A Facebook Surprise

I’m not a big fan of Facebook because I often find myself going down rabbit holes, wasting time. But today, while posting an article I wrote, I discovered a fantastic site on English literature with some of the best material I’ve seen on the subject: Kami_Arts5, created by Syed Kamran from Leiah, Pakistan.

I sent a congratulatory message to Syed Kamran, wanting to get permission to republish the article below, but I received a standard reply. The article was so moving that I decided I would republish it anyway. Here it is:

At 40, Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who never married and had no children, was walking through a park one day in Berlin when he met a girl crying because she had lost her favorite doll. She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully.

Kafka told her to meet him the next day, and they would return to look for her.

The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter “written” by the doll saying, “Please don’t cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures.”

Thus began a story that continued until the end of Kafka’s life.

During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll, carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable.

Finally, Kafka returned the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin.

“It doesn’t look like my doll at all,” said the girl.

Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: “My travels have changed me.” The little girl hugged the new doll and brought the doll with her to her happy home.

A year later, Kafka died.

Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In a tiny letter signed by Kafka: “Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way.”

Embrace change. It’s inevitable for growth. Together, we can shift pain into wonder and love, but it is up to us to consciously and intentionally create that connection.