i've been back in l.a. for a week and my head is still spinning with thoughts of honduras. it seems that every time i close my eyes, i see the inhumanity of their condition. but when i open my eyes to seek refuge from those images, i see the same inhumanity in my own city and in my own heart.

the image below was taken at the trash dump in honduras that we are working with. some of the people who are photographed live and work here. some commute from their tents and one room shacks. there are hundreds of children who work in this place in order to contribute to the family income of $2-3 a day. they fight vultures and dogs for food. they fight each other when the trucks arrive for the "good stuff."

now ... eyes open ... the same behavior that i'm disgusted with there, meets me in conversations and in the foreground of my surroundings.

this coldness and apathy is universal. while it may be more obvious in some socio-economic groups than others, you could find it in the corner offices at enron. you can find it in our government, on our battlefields and even behind the glamorous facade hollywood. everyone is struggling to find purpose and meaning and, in the process, become engulfed in the rat race of survival.

i believe that people want to know that their lives have meaning ... that who they are and what they do is significant. and i'm wondering if, in pursuit of greatness, the depravity of significance gets the best of us and we simply fight to survive instead of fighting to be alive.