Acceptance speech - honorary citizen of Sarajevo
First and foremost, I would like to thank Alije Behmena, the Mayor of Sarajevo, the Mayor’s office, his very capable staff, the city council and all the people that have made this honor possible. To receive honorary citizenship of Sarajevo has far more meaning for me than what I can say in a few short minutes, but I will try. I came to Sarajevo in March 1993 and collectively I lived here for over a year. I came here in the darkest of times, as a young man riddled with my own personal grief. I left Sarajevo humbled by its citizens. I left knowing I had been in the presence of Grace Under Pressure.
When I look back, I believe I came to Sarajevo for many reasons, but none of them included standing before you today to accept this honor. I did what I did because for me it was the only choice I had. For almost 15 years I have been attempting to explain Sarajevo and Bosnia to others. Attempting to explain what happened here. Not because I want to relive the war, but because so many are interested in what makes this place special to me. Many people, after reading “Fools Rush In” or seeing “Miss Sarajevo” they want to know what is it like to live in a siege. Or did I feel helpless in the face of so much suffering? And of course, they want to know why did this war happen in the first place? These are not always easy questions to answer. But one question is always easy for me to answer: Why did you stay in the war for so long? Why did you keep going back to Sarajevo? Why Sarajevo? The answer to this question is at the heart of why it is so meaningful for me to be standing here in front of you today. And the answer is simple: I fell in love with your city and with the people I met here. And what other choice does a person have when he falls in love. He must give all he has to help the object of his love.
Something about Sarajevo, the soul of Sarajevo speaks very deeply to me. For those who ask me these questions I tell stories of how I shared food, drinks, laughter, stories, fears, and grief with people in Sarajevo. I speak of the people of Sarajevo’s most seductive quality: their sense of humor, quite possibly mankind’s last line of defense when facing insanity or death. I speak of Sarajevian’s unique talent for accepting strangers into their lives. I speak of a people skilled in the art of living simply, something that I have found to be a precious commodity in this life.
I am from the other side of the world, born and raised in California. I now live in southern Arizona. I am fortunate in my job to travel the world. Yet, no matter where I travel, no matter what country I find myself standing in, I always have a perspective that partially originates in Sarajevo.
During my stays in Sarajevo something happened to the very core of me as a human being. I was altered. Today, when I wake up in Paris, New York or in the wide open desert, part of my mind thinks in terms of seeing that place from the perspective of my experience in Sarajevo. Friendships are more carefully chosen, and mean more than before. When I laugh from deep within my belly, it is coming from being in Sarajevo. And I have learned the art of entertaining, from the very best in Sarajevo. Other things that have stuck with me throughout the years are learned instincts. I always know my primary exit route. When I travel I know where the nearest source of food is. Without consciously knowing it, I often scan a room and quickly establish who is the most reliable person in the room, and who is the most suspicious person in the room. Also I have a keener sense of who to trust, and why. These are not choices I have made. These are molecular changes in me, things I cannot change back, as if inherited at birth. I can never explain these things to other people, because they would make no sense. This honor that you have given me today, although it may still not answer to others why I came here, or why I stayed so long, does help give me some peace. Becoming an honorary citizen of your city helps me to claim a part of myself that I have struggled to identify.
I started by thanking the mayor, his office, the city council; people I have only briefly met. People that have graciously voted to give me this honor. But now I must take a moment to thank the people who effectively altered my life in the best possible ways. These are the Sarajevians and others that compelled me to stay in a place, which upon first glance, scared the living daylights out of me.