To Be Mzungu

Us Mzungus at the market, putting on that sunscreen

When I was studying abroad in Uganda, one of the first things we all learned is that Ugandans refer to Westerners - perhaps mostly white Westerners, as they tend to stand out more - as "Mzungu".  Well, that just means "white person", right?  Or wealthy American?  Or colonialist?  Or whatever... no big deal.  Sure, it was maybe annoying to be called this along the streets, or by our homestay families, but it seemed a small burden to bear compared to the way western countries have interfered with African countries - or the fact that westerners often refer to Africa as a country.

But no - Mzungu does not just mean "white person".  Sure, if you look it up in English this is probably what you'll find, and think, "Oh yeah, that's just like Gringo/Gringa, or whatever".

No - "Mzungu" in Swahili means "one who moves around" "to go round and round" "to turn in circles".... "without purpose".

What?!

How did it take me almost 10 years after my study abroad to hear about this?

I learned this from browsing through The Art of Failure: The Anti-Self Help Guide by Neel Burton through an article on humility I was perusing (let's say grad school can make you think a lot about yourself... "Am I a failure?").  I found it within the first couple pages, where the author was talking about the usual: Westerners (huge generalization, I know) are always trying to do too much and doing this "running around in circles" thing and getting themselves all stressed out, feeling unhappy:

"One of the central tenets of the Western worldview is that one should always be engaged in some kind of outward task."

"In contrast most people living in a country such as Kenya in Africa do not share in the Western worldview that it is noble or worthwhile to spend all of one's time rushing around from one task to the next."

Going back to Thomas Merton and his No Man is an Island reflections, he describes this challenge of the doing and the being - where if you do too much, you stir up a great cloud of your activity and can't see where you are.  It's the flurry of activity that should be avoided - that space where you lose track of your human being-ness.  I read in another article by Omad Safi, The Disease of Being Busy, that we're human beings, not human doings.

Safi says in his article,

“Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing. Tell me you’re more than just a machine, checking off items from your to-do list.  Have that conversation, that glance, that touch.  Be a healing conversation, one filled with grace and presence.”

From what I could tell of Ugandans, they had definitely tapped into the "being" part of life in a way that any Westerner could learn from, even those not necessarily consumed by a flurry of activity.  It's just in the most basic questions that we tend to ask each other, "How are you doing?"  I mean, there's that classic Hollywood story plot: busy person transformed by relaxed person leads to heart transformed.  It's in Chef, Hook, Up, Elf and other movies that have more than just one-word titles.

I'm certainly no expert at this, especially now, especially in grad school.  I'm a mzungu for goodness sake.  I am not sure I will ever achieve the perfect balance of being and doing, hence, perusing a book like The Art of Failure.  But that's the thing, right?  It's not about perfection, acheivement, blah dee blah - but more about accepting yourself, always.

Maybe when we stop moving in those circles and we can move with purpose.

Sounds like a good plan, mzungu.