A real daydream
Updated: Nov 13, 2020
I have always believed in a "uniDIVERSITY", both biological and cultural." And that the best way to experience it is in the field.
My father always told me to be patient: with my determination, I could have arrived anywhere... My mother still says today that beautiful experiences are a gift to be shared.
Today, at forty, I realized that they were both right; I crossed the world (I arrived everywhere :)) to know that diversity, and of all experiences I have had, nothing would remain without sharing them. I have never been a great communicator, but thanks to this, I have learned to dream.
I didn't talk much as a child. My parents separated twice, and I think I was afraid of creating quarrels, so other separations. My sister and I never got very well together; we were too different. I learned to stay alone and turn it into a game; luckily, I have always been an introverted but creative child, and I had many meadows and woods around me in which get lost and experiencing.
Partly because I felt invisible and partly because I wanted to be, I invented an imaginary friend who lived for me, who traveled and sang for me. I still remember her; she looked like (was) Betty Boop, the black& white woman from the cartoon of the '30s: a singing young lady always cheerful and sympathetic to the weakest and a lover of animals and nature. Even if Betty was in black and white, we had a lot of fun. She made me experience many colorful journeys, especially when I was surrounded by screams. I believe that Betty helped me develop my imagination and creativity a lot.. She didn't give a damn about the adults' permission, so she did everything I could think of! :))
I recently found an essay written when I was nine years old: "I would like to go to Australia" (already determined but much more balanced! :)) I didn't remember it, and I don't know if it was about a night dream or a daydream. But I vividly remember that Betty and I ran a lot, and we liked to draw on each other with colors from ocher to red like those of the Australian earth.
Betty was at least 20 years ahead, and she saved me. If today I am a free woman, it is because Betty has taught me that everything is possible. And that my parents' quarrels would one day be my salvation, the push to transform my childhood dreams into a project of life and freedom...