The Mind Is A Bowl.

This essay was written in the first person of a boy; an elder brother. Read on to find out more.

You are probably aware that it is not everyday that one is placed in a position of utter despair.  Despair and longing for something that now seems to have never been yours.  But I assure you, she was mine.  She was mine to begin with and both she and i knew it.  She is gone now and no matter how hard I try, I cannot bring myself to even imagine her by my side.  

When she was six, the doctors told us that she had the Down's syndrome.  They told us she wouldn't live beyond forty years.  Maybe even less, And she knew, but she couldn't care.  She was my little sister and I, her big, bad, brave brother.  Life was sweet, unfortunately short for her.  She would get on the couch, everyday, and watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.  She loved that movie and all the songs in it, the characters, the costumes and the candies.  It was out of sheer curiosity one day, that I asked her what she understood of the movie.  ‘The mind is a BOWL’ she said and after a pause and I laughed.  Since that day, she would ask me to inscribe it for her on her bedroom walls, in notebooks, in storybooks and even on her t-shirts. Laughingly I obliged, never understanding the sense in it all. But now I know. The mind is indeed a bowl.

For the oompa-loompas in the movie, their minds were bowls that had chocolates -- all that they thought about was chocolates.  But the human mind -- it is a bowl that holds our thoughts, feelings and deepest emotions.  While it is still held high, we come to cherish those feelings and resort to them in times of unfamiliarity, awkwardness and negativity.  It is our strength, but mind you -- it is not strong.  When it (the bowl)  is dropped from that high pedestal we place it on, we fall into a pit of despair and distraught feelings.  The negativity and sadness closes in and clams  us up like a predator would a prey.  Remember that bowl up there is made of glass, and once shattered it does take a long long time to find one just like it -- full of the joys that light up our lives. 

Strangers in black, who called themselves family were now pouring into the church. It was my sister's funeral. The once familiar faces all seemed so distant and strange. They all came up to me one after the other, like little black ants, condoling. She was gone, utterly gone and they simply didn't understand. To them, she just didn't exist. It's as if she never was a part of their world. Blinking back the waterfall that was threatening to break free, I stepped out of the church. From the window I could see everything and my eyes came to lie upon the little black coffin in front of the altar. The coffin was open and there lay my beautiful sister, at peace. Perhaps a smile played upon her lips, I'll never know-- but it was then that I realized the truth. Like the glass bowl, I will take time and I will mend, knowing that she is in a better place, hopefully Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. 

It was time to tuck my little sister into bed and close her eyes once again, tonight. Except this time, she wouldn't have to wake up.

Written on 14th September, 2011