mention these are kids?
They interviewed sector leaders, change-makers, and rock stars. Filmed crowds and speakers and on-the-spot interviews of students attending the event. And when it was all over they were universally complimented as one of the most professional, polite, and hard working groups of kids anyone had ever seen. They were proud.
So what happened?
It was the editing that did it. Video editing takes a lot of time and is visually demanding. Caelyn has a visual condition that worsens with strain and she wasn’t up to the task. We took a little time off for her to recover from the rigors of the event, but things did not improve. They got worse, much worse.
Despite struggling with health and sensory challenges her whole life, Caelyn does not let stuff keep her down. But this spiraled out of control quickly. Within the year she was debilitated, in constant pain, and too sick to go to school. And she still is.
About a year ago, before we had a diagnosis and we were struggling to make sense of it all and just help her make it through her days, another media opportunity crossed my desk. The Dalai Lama was coming to Connecticut and we were offered press credentials.
Whoa! For the past year, whenever Caelyn attempted to do anything, she would be rewarded with a massive migraine and several completely bedridden days to follow. I couldn’t imagine her being in a large public gathering and working a video camera. The noise alone would be unmanageable for her. And it would certainly mean several days of painful recovery. But she informed me that when life puts an opportunity like that in your hands, you have a responsibility to act on it even if it’s hard to do. (Actually she said something far more eloquent than that, but you’ve got the gist.)
Where does she get this stuff?
And by “stuff” I mean courage, wisdom, determination, grace, and wit in the face of daily struggle. She never lets on. Most people don’t even know what her life is like now. Let’s just say you don’t want to play poker with this kid.
So off we went, and to a casual observer it would look like I was the one doing all the heavy lifting.
The press were permitted thirty seconds at the foot of the stage to photograph His Holiness up close while he blessed the white silk khatas. It was calm chaos, a sense of decorum but with cameras snapping like crazy. Everyone wanted to get their shot to capture something of the man that could be held onto forever. Caelyn wanted that too. But before we arrived I had told her that this was her chance to be standing in front of the Dalai Lama, a man who has inspired healing and promise and joy all over the world, and that in addition to taking her shot, she should also take her moment with him.
So out we scrambled clicking madly for about twenty seconds, Then we both lowered our cameras and just soaked The Dalai Lama in. I’ve wondered what that must have looked like to him: an obvious mother and daughter pair, embedded in the frantic press line, quietly smiling and waving. Naturally, he waved back.
I did not have an epiphany or profoundly spiritual moment when I met his eyes. I almost felt a little disappointed by that until I turned to witness Caelyn beaming radiantly. And as The Dalai Lama himself smiled upon my little girl, I stood by breathless and overcome with emotion and thinking dumbfounded to myself:
Who is this child and how does her life keep taking her on these journeys?
All the videos are still “in the can.” Which is too bad, but I’m not sure right now whether we’ll ever be able to re-launch YouView Media. I don’t think much about the future. I’m focusing on what’s in front of us right now. Life has become about Caelyn getting well and making it through our days with as much laughter as we can manage. Most days that’s enough. As Desmond Tutu says, You and I are created for transcendence, laughter, caring. I figure once we get those three down, the rest of the journey will probably take care of itself.
Besides, she totally got the shot.
“Why I Laugh” by the Dalai Lama
Engaging Awareness 