“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
-Chief Seattle
“When we know ourselves to be connected to all others, acting compassionately is simply the natural thing to do. ”
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| Danube Jacobs at her happy place! |
It’s interesting to me that in
our fast paced world where instantaneous communication allows us to be in contact with
hundreds or even thousands more people than we ever could have previously with
phone or postal mail, that we often feel more disconnected and lonely than
ever. In spite of having almost 400 facebook “friends” I see many fewer people
in person for truly meaningful, life-sustaining personal contact on a weekly,
monthly or even yearly basis. I remember the days, not too far past, when I
sent a birthday card to everyone I knew, and when I received them too. When
long distance phone calls were treasured planned occurrences and not simply
squeezed in as if an afterthought. How many of us still feel our hearts
leap with joy when opening the mailbox and finding a hand-written letter?
Holding a large envelope addressed in familiar handwriting and then having the
luscious sensation of anticipation is something I’m experiencing less and less.
While I have to admit that I’ve slowly stopped writing those letters, becoming
friends with Danube Jacobs is changing that for me.
Danube is one of the most serene and
self-assured women I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She is also one of the most interesting
and adventurous. A Massachusetts
native Danube wandered her way around the world until she landed at my dear
friend Joan’s house (See Finding Hope Joan Driedger Boldt) as a couch-surfer at the end of
September. After exploring
southern Arizona she decided to call us home, a big change from Portland,
Oregon where she last lived.
Currently, Danube works as a Licensed
Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Practitioner. Past jobs included journalism, ten years as a woodworker, and working as a wellness advisor on an international cruise ship. If I were to describe her with only a
few words I would use curious, open and warm. These traits guided her, I believe, to creating a most
unusual practice in her life and this practice or project continues to bear
interesting fruit.
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| Danube with Newari Woman in Nepal - another story gathered. |
Mail Me! Postcard Project (MM!) has a simple but elegant underpinning: That is, Danube connects with unknown strangers by leaving hand-made postcards in various locations complete with a message that says "Mail Me! But first write or draw something about you, life, or whatever on the other side!" While traveling she leaves them all over the town she is in and then sees who responds to her invitation. MM! is truly a labor of love and her motivations for undertaking this form of connection are complex. “It’s not about getting as many as possible but connecting with a person who was in the same place I was.” Her project sprung out of a desire to receive mail and to hear stories. "Once I started to get my first postcards back, I felt such a warm and comforting sense of connection - to strangers. And most importantly, I realized that we are never completely independent as long as we eat food others have grown, wear clothes others made and got help or support along the way from others."
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| One of hundreds of postcards sent out (address no longer valid) |
So far she has received more than 400 postcards, but has left far more. Danube spends time and effort in creating unique one-of-a-kind postcards and adds the postage necessary for each one. Sometimes it takes an individual postcard so long to come back to her that postage has increased and she must pay the difference! She has received mail from all over the world and collects it at a postal box near where ever she currently lives. Her parents have also assisted her from time to time and still get mail on a regular basis from postcards she left long ago.
The responses are as varied as the people
who decide to write. I saw
intricate art, impossibly long and highly personal stories carefully fitted
into the postcards tiny dimensions.
There were confessions, stories, declarations and often thanks for the
act of reaching out. “I’ve always
been drawn to people’s stories. I
did my undergrad work in journalism and creative writing and the writer in me
loves storytelling.” These
postcards often tell incredibly poignant stories and we wondered together about
the act of putting one’s heart on paper and sending it to a stranger. Danube has rarely met any of those who
have sent her mail and even as she puts many of them on a website (see link below) for friends
and family to enjoy, she does not list the website on the postcards
themselves. She feels that these
stories are meant to be shared and that the more stories that are captured the
better.
She told me a story of one
woman who sent a postcard that had been left in Los Angeles but then kept her
address and continued to send Danube a postcard from all of her travels
including many overseas destinations. Coincidentally she received a postcard from someone she had dated in the past but who knew nothing of her project.
She made
an intentional choice to not contact any of the writers or to be available for
contact from them and this is what makes it interesting, “People did this
without getting anything back” she said. Danube seems to approach this as
a sacred practice and sees these postcards that come to her as blessings. People
put so much time and effort into them that she makes an effort to be very
present with their offerings. And besides “I just love mail.” Indeed Danube glows when talking about going to the post office. “There
was always the sheer enjoyment of opening my mailbox and finding mail. The
more postcards I left, the more I had that experience. It was like a magic
trick – it worked! And I would read and wonder ‘who are they? What’s
happened to them since’.” She feels she has something in common with
every person who has picked up a postcard and believes in chance encounters and
synchronicity.
Danube applies this same curiosity to her Chinese Medicine
practice and deftly elicits the story behind the story for her patients, of which I am happy to be one. “In
treating people, a huge part of everyone’s healing process is their story,” and
learning that story is very much a part of her holistic approach. Story Telling, and I would add Story Listening, can be immensely empowering, or disempowering
in the wrong hands. How do we interact with our fellow humans in
day-to-day interactions, whether friend or stranger? Do we carefully listen to
what’s being said? Or are we busy filling in the blanks, judging, or wishing the conversation would end. I think this is one reason why her unique calling is so
successful, people have a deep yearning to be seen, to be heard, to feel
understood and Danube’s simple message of “mail me a postcard” allows that on a
basic but powerful level.
Danube plans on continuing her project whenever she travels – she has a policy
to not leave postcards in the town she is currently living in – “I’ll do it the
rest of my life, it’s not about the work, but in having souvenirs of where I’ve
traveled.”
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| The Golden Post-Office Box Key to Magical Discovery |
She also
has a few other ideas to reach out to others who would like to be heard. Danube
would like to spend time in nursing homes learning stories of residents
there. She feels that there are “captivating gems and treasures” waiting to be
listened to, and recorded. Some of these stories haven’t been told, or maybe
not in a very long time and although family members may be privy to some of the
stories of their elders she has found that they come out differently when told to a
stranger. I found this to be true when listening to my grandmother’s recorded stories I was often
trying to figure out “where was I?” and to sometimes reconcile what I
remembered versus what she was saying. Danube is also interested in learning about Paper Bag People. "Most paper bags have the name of the person who made it
stamped on the bottom (see photo). I think of Warhol's Campbell soup cans, that
they all look alike, but there is a unique individual behind each one. I
collected about 50 different names and when I moved I didn't know what to do
with them, so I sewed them together (like a quilt) and wrapped a good friend's
present with them."
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| Nolan's Paper Bag |
How
many of us feel comfortable talking to someone we have just met in a random
situation? Stranger Danger! We’ve been taught to be wary of those we do
not know, who may appear or actually be different. We’ve been taught, “family
matters most”. But what if we all reached out to others, strangers, with
all of the love our hearts can muster, what if a world reached out? Who
would we be then? What could we create by simply listening, with great love and care, to each other’s
stories with no hope of getting anything in return? Danube encourages us
in this pursuit, "Don't be afraid to connect with a stranger, because every new friend
was recently a stranger. We don't have to feel so alone, just because we don't
'know' those around us."
Thanks to Danube for once
again proving my thesis, that healing and reconciliation of the world’s ills
happens one person at a time.
Until next time,
Namaste
Namaste
Felicia
The Mail Me A Postcard Website to see many more of Danube's postcards:
Another website of interest called Post Secret, not related, but interesting on so many levels, as strangers are invited to divulge a secret they've never told anyone before.
http://Postsecret.com/
http://Postsecret.com/
