Wednesday, June 12, 2013

thank you


"the moment I let go of it, was the moment I got more than I could handle
the moment I jumped off of it, was the moment I touched down"

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

defining limits



I must have missed class when these terms were taught:

patience
Pronunciation: /peɪʃ(ə)ns/

noun 
the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious


willingness
noun
the quality or state of being prepared to do something; readiness:

wait
Pronunciation: /weɪt/

noun
stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or event.


But I was definitely there and particularly focused as this one came up:

proactive
Pronunciation: /prəʊˈaktɪv/


adjective
(of a person or action) creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened.



I AM GOING TO TAKE PRIVATE LESSONS. 


Monday, May 6, 2013

ecce homo


I know what barbecue they grill their meat on. What shirt, shoes and watch they wear. I know what nanny they hire to look after their children, how their homes look like, what sports they practice and what phone they have in their pockets. I know where they go exercise, what books they (don´t ?) read, what their favorite conversational topics are and what wine they drink while holding those conversations. And, obviously, I know what party they vote for.

Or do I just think I know?

Are wealthy people more predictable than non-so-wealthy men and women? Or am I just a prejudicial, superficial Censorious Sapiens that puts all and everyone into a box?
Considering my huge, innate and still quite inexplicable passion for boxes it could be in fact my need to give an order to the world surrounding me that makes me think to know “the rich”. Or maybe, quite dully, just fear of not being able to keep up. Mixed, I have to admit, with a dash of silent arrogance (“Yeah, they have money but me, I...”)

This dilemma has been tumbling in my brains in the past hours and I somehow I feel ready to abandon my “self-reassuring biases”. I think I am actually eager to do that.

Because I want to laser-cancel this idea -tattooed in my mind- that only humble people who went through struggles in life are the real profound thinkers. Those are the ones I know and highly appreciate. I will value them, their stories and inspiration as I did so far. But I am starting to recognize my mistake: looking at “the rich” and not seeing them. Not even trying. I let their barbecues, their shirts, shoes and watches, their sports, phones and homes speak to me. I should know better. There´s another voice I should be listening to. How can I accuse “the rich” of being shallow when I judge them in the most superficial way?


They are men and women, and kids. No different than me.

I like to think that there is a reason why we stumble upon people. Now I think I know why the sleek, young golfer.   


positive addicted

I found out there are phases in which one is simply...happy.
Easy to get addicted to that.

Friday, April 5, 2013

fragile trembling leaves



Spring is not spring, this year. The buds on the trees are eager to blossom but the rigid temperatures are spitefully putting off the enchantment of the rising season. All is grey, cold, soggy.
It will come, everybody thinks, another day or two, maybe a week, but it must finally come, this spring so much longed for. I need it. We need it.
Actually, some may need it more than others. 
Two days ago I finished reading a wonderful, fierce, powerful book, a "yes book", books that change you and your view of life and of the world. 
The still point of the turning world, by Emily Rapp, is a work poured out of the depth of an aching and profound soul. 
It´s a tribute to the life of a terminally ill baby who died just before turning three. It´s the narration of a myth, as the author so eloquently explains. It´s a beautiful, beautiful book. 
While reading through those powerful pages I felt at traits like a voyeur, so intimate was the glance that the reader was allowed to throw into this unfortunate family life. So intense the empathy arisen. I often thought of a friend of mine and his son, who is also affected by an incurable and degenerative disease.
How unfortunate, how unfair, we all think in these cases. But pain, disgrace, diseases are so damned democratic: they just hit anyone, no matter how good or bad you are. I once read on social media a cynical yet funny statement: finding unfair that bad things happen to good people is like expecting a lion not to devour you because you are vegetarian.
And this is what happened to a dear colleague of mine: devoured by the lion, even though she is vegetarian, lovely, calm, intelligent, beautiful, inspiring, strong. Two days ago she comes into my office, asked how my Easter vacation was. Very good, thanks, and yours? She bursts into tears, right there, standing in front of my desk. I´m sorry, she says, sobbing, her voice full of sorrow and fear. I have Parkinson. What? Fuck! What? It can´t be! What the fuck, I screamed within myself, in a rush of disbelief and rage. And a blank, speechless face is instead what came out.
This incredible woman, whom I met less than a year ago when, to my surprise, she joined our company (wait, I thought, she is so cool, what is she doing here?) is eventually going to turn into a trembling leaf. This brilliant, independent, self confident woman is probably going to have to depend on others.
This appalling news is not giving me peace.
I can see her eyes filling with tears, I can feel her fear. My colleagues did nothing, said almost nothing. I stood up and went to her and gave her a hug. And she clung to me as if this would save her from falling. Her hold struck me as much as her diagnosis.
We are all so fragile, even though we pretend we will last forever. We are all sure that spring comes punctually, yet sometimes winter just lingers on, and on and on.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

