Idan Or Guy wrote a book about his childhood and the trauma he suffered until he figured out how to get out of feeling bad about himself. Here is his monologue, actually a crowdfunding pitch for his book with an amazing lesson for all of us whether or not we end up buying the book:
“I’m Idan; I’m 29, I’m albino and I have poor vision. You can say I see the world a bit differently than others and the world sees me different than others. My life is a unique emotional journey with more than a few sad moments but also more than a few happy moments too. Mainly in childhood in our formative years we learn a lot about ourselves from the feedback we get from around us. But the older we get, the more we realize that it was all through the filter of our perceptions, it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.”
“One of these formative moments was in the school yard. When I was walking with my best friend in primary school near the school yard, he suddenly stopped and didn’t want to continue walking with me near the rest of our friends. He said: “I’m afraid if they see me with you then I too won’t have any friends. I turned around at that moment and didn’t stop blaming myself and the world around me for this feeling.”
“At 19 I volunteered for Army service and it was then during my service the ‘coin dropped’ and I understood that if I don’t allow myself to feel worthy in my own eyes, no one else will afford me that pleasure. And in the end… it worked!”
“I have a lot to tell the young child that I was , and who wouldn’t want to go back in time to give his (smaller) self some tips (for life). But I think my true success will be to help children that are in this place right now, that sense their being different.”
“This is my ‘White Story’; a story that turns a new leaf in the world for children who feel somewhat different. More than this, my book (‘White Story’ written in Hebrew) fits everyone like a custom made shoe. The ‘White Story is also the ‘Redhead Story’ and ‘Black Story’. In the end it’s a story that has all the colors of the rainbow. I invite you to join and support my new children’s book “A Story in White”. It’s a book that teaches our children to accept, hug and look at the others who are different from his point of view.” Choose the gift you want and let’s embark on an astounding journey of the child in each and every one of us. You’re invited to support.”
This is the end of Idan’s pitch for crowdfunding his book “A Story in White”. He invites us to support. But for every reader, even those who don’t read Hebrew, we are all invited to support those different than us instead of cringing and shying away from them. Let’s make every person we encounter feel genuinely valued in our eyes. It will help him feel genuinely valued in his own eyes… isn’t that worth it?