Grant Green & Jimmy Smith, I'm Movin' On

In Mexico City, to say I have seen this man before is kind of rare. Specially when I don't know my neighbours or you don't belong to that specific neighbourhood. In New Orleans this was common, to either find your mailman on JazzFest or past neighbours in some other parts of town drinking coffee, enjoying themselves in the open air.

This man I probably saw a year ago or so. He was peddaling his yellow cart as the cab driver went past him, honked, saluted and drove away. Of course I was intrigued. The cab driver told me he is a disabled man that lives with some family members but that in reality, he actually manages to live on his own. They built him this little yellow cart he uses to work with. 

It all came back when I found him again at the supermarket. He was coming out, he had a small bag in his lap. I'll try my best to describe him. He's around 50 or 60, white hair, almost reclining all his weight on his right arm, barefoot (soles of his feet darker than black) and a small handle where his left hand guides this yellow cart.

He can't speak, it seems some kind of paralysis took place but he does emit sounds as he passes by the officers in the supermarket. They say hi, smile or acknowledge his salute. He never went past the cash registers, which leads me to believe someone in the supermarket aids him in some way as he rides by with a little bag in his lap.

Mobilization of resilience. Or better, mobilisation of resources to the development of resilience.

If my mind serves me right, he sold jellys on the market, but to understand what this means, you have to consider that it takes a 45 minute walk for anyone to reach the market but to cross Calzada de Tlalpan or the Eje 3 even in your 5 senses is a dangerous feat. Well, this man manages to do that everyday, back and forth, providing some kind of sustenance to his own life.

Resilience practices involve creating a mental forking path of every situation or set back you encounter but also, all the stories share the same principle: to keep moving on.