This is Erik Bendl, also known as World Guy. I saw him in Bar Harbor, where I took this photo a couple of weeks ago. He is from Kentucky and takes his inflatable globe on walking excursions to raise awareness about diabetes, a disease that killed his mother 30 years ago. The Ellsworth American newspaper recently published an article about his walk last month from from Lubec to Mount Desert Island.
I am posting his picture now (not sure why I waited) because I thought his efforts might help undercut some of the widespread mounting misery brought on by recent awful events.
I admit that I do not know how effective Erik's treks are, and acknowledge there is sadness in his message, borne out of the loss of a parent when she was only 54 years old. But his walks are whimsical and positive and help demonstrate that the world is not completely comprised of controversy, discord and destruction.
His walks are not bitter arguments over how racial injustice should be protested at nationally televised sporting events that now are known to cause severe long-term damage to the mental and physical health of the men who compete. His walks are not massive weather disasters followed by name-calling and arguing among those in charge. And they certainly are not senseless shooting massacres of dozens of people and the inevitable finger-pointing blame games that result.
His walks are reminders that creative and constructive efforts can be hatched from sorrow and pain. That tragedies don't have to sow social divisions or be used to try to score some sort of short-term political gain over neighbors or fellow citizens whose opinions might differ from our own. That persuasion, education, compromise and cooperation - instead of insults and accusations - are what build and sustain communities and societies, even if they don't do much to enrich campaign war chests.
Whether or not Bendl has any sort of impact on the spread of diabetes, the world in its current state would benefit from the company of more people like him. People who want to change the world for the better should emulate his approach and spend less time spreading fear and anger in an attempt to raise money to promote their projects and, too often, themselves.
