A homeless man taught me how to laugh during the crisis

My life has been far from easy, I am both a war and a cancer survivor. Death has knocked on my door before but it wasn’t my hour to go. I realise I have some stories to tell and some experiences to live. But I hadn’t realised the power of storytelling until I met a storyteller myself and was deeply moved by his words.

I was living in Paris when I was diagnosed with cancer. I was going home from a doctor’s appointment when I saw a homeless man laughing and playing with his dog. The sight of that old, toothless man laughing his heart out made me smile and forget my worries.

I was so curious to know how was he able to find that energy to laugh while living out on the streets. I offered to buy him a meal, and we went to a restaurant. We ordered food, and it was not until we were half way through our meals that I revealed to him that my invitation was far from innocent and I wanted to know the secret of his laughter.

I told him I was going through a rough time, having been diagnosed with cancer. I’d also gotten one of my kidneys removed and suffered depression. I complained about how life was unfair and that I didn’t understand why I had to go through all that. I was bitter and sounded like a victim.

The homeless man whose name was Jean-Pierre simply replied by asking me to describe him the taste of my meal. I was puzzled, but I stopped and thought about the taste, smell, and the texture of my meal. I described the food to him word by word, bite by bite and while I was at it, he started to laugh again. It was contagious, and even though I wasn’t aware of why he was laughing or what he was laughing at, I joined.

He then told me, “Christiane thank you for offering me two meals: mine and yours.”

Jean-Pierre knew how to enjoy life, be in the moment, and enjoy freedom. And in just one meet, he passed on these invaluable lessons of life to me. He told me about his life, how he had travelled the world, met beautiful women, fell in love, etc. He was a fabulous storyteller and his stories were inspiring and uplifting. Not once he mentioned how he became homeless nor did I ask.

Years later, I still think about Jean-Pierre, how he was made me forget about my problems and how powerful his words were. We all have our fair share of wonderful experiences, stories. And what makes one human different from another is how we perceive our experiences, what stories we wish to tell, and how we choose to transform our bitterness into an inspiring song. I am sure Jean-Pierre had more bad stories than good ones in his bucket but he chose to defy his weaknesses and pain to offer me words of comfort.

Today, with the confinement, it is the perfect time to meditate and think if we want to be passive victims or the main actors of our own stories.