what was that word, mhmm...wisdom?!



Walking home from a hyper conversational night, I ask myself "can you trust someone who doesn´t drink at all?". I turn into my street and a wobbling human (maybe) being, as boozed as one can get, walks past me. Or tries to.
Yes, you can trust someone who doesn´t drink. Actually you should. 
No, you must.


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Resolution, revolution, whatever. How´bout what I want?


I want silence, sleep, rest, introspection. And blasting music, sleepless crazy nights, hyperactivity, carefree superficiality. All well balanced. 
I want wide-leg and high waist trousers (which don´t look like my Grandma´s).
I want to share a bed solely and exclusively with men who sweep me off my feet. The lame thought “well, he´s kind of nice after all, it´ll do for now” is from now on strictly forbidden
I want to breathe deeply and deeply and deeply and deeply. 
I want to cancel my facebook account and use the time that I waste on reading my “friends” ´s idiotic comments to finally dive into the unbelievable chaos of my I-Tunes library and discover what music I actually like. And have. 
I want to play tennis and clap on my shoulder each time that I see the tiniest improvement and not get mad at myself for not being a late-starter Serena Williams.
I want to sing Julia Stone´s songs but not just like that, just singing, no! I want to sing Julia Stone´s songs while playing them on the guitar, myself. This may imply that I finally learn how to play an F, which currently for me it´s more or less the equivalent of saying that I need to finally learn how to wake up at 6 am and go for run before the office. I mean...easy-peasy, right? 
I want the memories, all the memories, to teach me, pamper me,  console me, warm me up,  enrich me, give me peace,  give me strength. Even if they refer to moments or people gone forever, that broke my heart or hurt me badly or made me mad. 
I want the courage to believe strenuously in every cell of myself. Even in the fat ones.
I want to keep calm, even when I am mad and hyper frustrated, even when my mother pulls the triggers of my mind and drives me mad, because I want to remember how much I love her and how stupid it is to waste time arguing about trivialities. Life is a bunch of days and I want to use them well. Very well. Absolutely well. 
I want to ride my new bike with the excitement of a little girl. Even when it´s cold and I tell myself it´s time to buy a car.
I want to keep writing letters to my precious friends, to keep writing on the blog, to keep writing. To shower with my words and thoughts, to moisturize my soul with reflections.
I want to be authentic; even if among my friends “authentic” is now a witty synonym for being a bitch. But I know I am not a bitch, I am just not always aligned.
I want to forgive, but not to be expected to forget. Forgiveness is a lesson, if you forget, you don´t learn.
I want to bake cute cup cakes and do hard-core handicrafts and melt the engine of my new sewing machine by creating hipster colorful “stuff” (I know I still cannot call my creations “clothes”…but just give me a little more time and I´ll get there).  
I want to be grateful for my life, my family, my friends, each of my experiences, my falls, my failures and above all, every accomplishments of mine, which I so much tend to take for granted.
I want to discover the surroundings.
I want to enlarge my world and life.
I want to be just fine.
And satisfied.
And cool. 
You, Thirteen, I am very ready.